Articles by Steven Roby
SFJAZZ Collective At Miner Auditorium
by Steven Roby
SFJAZZ Collective Miner Auditorium San Francisco, CA November 2, 2025 San Francisco experienced a heartfelt, generous homage to Wayne Shorter on Sunday afternoon when the SFJAZZ Collective presented its second of three shows, the Native Dancer project, at Miner Auditorium. Led by music director and multi-reedist Chris Potter, the seven musicians approached Shorter's 1975 collaboration with Milton Nascimento as an open exploration rather than a fixed document, and the packed audience sensed that ...
Continue ReadingSFJAZZ Collective: Native Dancer Preview
by Steven Roby
Chris Potter, saxophonist, composer, and music director of the SFJAZZ Collective, joins Backstage Bay Area to preview the SFJAZZ Collective's tribute to Wayne Shorter's Native Dancer (Columbia Records, 1974). We talk about why this album matters, how the Collective reimagined its songs for today's band, Potter's personal encounter with Shorter, and what new music is on deck. ...
Continue ReadingLas Cafeteras Offer Evening Of Spiritual Storytelling
by Steven Roby
Las Cafeteras Miner Auditorium Día de los Muertos Celebration San Francisco, California October 31, 2025 A Día de los Muertos ritual of music, dance, and testimony transformed Miner Auditorium into a living ofrenda.Miner Auditorium resembled a communal altar on Halloween, with flickering candles, portraits of ancestors glowing, and a towering Día de los Muertos figure watching over. The stage was set as an ofrenda--the Día de los Muertos altar, filled with portraits ...
Continue ReadingCaity Gyorgy Brings Strings to Swing
by Steven Roby
Canadian vocalist-composer and three-time JUNO winner Caity Gyorgy (pronounced “George") joins host Steve Roby for a conversation about craft, collaboration, and why swing still feels newly minted when the writing is sharp and the band listens hard. Known for quicksilver phrasing and original tunes that travel between club intimacy and orchestral sheen, Gyorgy traces the path from early influences to her new string-driven project. ...
Continue ReadingBranford Marsalis Quartet At Miner Auditorium
by Steven Roby
Branford Marsalis Quartet Miner Auditorium San Francisco, CA October 23, 2025SFJAZZ CEO Gabrielle Armand's warm welcome set the mood for Miner Auditorium, and Branford Marsalis stepped on stage with the dry humor of a seasoned bandleader, admitting to a tough travel day before dissolving any hint of fatigue with the first downbeat. A sold-out crowd leaned in; the group responded with focus and an easy intensity that only comes from years of shared work. In ...
Continue ReadingBetween Soul and Swing: Nicolas Bearde’s Jarreau, Alive and In Motion
by Steven Roby
Episode Summary Bay Area vocalist Nicolas Bearde joined Backstage Bay Area to talk about his Al Jarreau celebration at the Joe Henderson Lab. We traced his path from early R&B roots and Motown radio to a mature jazz voice shaped onstage with Bobby McFerrin, and how that journey informs a show that treats Jarreau's music as a living language. Nicolas shares insights on two signature tracks from his catalog, the art of collaboration, and what listeners can expect from this ...
Continue ReadingFreedom, Community, and Jazz: KCSM’s 60 Years on the Air
by Steven Roby
Episode overview KCSM 91.1 FM has been a lifeline for Bay Area jazz for six decades. Station Manager Dr. Robert Franklin joins host Steve Roby to talk about the station's live-curated sound, its massive library and preservation work, and the new documentary celebrating KCSM's history and community impact. Guest: Dr. Robert “Bob" Franklin--Station Manager, KCSM 91.1 FM; Executive Producer of KCSM: 60 Years of Broadcasting and Jazz. Why it matters KCSM is one of the nation's ...
Continue ReadingThe Cookers At Miner Auditorium
by Steven Roby
The Cookers Miner Auditorium San Francisco, California October 16, 2025 Some bands chase heat; The Cookers shape it--transforming velocity into design and treating their repertoire as a living lab for risk. On this night at Miner Auditorium, the seven-piece did not rely on memory. They played in the present tense, with charts that encourage lift, turn, and smooth landings, the way only a seasoned band with deep trust can deliver. The premise was simple and ...
Continue ReadingChristian McBride and Brad Mehldau at Presidio Theatre
by Steven Roby
Christian McBride & Brad Mehldau Presidio Theatre San Francisco, CA October 16, 2025 Listening became the real instrument onstage, a single invisible string stretched between Christian McBride and Brad Mehldau and humming all night. At the Presidio Theatre, they approached repertoire as conversation and memory as form, leafing through familiar tunes like a well-loved book, reading passages aloud, underlining new meanings, and showing how a lifetime of music speaks through them. The set ...
Continue ReadingBecca Stevens at the Joe Henderson Lab
by Steven Roby
Becca Stevens Joe Henderson Lab San Francisco, CA October 14, 2025 What happens when a songwriter transforms an intimate space into a map and invites us to follow her route? That was the guiding question of Becca Stevens' early set at the Joe Henderson Lab, where voice and guitar became coordinates, and each song represented a mile of lived experience. The premise was straightforward: Maple to Paper (GroundUP Music, 2024), her 2024 voice-and-guitar cycle, and ...
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