SONOMA VALLEY JAZZ SOCIETY PRESENTS
2019 SUMMER
CONCERT SERIES
Tuesday Night Market Jazz
All concerts are Free and start at 6pm
2019 IN REVIEW
BULULU
A Trópico-Venezuelan band will be starting off the season. Bululú, a dynamic latin music band led by Lali Mejia and Jose Roberto Hernandez (music director), showcases a live and flavorful repertoire deeply rooted in Venezuelan and Caribbean influences. Styles of music include tamboreras, calipsos, salsa, porros, parrandas, cumbias, vallenatos, tambores de la costa, and more. Fun and vibrant, Bululú delivers top notch entertainment with its ten piece ensemble, all highly seasoned Bay Area musicians—Jose Roberto Hernandez (lead vocals, guitar, cuatro), Ruthie Dineen (piano), Miguel Govea (lead vocals, trumpet, accordion), Lali Mejia (percussion, vocals), Omar Ledezma Jr. (drum set, vocals), Peta Robles (percussion), Fernanda Bustamante (violin, vocals), Lichi Fuentes (vocals, percussion), Norma Kansau (lead vocals) and Kevin Silveira (bass).
TUESDAY, JULY 9
THE ERIK JEKABSON SEXTET
Erik Jekabson is a freelance trumpet player, composer, arranger and educator who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is equally busy playing and composing for different bands, leading his own groups, (the Erik Jekabson Sextet, the String-tet and the Electric Squeezebox Orchestra) teaching a wide variety of students and running the Young Musicians Program at the California Jazz Conservatory.
Erik has seven CDs out under his own name: his most recent album is “Erik Jekabson Sextet” (2018) on the Wide Hive Record Label. His other CDs are: “Erik Jekabson Quintet” on the Wide Hive label, “A Brand New Take” (2016) on the OA2 record label, and “Erik Jekabson Quartet & John Santos: Live at the Hillside Club”, (2014) ,“Anti-Mass”(2012) , and “Crescent Boulevard” (2010) which are on his own Jekab’s Music record label. His debut CD, “Intersection”, was recorded in New York in 2002 and released on the Fresh Sound/New Talent label.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 13
JULIUS MELENDEZ - LATIN JAZZ
Five-time Grammy winner Julius Meléndez, performing the Latin Jazz repertoire that has made him one of the most sought-after trumpet players and band leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.
Over the years, Meléndez has been a contributor on four albums by Conjunto Cespedes, two of which were voted Album of the Year at the NAIRD Indie Awards for Best Latin Recording in 1994 and 1996. Julius has also performed alongside Shelia E., Pete Escovedo, and David Murray. In 1994, Julius -- along with composer, bassist and Los Van Van leader Juan Formell and renowned composer, pianist and lrakere leader Chucho Valdez -- attended a music seminar at the Cuban Popular Musical Festival where Julius was chosen to perform as a soloist. His performance there led to an invitation to perform with Irakere West at the San Francisco Great American Music Hall.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
MADS TOLLING AND THE MADS MEN
Internationally renowned violinist, composer, and two-time Grammy Award-Winner MADS TOLLING is celebrating the music of the 60s Mad Men Era with his own distinctive style and innovative flair.
The show debuted to much fanfare at the Historic El Campanil Theatre. It is a fun and exciting program that is at once nostalgic as well as contemporary, and includes Academy Award-winning Movie Themes, popular TV classics, and Top 10 Hit recordings. Repertoire ranges from “Mission Impossible”, “The Pink Panther” and “Meet the Flintstones” to “Georgia on My Mind” and the Love Theme from “Romeo and Juliet.”
So how did a Danish classical violin student growing up in Copenhagen in the 80’s discover his passion for the 60s? When Mads was 14, his father gave him a Miles Davis cassette tape that changed his life. Mads was hooked. He found a sense of intimacy and freedom in the 60s sounds of Jazz, Soul and early R&B, which inspired him to explore the possibilities of how to get there with his violin. The result is an exhilarating and thrilling musical adventure, with Mads guiding us to places we didn’t know a violin could go.
2018 IN REVIEW
TUESDAY, JUNE 12
JAMIE DUBBERLY & ORQUESTRA DHARMA
Brian Andres – Drums
Carlos Caro – Bongo
Javier Cabanillas – Congas
Omar Ledezma, Jr – Timbal & Lead Vocals
Pete Cornell – Tenor Saxophone
Galen Green – Baritone Saxophone
Ernesto Mazar Kindelan – Bass
Erick Peralta – Piano
Jamie Dubberly - Trombone
TUESDAY, JULY 10
THE LEON JOYCE QUARTET
Leon Joyce, Jr – Leader/Drums
Wayne De La Cruz – Hammond B-3
James Mahone – Saxophone
Tommy Kesecker – Vibes
TUESDAY, AUGUST 14
JAMAL RAMIREZ GROUP
Warren Wolf - Vibraphone
Howard Wiley - Saxophone
Matthew Clark - Keyboards
Giulio Xavier - Bass
Jamal Ramirez - Drums
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
TONY LINDSAY with
THE MICHAEL O'NEILL QUINTET
Tony Lindsay, Vocalist
Michael O’Neill – Saxophones
Erick Jacobson – Trumpet
John R Burr – Piano
Dan Feiszli - Bass
Alan Hall - Drums
FREE! 6-8:30pm
Grinstead Amphitheatre
Sonoma Plaza
www.sonomavalleyjazzsociety.org
2017 In review
June 13, 2017
“Just Like A Woman”
A Celebration of Bay Area Women in Music
Denise Perrier
Pamela Rose
Rhonda Benin
Tiffany Austin
With
The Lillian Armstrong Tribute Band
Tammy Hall - keyboard
Ruthie Price - drums
Aneesa String - bass
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July 11, 2017
led by Grammy Award Winner
Javier Cabanillas
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August 8, 2017
Eddie Henderson Quartet
Featuring Sylvia Cuenca – Drums
Essiet Essiet – Bass
Peter Zak – Piano
September 12, 2017
Jeff Sanford’s
Cartoon Logic Septet
Swinging to the tunes of toons
2016 In Review
Featuring: Sheldon Brown – Saxophone
Michael Zilber – Saxophone
Erik Jekabson – Trumpet
Dave Scott – Trumpet
Doug Morton - Trumpet
Alan Hall – Drums
Jorda Samuel – Guitar
___________________________________________________Charles Hamilton is best known nationally and internationally for leading the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble for 28 years, after teaching ten years at the elementary and middle school level. With the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble, he was a regular at Montreux Jazz Festival, Vienne, Perugia, Umbria, Rome, Paris, and three tours to Japan. He maintained a local performing career with such luminaries as Joe Henderson, Fred Barry Big Band, Karlton Hester Big Band, Khalil Shaheed and the Big Belly Blues Band, The Marcus Shelby Big Band, Babatunde Lea (Healdsburg Jazz Festival), to name a few. He has headlined at Yoshi’s Jazz Club (Oakland), the Freight and Salvage, the California Jazz Conservatory, Birdland Jazzista Social Club, 57th Street Gallery, and many others. ___________________________________________________
Second-generation Jazz master, Roger Glenn, multi-instrumentalist, composer and entertainer on the flute, sax, clarinet and vibraphone, is the son of the late Tyree Glenn, one of 57 notable jazz musicians pictured in the historic photo “A Great Day in Harlem,” and who worked with jazz icons including Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong.
Roger has performed, toured and recorded with jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie, Mongo Santamaria, Rosemary Clooney, Herbie Mann and Pete Escovedo. His flute playing is featured on the Grammy-award winning album “La Onda Va Bien” with Cal Tjader, as well as many notable recordings by Donald Byrd, Peaches and Herb, ConFunkShun, and Bobby Hutcherson.
In addition to his own Roger Glenn Latin Jazz Ensemble and The San Francisco Jazz Quartet, he most recently has been touring as a special guest with Taj Mahal, Kurt Elling, and The Count Basie Orchestra. Roger Glenn Jazz Organ Trio toured the west coast as the opening act for the legendary Steely Dan (spring 2015).
2015 In Review
June 9, 2015
Charles McPherson
Charles McPherson (sax), Peter Horvath (piano), Austin Harris, (drums), Jeff Chambers (bass)
Charles McPherson was born in Joplin, Missouri and moved to Detroit at age nine. After growing up in Detroit, he studied with renowned pianist Barry Harris and started playing jazz professionally at age 19. He moved from Detroit to New York in 1959 and performed with Charles Mingus from 1960 to 1972. While performing with Mingus, he collaborated frequently with Barry Harris, Lonnie Hillyer (trumpet), and George Coleman (tenor sax).
Mr. McPherson has performed at concerts and festivals with his own variety of groups, consisting of quartets, quintets to full orchestras. He was recently featured at Lincoln Center showcasing his original compositions and arrangements with a seven-piece ensemble. He has toured the U.S., Europe, Japan, Africa and South America with his own group, as well as with jazz greats Barry Harris, Billy Eckstine, Lionel Hampton, Nat Adderly, Jay McShann, Phil Woods, Wynton Marsalis, Tom Harrell, Randy Brecker, James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie, and others.Charles & Mike WoffordCharles and Mike Wofford during a San Diego gig in the late 80s McPherson has recorded as guest artist with Charlie Mingus, Barry Harris, Art Farmer, Kenny Drew, Toshiko Akiyoshi, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. He has recorded as leader on Prestige, Fantasy, Mainstream, Discovery, Xanadu, and most recently Arabesque. His most recent recording is the highly acclaimed “Manhattan Nocturne.”
Charles was also the featured alto saxophonist in the Clint Eastwood film “Bird,” a biography about Charlie Parker.
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July 14, 2015
Paula West
Paula West - vocals, Adam Shulman - piano, John Wiitala - bass, Greg Wyser-Pratt - drums
Paula West hasn't made "New York, New York" part of her repertoire yet, but the San Francisco-based jazz singer is carrying on a torrid affair with the city that never sleeps. What's gratifying for her Bay Area fans is that the passion is entirely mutual. Without the benefit of major label backing, West has become Manhattan's most visible and acclaimed jazz vocalist, one of the only singers who moves effortlessly between New York's most prestigious cabarets, jazz clubs and theaters, including Carnegie Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center. In May she's booked for a week long run at the Jazz Standard, and in the fall she settles into the Algonquin Hotel for her annual engagement at the storied Oak Room. Back in January, she headlined at Columbia University's Miller Theater, flew back to the Bay Area, and then returned to the Big Apple the next week to accept the New York Nightlife Award for "Outstanding Female Jazz Vocalist" at Town Hall, her third consecutive triumph (or the fourth... if you count 2004, when she shared top honors with Dianne Reeves). by Andrew Gilbert, a writer based in the Berkeley area, covers jazz for several outlets, including the San Jose Mercury News, San Diego Union-Tribune, Boston Globe, JazzTimes, and KQED's California Report.
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August 11, 2015
Afro Cuban Jazz Cartel
Latin Jazz: The perfect combination. The union of two musical traditions: Jazz, a truly original art form born in the United States, espouses the freedom in music that its birth nation represents to the world. Latin, a generic term meant to encompass the numerous dance and folkloric musical styles of the Caribbean. Latin Jazz: part African, part European, it is to some, the ultimate American musical expression.
The San Francisco Bay Area has been a historic hotbed for Latin Jazz artists. From Cal Tjader to Armando Peraza, John Santos to Wayne Wallace. The Latin jazz tradition has thrived in the Bay Area. It is from this tradition that The Afro-Cuban Jazz Cartel arrives. Led by drummer Brian Andres, the group was formed to contribute its own mark to that storied history. Featuring Grammy Award winning musicians as well as esteemed music educators, the ACJC never fails to perform its music at the highest level. The repertoire consists of original compositions as well as exciting original arrangements of classics from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the United States. He group is equally capable of performing a dance or concert repertoire, as well as educational presentations such as lectures, workshops or instruction focused on the musical instrumentation, composition and arranging or cultural significance and history of the music they perform.
http://www.brianandres.com/afro-cuban-jazz-cartel
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September 8, 2015
Roberta Donnay and the Prohibition Mob Band
Musicians can take on the role of anthropologist, curious about what came before in music and how musicians reflected their world around them. Award-winning vocalist and songwriter Roberta Donnay is that rare species of musician who almost lives in another time, as she and her Prohibition Mob Band exist to revive the Jazz Age of America.
On the heels of their beloved A Little Sugar release comes their second Motéma Music release, Bathtub Gin (January 20) which, like A Little Sugar, mines 1920s gems but also takes the listener on a stroll into the 1930s. A seductive vocalist, Donnay and her band swing mightily with this authentic collection of vintage jazz, blues and swing that introduces listeners to the swing era with its jump-swing rhythmic horn sections and new dances. Donnay also includes four party-rousing shout-chorus originals that evoke and revive the open spirit that birthed jazz.
The petite redhead with the engaging smile has great passion behind her enthusiasm for the Prohibition era and American roots music. Besides the music, one of my favorite things about this music is the spunk it reveals, a survival spirit. The women who sang – and in some cases wrote – these songs are heroic to me. Their attitude and energy is strong, confident, courageous, humorous and vibrant. They're no pushovers for any man. Women and men alike were wrestling with massive changes in society and the world. Jazz was their freedom music.
2014 in Review
Tuesday, June 10thOctobop
Tuesday, July 8thNicolas Bearde Quintet
Special thank you to our Patrons Darius and Sarah Andersonfor supporting community FREE Live Jazz!
http://www.IRichardHowellPro.com
2013 in Review
Our Patron for this concert is
Tuesday, September 10thPianist Stephanie OzerPhoto: Robbi Pengelly Stephanie Ozer - Piano, Claudia Villela (vocals) - you may know of her - killer Brazilian vocalist (claudiavillela.com), Mary Fettig - Flute, Saxes
Peter Barshay - Bass, Kendrick Freeman - Drums
Hope you did not miss these great concerts in the plaza this year!Tuesday, June 11thMontclair Womens Big Bandhttp://montclairwomensbigband.com/
Jazz PatronDarius and Sarah Anderson
Tuesday, July 9th
Bobi Cespesdes http://bobicespedes.com/
Tuesday, August 13thMads TollingThis concert is dedicated in memory of Judy Groff Mads Tollling - Violin, Dave Mac Nab - guitar, Sam Bevan - bass, Eric Garland - drumshttp://madstolling.com/
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SPOTLIGHT ON OUR
SPONSORS!
Many Moons Ranch
Home of Jazz in the Barn
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Bob & Sue Vargas
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Thank you to our
2017 Patrons
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http://petersonmechanical.com/
Letters
Janice,
Hi,
This is just to let you know how much we enjoyed the jazz concert of Charles McNeal and band. They are what we consider "Great Traditional Jazz!" Having Dana Land sing with him was a real treat.
Thanks for the concert.
Marianne and George Paul
Hope to see them again!
Thank you for last nights concert. ..
It was fantastic! Thank you to the Jazz Society and to the Anderson's who's contributions never seem to end in our little town - we are so blessed to have their valuable participation in our neck of the woods. . . The Nicolas Bearde Quintet was nothing short of AMAZING last night and I so enjoyed it that I could not leave . . . It was great to see the list of other sponsors as well and I hope that contributions were up - the dancing was amazing as was 'little Phoenix!'. . ..
What a great night!
Thank you again!
Joe H.
THIS IS OUR 30th SEASON!
The Sonoma Valley Jazz Society produces four FREEOutdoor Concerts every year which are held in the City of Sonoma Plaza, Grinstead Amphitheatre, every second Tuesday, June through September, 6:00 to 8:30 PM.
Presented in association with the Tuesday Night Farmer’s Market, this great family and community event attracts people of all ages who listen to and learn about America‘s true art form, jazz.
Come on out, bring a picnic and enjoy some great live jazz.