Arts and Culture
Inclusive San Jose Jazz Summer Also Features Blues, R&B and Latin Salsa
The heat of summer was cooled down by the smooth jazz and music at the 30th San Jose Jazz Summer Fest.
Featuring dozens of local and international entertainers, the three-day festival gave attendees a chance to dance, sing along and groove to sounds new and old of jazz, blues, R&B and Latin Salsa.
Headliners including vocalist Diane Reeves, the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra and En Vogue wowed the crowd.
Other performers included; Gregory Porter, Charlie Hunter, The Family Stone, Top Shelf Big Band and Zydeco Flames and the Marquis Hill Blacktet.
Dressed in matching red suits, the O’Jays appropriately sang “Love Train.” Diane Reeves and Kool and the Gang also sang classic favorites.
Performances honored jazz greats and events, going back to slavery. The SJZ Collective creatively reimagined the music of bass legend Charles Mingus featuring a multigenerational cast spearheaded by drummer Wally Schnalle with veteran trumpeter John Worley Jr., bassist Saúl Sierra, organist Brian Ho, saxophonist Oscar Pangilinan and guitarist Hristo Vitchev.
Guests grooved with the Marquis Hill Blacktet that combined hard bop and hip hop, featuring drummer Jonathan Pinson and vibraphonist Joel Ross.
Sammy Miller and the Congregation featured their seven-piece ensemble’s syncopated sounds of a Pentecostal church service with tenor saxophonist Ben Flocks, trumpeter Alphonso Horne and trombonist Sam Crittenden.
With Richard Howell “A Love Supreme” on saxophone, the improviser took the John Coltrane classic to another level including his son Ele Howell on drums, bassist Nick Panoutsos and Ian McArdle on piano.
Arsenio Rodriguez Project celebrated the memory and tradition of Arsenio Rodriguez while vocalist Jackie Gage’s tribute to Nancy Wilson accompanied by pianist “Orange Julius” Rodriguez, paid homage to the rich storytelling songstress.
Inspired by the feats of Joseph Cinque, who led the 1839 revolt by enslaved Mende people on the Spanish slave ship La Amistad, Cuban pianist/composer Elio Villafranca presented music from his double album “Cinque,” a five-part suite exploring the cultural and rhythmic currents connecting Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.
His all-star band featured saxophonists Vincent Herring and Greg Tardy, trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, trombonist Steve Turre, drummer Lewis Nash and percussionist Arturo Stable.
Festival attendee Denise Hamm said this is her favorite festival.
“The San Jose Jazz Festival has something to offer everyone,” she said. “From old school jazz to new school jazz with a twist, this art form is timeless and keeps on changing.”
In the wake of the recent mass shootings in Gilroy, security was upgraded with more officers and metal detectors. Hamm appreciated the additional security.
“The extra security is great,” she said. “It really gives us a sense of extra protection in these strange times. I encourage people to live their lives in spite of the craziness. We all have to live together and have great times together.”
Arts and Culture
Kedrick Armstrong: New Music Director for the Oakland Symphony
The Oakland Symphony Announced Kedrick Armstrong as its Next Music Director. In addition to conducting the orchestra’s public concerts, Armstrong will also actively participate in the Oakland Symphony’s many education and community engagement programs, designed to inspire a love of music in people of all ages.
By Post Staff
The Oakland Symphony Announced Kedrick Armstrong as its Next Music Director.
In addition to conducting the orchestra’s public concerts, Armstrong will also actively participate in the Oakland Symphony’s many education and community engagement programs, designed to inspire a love of music in people of all ages.
Armstrong is the successor to previous music director and Conductor Michael Morgan, who passed away in 2021 after a 30-year tenure at the Symphony.
Armstrong will open the Oakland Symphony 2024-2025 season on October 18.
Armstrong, who is 29 and hails from Georgetown, South Carolina, is currently the creative partner and principal conductor of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony.
The Chicago Tribune has praised Armstrong for his ability to “simply let the score speak for itself.” He enjoys a wide range of repertoire, spanning early music to premiering new works, using his joy and curiosity for all music to cultivate understanding and collaboration within diverse communities.
“I am deeply honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as the new music director of the Oakland Symphony,” Armstrong said. “As a Black conductor, I find it humbling to stand on the shoulders of both Michael Morgan and Calvin Simmons,” the most recent and the first African American music directors of the Symphony, respectively.
Armstrong led three programs at the Symphony between 2022 and early 2024, which showcased his broad knowledge of the classical repertoire and enthusiasm for spotlighting diverse voices.
On his Oakland Symphony subscription debut on Feb. 16, Armstrong led the world premiere of “Here I Stand: Paul Robeson,” an oratorio by Carlos Simon on a libretto by Dan Harder, commissioned by the Oakland Symphony.
Armstrong was selected unanimously by the Oakland Symphony’s board of directors and musicians after an extensive two-year search. “The search committee was overwhelmed by Kedrick’s scholarship and curiosity about all kinds of music, from classical and jazz to gospel and hip-hop,” said. Dr. Mieko Hatano, executive director of the Oakland Symphony. “We are thrilled to have him join us at the Oakland Symphony.”
Arts and Culture
Faces Around the Bay Dr. Carl Blake, Pianist
Born in Liberty, Missouri, Carl Blake, a virtuoso and respected pianist, made his most recent migration to the East Bay in 1999. One might have seen him performing recently at Noontime Concerts in San Francisco, or at the Piedmont Center for the Arts in Oakland. He is Director of Music at The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco. He was also co-organizer and collaborative pianist at Herbst Theater for The Majesty of the Spirituals concert in 2022 and has held several church positions in the Bay Area.
By Barbara Fluhrer
Born in Liberty, Missouri, Carl Blake, a virtuoso and respected pianist, made his most recent migration to the East Bay in 1999.
One might have seen him performing recently at Noontime Concerts in San Francisco, or at the Piedmont Center for the Arts in Oakland. He is Director of Music at The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco. He was also co-organizer and collaborative pianist at Herbst Theater for The Majesty of the Spirituals concert in 2022 and has held several church positions in the Bay Area.
Blake obtained a Bachelor of Music from Boston University and continued post-baccalaureate studies in Jamaica before earning a Master of Arts in Music at San Jose State University. He was the recipient of two Fulbright residencies in Honduras and completed a third residency at the University of St. Petersburg in Russia. He has a Doctor of Musical Arts from Cornell University.
At age 19, Blake, then an undergraduate piano major at Boston University, was “discovered” by Impresario Dr. W. Hazaiah Williams, who is the Founder and Director of Today’s Artists/Four Seasons Arts.
Williams honored Blake by awarding him the first Marian Anderson Young Artist Award. Anderson personally presented the award at the Masonic Auditorium in S.F. Subsequently, Blake was presented by Dr. Williams in his San Francisco debut at The Herbst Theatre. Williams subsidized a year of study abroad for Blake at the Paris Conservatory of Music. Additionally, Williams sponsored Blake’s New York Weill Hall debut, where he has performed twice since. Blake performed several times at the Yachats Music Festival in Oregon.
Blake continues to perform nationally and abroad. His hobbies are reading, baking and travel. He says, “I’m still pumping ivories, as Belgian pianist Jeanne Stark described the disciplined practice of concert piano.”
Arts and Culture
Oakland Jazz Great Offers Master Class as City Declares “John Handy Day”
World-renowned jazz master saxophonist John Handy, a McClymond’s High School graduate, was presented with a Mayor of Oakland Proclamation declaring Feb. 12, as John Handy Day in the city. Handy is most notably known as the featured saxophonist for Charles Mingus on “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” from the album “Mingus Ah Um” (1959) and on “Hard Work” from his own album “Hard Work” (1976).
By Conway Jones
World-renowned jazz master saxophonist John Handy, a McClymond’s High School graduate, was presented with a Mayor of Oakland Proclamation declaring Feb. 12, as John Handy Day in the city.
Handy is most notably known as the featured saxophonist for Charles Mingus on “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” from the album “Mingus Ah Um” (1959) and on “Hard Work” from his own album “Hard Work” (1976).
“John Handy is a jazz icon and an inspiration to musicians everywhere,” said Ayo Brame, a 16-year-old Oakland tenor saxophone player who is enrolled at the Oakland School for the Arts.
In celebration of this day, the reception in downtown Oakland at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle was a gathering of artists, young and old, coming together in his honor and celebrating his 91st birthday.
Handy presented a Saxophone Colossus free masterclass for musicians. This class afforded a rare opportunity to learn about the saxophone from an aficionado. The class was free and open to all – saxophonists, vocalists, aficionados, students, and casual listeners.
“As a longtime friend for over 60 years, and fellow musician who has had numerous opportunities to share the stage with John, it has always been a pleasure performing with him and hearing his creative interpretations of the music and his gift of ease inspiring the next generation of jazz musicians,” said Roger Glenn, a multi-instrumentalist.
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