Photographs and audio samples from the debut of the Jazz Mafia Symphony No. 2 “Emperor Norton Suite” (along with other selections) live at the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco on June 26, 2011.

What an incredible free outdoor show this was! What’s not to like about so many talented local musicians coming together on such a beautiful day at such a fantastic venue? This is why I live in San Francisco, good times all around!

Download audio file (2011.06.24.JazzMafiaSymphony2.SternGrove.WorldPremiere.01.mp3)
Download audio file (2011.06.24.JazzMafiaSymphony2.SternGrove.WorldPremiere.15.mp3)

The Switchboard Music Festival was founded by local (or formerly local) composers and performers Jeff Anderle, Ryan Brown, and Jonathan Russell with the goal of presenting an epic eight-hour, non-stop music marathon featuring composers and musicians who push the boundaries of their respective genres. No other Bay Area music festival or concert series offers such an eclectic, genre-crossing, convention-breaking, bastardizing group of experimentalists, innovators, and musical omnivores in a single event.

Although I wasn’t able to personally stay for the entire eight hours, I did manage to hang out and document about four hours of live music and behind the scenes action at Brava Theater in the Mission, which was the stretch of the day’s program that included Telepathy, The Genie, Wiener Kids, Erik Jekabson and the Bay Area Composers Big Band, and sound artist Loren Chasse who created a work specifically for the unique environment of the Brava Theater.

On September 12, 2010, 31 chamber music ensembles, from baroque and classical to contemporary and jazz, performed on three different stages for an incredible marathon run of live music for six hours straight!

Chamber Music Day was presented by the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music in collaboration with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Chamber Music Department. The SF Friends of Chamber Music also received the CMAcclaim Award from Chamber Music America in front of a standing room only Concert Hall while the Conservatory celebrated 25 years of chamber music education at the school. It was such a great event for anyone who loves live acoustic music.

I also managed to make a small number of photographs of just a few of the diverse musicians that played. The photos shown here include: the Trumpet Super Group, the Adam Shulman Trio, Lisa Mezzacappa and Nightshade, the Alexander String Quartet, and the Melody of China.

That’s right people, BayTaper.com has reached PLATINUM status on MP3 downloads. That’s not “hits” or “page views,” that’s over one million verified downloads of original, one-of-a-kind live recordings I’ve made in the local Bay Area jazz and creative music scene during the past two and a half years!

I’ve actually been at this project for four years total now, but I didn’t save any of my web server logs from the first year and a half, which is kind of a bummer. However, fret not because after just compiling the data I did save, I’m excited to announce the passing of this remarkable milestone. I feel extremely lucky to have witnessed and documented so much incredible music, and I’d like to congratulate and thank everyone in the scene that gave me intimate access over the years and allowed me to build this incredible archive of local live recordings (and photographs).

So with that context, I thought it might also be fun to post a list of the top fifty most downloaded MP3 files (by blog post) during the past twelve months (the year ending July 15, 2010). I decided to focus on the past year because the full platinum history is somewhat dominated by recordings that have been in the archive the longest. This way it’s much easier to see what some of the more popular recordings have really been during a similar length of time (although the newest posts are still somewhat disadvantaged of course).

So without further ado, here’s the BayTaper.com Top 50 MP3s from the past year, all with download totals and clickable links directly to the recordings for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

Top 50 MP3 Downloads
12 Months Ending July 15, 2010

1. 21,193 – Trumpet Supergroup Live on April 24, 2007
2. 20,107 – The Supplicants Live on November 6, 2009
3. 19,948 – Miles Davis Tribute Live on May 25, 2009
4. 19,156 – Realistic Orchestra Prince Tribute on June 5, 2007
5. 18,954 – Brass Mafia Live on July 2, 2006
6. 18,622 – Erik Jekabson Quintet Live on November 15, 2005
7. 16,552 – Kurt Ribak Trio Live on July 2, 2006
8. 16,419 – Classical Revolution Live on January 27, 2008
9. 16,353 – Plays Monk Live on November 14, 2006
10. 14,365 – The Supplicants Live on April 16, 2010
11. 13,798 – Ben Adams Quintet Live on January 15, 2007
12. 11,993 – Low End Theory Live on May 16, 2006
13. 11,768 – The Invaders Live on June 28, 2008
14. 10,940 – Dan Zemelman Quartet Live on August 15, 2008
15. 10,512 – Realistic Orchestra Live on April 4, 2006
16. 10,305 – Terrence Brewer Trio Live on July 2, 2006
17. 10,243 – Adam Shulman Trio Live on April 30, 2009
18. 9,491 – Mitch Marcus Plus 13 Live on April 12, 2007
19. 9,485 – B-Free Live on December 15, 2006
20. 9,329 – Nefasha Ayer Live on November 1, 2008
21. 8,922 – Mitch Marcus Quintet Live on July 1, 2006
22. 8,243 – Jekabson, Rissanen, Shifflet, Sumelius on Jan 20, 2006
23. 8,075 – 8 Legged Monster Live on May 7, 2008
24. 8,040 – Marcus Shelby Quartet Live on January 15, 2010
25. 7,432 – 8 Legged Monster September 3, 2009
26. 7,288 – The Supplicants Live on October 27, 2006
27. 7,000 – Mitch Marcus Quintet Live on October 8, 2006
28. 6,876 – Steven Lugerner Sextet Live on August 15, 2008
29. 6,853 – D’Armous Boone Live on January 19, 2007
30. 6,702 – Eaton Barics Quintet June 19, 2009
31. 6,649 – Amendola and Blades Live on July 24, 2009
32. 6,262 – Jaz Sawyer Live on October 25, 2008
33. 6,247 – Mitch Marcus Quintet Live on June 30, 2007
34. 6,053 – Erik Jekabson Quintet Live on December 19, 2006
35. 6,011 – Devin Hoff Live on January 3, 2009
36. 5,606 – Classical Revolution Live on January 8, 2009
37. 5,560 – Nice Guy Trio Live on November 2, 2009
38. 5,109 – 8 Legged Monster Live on July 13, 2008
39. 4,947 – 8 Legged Monster Live on January 30, 2010
40. 4,393 – A Far Cry Live on May 15, 2008
41. 4,054 – The Focus Trio Live on October 27, 2007
42. 3,787 – Erik Jekabson Quartet Live on December 18, 2009
43. 3,579 – Terrence Brewer Live on March 20, 2007
44. 3,173 – Mitch Marcus Big Band Live on October 21, 2007
45. 3,136 – Bay Area Classical Harmonies Live on May 17, 2007
46. 3,131 – Shotgun Wedding Quintet Live on July 20, 2007
47. 2,936 – Realistic Orchestra Live on October 18, 2008
48. 2,915 – Sqwonk Live on October 5, 2007
49. 2,887 – Blades vs. Amendola Live on April 21, 2006
50. 2,887 – Darren Johnston Quintet Live on February 16, 2007

Photographs from Donato Cabrera conducting the San Francisco Symphony live at the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco on Sunday, July 11, 2010.

Program
Danzón Cubano, Copland
Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo, Copland
Cuban Overture, Gershwin
Pastoral Symphony No. 6, Beethoven

Photographs of Vasily Petrenko conducting the San Francisco Symphony performing pieces by Edvard Grieg and Dmitri Shostakovich, with Simon Trpceski on Piano, live at Davies Symphony Hall on Friday, April 2, 2010. Plus bonus shots of the always-stimulating Jazz Mafia playing their musical response to the concert at the Davies After Hours party that followed!

Program
Grieg, Concerto in A minor for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 16
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Opus 65