Results for "Oakland"

Carla Bley

Born: May 11, 1938

Carla Bley was born in Oakland, California in 1936. Her father Emil Borg, a piano teacher and church organist, began giving her music lessons when she was three years old and she was soon playing at church functions. But her musical education ended at the age of eight. Her formal education stopped entirely when she dropped out of high school after completing the tenth grade.

During her adolescence Carla was drawn to jazz and moved to New York City to be closer to the musicians she admired. She resumed her musical education by working as a cigarette girl at the notorious Birdland jazz club, where she was able to hear the greatest jazz musicians of the day. She met pianist Paul Bley and eventually relocated to Los Angeles, where Paul and his quartet had a steady gig at the Hillcrest Club. She began to write music. When saxophonist Ornette Coleman came on the scene in the mid-fifties, Paul Bley immediately hired him and Carla was exposed nightly to ‘free’ playing, a powerful influence that was to affect her writing for many years.

Teodross Avery

Born: July 2, 1973

As a musician, Dr. Teodross Avery stands as one who defines live music—best experienced front row, and full throttle. His commanding presence, on stage and off, reflects his musical ingenuity and skill. With an outstanding pedigree, both professionally and academically, Teodross is a saxophonist to watch, as evidenced by many of today’s biggest names in music relying on his wide musical reach. While growing up in Oakland and Vacaville, California, Teodross’ parents exposed him to a wide range of music including traditional Eastern and Western African music, Soul, Rock, and Jazz. At ten, his father started him with classical guitar lessons

Sam Bevan

Born: December 13, 1974

Since moving to San Francisco in 1999, Sam Bevan has established himself as one of the most versatile and creative bassists in the Bay Area. Bevan is able to canvas a large musical landscape where jazz, funk, r&b, folk and Afro-Cuban disciplines joyously intermingle. His sound is in response to the history of modern jazz, yet it’s his composer’s ear which informs his overall concept. Bevan explains, “Since I began my musical life as a pianist, including experiences composing and arranging for pop/rock, jazz and salsa bands, I have gained a much broader sense of the role of the bass. I am very content providing support and feel as a part of the rhythm section, as well as listening for appropriate moments to push the music into new territory

Ellen Robinson

Born: July 9, 1949

In an art form awash with ingenues and shiny singers newly minted from music school, Ellen Robinson’s emergence is a breath of fresh air. With her new album Don’t Wait Too Long, the Oakland jazz vocalist makes a convincing case for the value of life experience as a template for reimagining American Songbook standards and more contemporary fare. Displaying impressive skills as a songwriter, she also infuses hard-won wisdom in original tunes. Like her two previous releases, Don’t Wait Too Long was produced by the sure hand of drummer and veteran DJ Bud Spangler. It’s the work of a late-blooming artist with a clear, heartfelt vision, exquisite taste, and lovely voice that lingers in your ear long after the music has finished

Phillip Greenlief

Born: February 14, 1959

phillip greenlief (b. 1959, los angeles) - (shorter bio and index of compositions listed below) "The Bay Area's do-it-yourself ethos has produced a bevy of dazzlingly creative musicians, but few have put the philosophy to work as effectively as Phillip Greenlief". – Andrew Gilbert, San Francisco Chronicle Acclaimed saxophonist and composer Phillip Greenlief is the founder of Evander Music; an independent record label presenting original composition, improvised music and jazz. Since 1986, his recordings and performances have received critical acclaim in Down Beat, All About Jazz, Jazz Times, Cadence, Modern Saxophone, InfraTunes (France), Altrisuoni (Italy), The Wire (London), Colossus (Finland), St

Jeremy Steinkoler

Born: October 5, 1970

Jeremy has been playing drums professionally for over 25 years. He performs regularly with a wide array of musical projects, including his award-winning saxes-and-drums funk trio Mo’Fone, pop-jazz group Jenna & the Charmers, the Bait & Switch Blues Band, Jennifer Jolly & Friends, the Erika Oba Trio, Jean Fineberg's JAZZphoria, his own J. Steinkoler Quartet, and various other jazz players and singer/songwriters. His groovy, feel-based approach to the drums has earned him prodigious credits as a sideman, including performances and recordings with members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Dave Ellis, Kirk Joseph, Clarence Bucaro, Jenna Mammina, Mamadou Sidibe, Chelle & Friends, Guru Garage, Valerie Orth, Rachel Efron, Flyover States, the Kevin Beadles Band, Featprints, Hot Links, Phatlip, the Jolly Gibsons, Sam Rudin, and many other top musicians around the Bay Area

David Byrd

Born: April 6, 1957

David Byrd and Byrds of a Feather are the epitome of JazzReggae in the bay area. Born and raised on the musical mecca of 47th street in Chicago, and grew up listening to all the greats like Lou Rawls, Jackie Wilson, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and BB King, to name a few, who played at the Regal Theater, where his uncle, Red Saunders was the drummer and bandleader. On the same block of 47th and Drexel Blvd. where he lived, jazz greats like Gene Ammons played at the Southerland . He got serious about jazz until he went to the jam sessions that were hosted by Sonny Stitt at the Grass Hut on 79th street and then enrolled in Chicago State University in 1977 to study under the great Bunky Green

Tom Weeks

Born: May 16, 1989

Tom Weeks is a composer, improviser, and saxophonist from Oakland, CA. He has received a Bachelor's degree in Jazz Composition from Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA, and a Master's degree in Composition from Mills College, Oakland, CA. He has studied with Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Frith, Zeena Parkins, Pauline Oliveros, Steve Adams, Richard Evans, and Phil Wilson, among others. His music is influenced by various African-American musical traditions, the historical avant-garde, and the heavy metal and hardcore traditions; utilizing improvisation, extended techniques, and traditional and experimental notational practices

Steven Faivus

Born: January 17, 1962

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah at Bandcamp Record Store and Performance Space

by John Bricker
July 5, 2019

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Bandcamp Record Store and Performance Space Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Live at Bandcamp Oakland, CA June 27, 2019 While his band played “Songs She Never Heard," a piece from his 2019 album Ancestral Recall, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah paced across the stage, shaking a steady groove ...