Results for "Oakland"

Bob Karty

Born: November

Bob Karty is a pianist, composer, producer and teacher based in Oakland, CA. His wide-ranging contemporary jazz compositions will be showcased on an upcoming CD - currently in post-production - Mark Walker on drums (Oregon, Paquito D'Rivera), and long-time Pat Metheny Group member Steve Rodby on acoustic bass. Bob has performed with top artists in the San Francisco Bay Area jazz and world music scenes, including percussionist Pete Escovedo (Grammy-nominated Latin jazz legend) and guitarist/composer Ray Obiedo (former Herbie Hancock sideman and Billboard Top-10 Contemporary Jazz recording artist). He has worked with noted percussionists Karl Perazzo (Santana) and Michael Spiro in several projects including the salsa band Conjunto Karabalí and, with Spiro, the world-jazz sextet Tanaóra, which they co- led. With Orquesta La Moderna Tradición, Bob recorded three critically- acclaimed CDs of Cuban music featuring the rarely-performed danzón, often called Cuba’s official national music and dance style, and performed at major festivals across the USA. Bob teaches at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley and at his home studio in Oakland.

Bill Mentz

Born: December 4, 1956

William Mentz is a seasoned vocalist with a voice that exudes soul and emotion. He has performed thousands of shows all over the World. In the last thirty years, William has performed from Boston to San Francisco and everywhere in between. Taipei, Paris, and the Caribbean Islands have also been backdrops for his concerts, always leaving audiences longing for more. Fans of all ages recognize William as a master singer, storyteller and entertainer. After taking some time off to deal with throat cancer, William is back. Stronger and better than ever!

Rebecca Kleinmann

Rebecca Kleinmann is an acclaimed flutist, singer, and composer with a twenty year professional career marked by diversity and improvisation. In the words of Latin Grammy Nominated pianist and composer, Jovino Santos Neto, “Rebecca plays flute with the passion of a flamenco dancer.” An explorer at heart, she rockets and flows between genres, one day leading, The Rebecca Kleinmann Jazz Quartet, with pianist Alex Conde, bassist Gary Brown, and drummer Marlon Aldana, the next day performing with a Brazilian Choro ensemble, and then later that night jamming in flamenco juergas. Rebecca’s international career has taken her to perform on stages in Argentina, Brazil, and Europe including the Melbourne’s International Women in Jazz Festival, as well as being featured at the SF Jazz Center, the San Jose Jazz Festival, Yoshi’s San Francisco, and the Oakland Paramount Theatre closer to home

Laura Klein

Mary D'Orazi

Mary D'Orazi’s warm, lyrical, mezzo soprano voice can color melodies across various genres. She possesses a crystalline tone, strong rhythmic sensibility and thoughtful phrasing. On a rhythmically complex, highly syncopated Brazilian song, her vocal lightness and flexibility come into play. In vocal harmony, singing jazz or pop, she has the aural sensitivity to blend, nuance and dance with other voices. Brazilian music has become a solid landing place for Mary, who has sung various styles throughout her life, and it seems to be a natural fit for her in terms of feel and expression. Over the past decade, Mary has devoted most of her practice to learning an expanse of Brazilian repertoire, with Rio-born pianist/composer Marcos Silva as her mentor

Marcos Silva

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and educator Marcos Silva performs worldwide. Nominated for a Grammy, he has toured with many world-renowned artists, including Paquito D’Rivera, Bud Shank, Dori Caymmi, and many others. He was musical director for Flora Purim and Airto Moreira for 23 years. Marcos has written arrangements for Dizzy Gillespie’s band and replaced Gil Evans as arranger-composer of Airto’s Spiritual Mass in Germany. He is sought after as a producer of CDs, including two of his own. Marcos heads the Brazilian Music Department at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley.

Steve McQuarry

Composer, Arranger, Orchestrator and Keyboardist, McQuarry has performed with distinguished artists such as the late Dizzy Gillespie, Clare Fischer, Louie Bellson, Red Rodney (Charlie Parker), Tom Scott, the late John Cage, Laurie Anderson, Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting, Herbie Hancock, Frank Zappa), Nathan East (Eric Clapton, Herbie Hancock, Bob James), Bill Rich (Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles, Taj Mahal) and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Currently, McQuarry performs and records on his indie label, Mandala Records, with his Jazz ensembles, Echelon, Mandala Orchestra, Mandala Octet, Resonance, Pangaea and Zazen, the Electronica group, Synsor and the new age group, Agharta

George Cotsirilos

Originally from Chicago, George Cotsirilos has been a member of the San Francisco Bay Area jazz community for many years and has performed with a wide variety of artists, from San Francisco jazz fixtures like Eddie Marshall, Mel Martin, Pharaoh Sanders and Mark Levine to internationally recognized blues singer Etta James, Bill Evans bassist Chuck Israels, and the jazz/soul vocal group, The Whispers. His latest album, In The Wee Hours, a collection of originals and standards performed on solo nylon string acoustic guitar, was released on May 22, 2026 and it has been greated with excellent notices. His 2022 quartet CD, Refuge, received wide acclaim, was named a Downbeat  Editors' Pick and Downbeat named it one of the best albums of 2022. His 2018 quartet CD, Mostly In Blue, recieved equal acclaim and Downbeat  named it one of the best albums of 2018. Cotsirilos's earlier trio CD's, On The Rebop, Past Present and Variations have also been well recieved: for example, Washington Post  jazz critic, Royal Stokes named the 2013 trio recording, Variations one of the most notable recordings of 2013.

Tony Malfatti

Born: December 7, 1967

Tony took to music naturally and, with his grandfather’s assistance, began playing trumpet at the young age of three. He began playing clarinet at age 10 and added saxophone at age 11. Tony’s musical foundation was blessed by an excellent private woodwind instructor, Ed Heney, one of the lead saxophonists of the world renowned John Philip Souza Marching Band. Mr. Heney honed Tony’s technique, tone and confidence. Tony began to play professionally at age 15 all over northern California in the R&B band “Streetwise”, arranging and playing in a 3-piece horn section. The fruits of Tony’s labor paid off in his final year of high school when he placed first in the Northern California Étude Competition (Classical) and obtained the lead alto chair in both the California State Jazz Band, and the prestigious Monterrey Jazz Festival High School All Star Band. After high school, Tony was offered an opportunity to join a recording project for Warner Brothers Records, and ultimately recording at the acclaimed Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA

Carrie Jahde

Born: March 16

     Carrie Jahde has earned national awards and a great deal of notoriety over the past decades for her versatile, passionate, and unique approach to drumming. Currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she maintains a full-time touring, recording and teaching schedule, working with musical groups ranging in style from jazz to Latin to funk to R&B. Strongly committed to creative, improvised music, she also composes for her longtime jazz trio NoCoasters, which performs regularly throughout the West Coast.

     Carrie's musical background began with classical piano at the age of 8. By the age of 13 she had added singing and trombone into her life, and began performing locally. It was not until the age of 24, however, that she discovered her love for drumming. Carrie immediately exploded onto the Northwest music scene, recording her first full-length album only six months after purchasing her first drum set. Though initially self taught, Carrie later studied with Alan Tarpinian and Alan Jones, and attended the University of Oregon as a percussion performance major.