Arts and Culture

Inclusive San Jose Jazz Summer Also Features Blues, R&B and Latin Salsa

Published

5 years ago

August 24, 2019

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.”

Carla Thomas

Posts by Carla Thomas

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.

Published

3 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Dr. Carl Blake

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.”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

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).

Published

2 months ago

February 24, 2024

Oakland Post

(L-R) Del Handy, John Handy, Roger Glenn, and Joe Warner celebrate John Handy Day at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, Oakland. Photo by Lady Bianca.

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.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Arts and Culture

Musical Chronicling Life of Betty Reid Soskin Set for Bay Area Debut

Betty Reid Soskin’s storied 102 years includes time spent as a WWII defense worker, activist, business owner, songwriter, National Park Service park ranger and so much more. Now the Richmond icon is the subject of a musical based on her incredible life.

Published

2 months ago

February 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Betty Reid Soskin. Photo courtesy of Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond.

The Richmond Standard

“Sign My Name to Freedom,” a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO) production which will focus on the life, music and writing of Ms. Soskin, will premiere at San Francisco’s Z Space Friday, March 29 and continue through Saturday, April 13. Tickets range from $15–$65 and can be purchased online at https://www.sfbatco.org/smntf

The musical is directed by Elizabeth Carter, while playwright Michael Gene Sullivan integrates Ms. Soskin’s own music throughout dialogue between what SFBATCO calls “The Four Bettys” as they progress through a century of experiences of this awe-inspiring American woman.

The cast of “Sign My Name to Freedom” features Tierra Allen as Little Betty, Aidaa Peerzada as Married Betty, Lucca Troutman as Revolutionary Betty and Cathleen Riddley as Present Betty Reid Soskin, according to Artistic Director Rodney Earl Jackson Jr. and Managing Director Adam Maggio. Other casting will be announced in the future.

Jackson said that having Soskin’s blessing to steward her life’s story is an honor and career highlight for him and that her journey stands as “a beacon for Black Americans, women and people of color all across the world [and] is a testament to the strength of the human spirit.”

San Francisco’s Z Space is located at 450 Florida St. in San Francisco. Check out the trailer here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-ap9N2XBB0