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)

I snapped these photographs yesterday afternoon during the Jazz Mafia‘s Symphony No. 2 dress rehearsal at Stern Grove out in the Avenues of the Sunset District. It was a nice day in the Grove, and it was great to get a personal preview of what will be the world premiere this Sunday of The Emperor Norton Suite, celebrating the spirit of San Francisco’s favorite eccentric. Trust me when I say this show is not to be missed — it’s also outdoors and free too! But remember, Stern Grove gets crazy packed early in the day, and it can be cold and foggy, so get there early and bring something warm if you’re planning on coming!

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

After many, many hours of hard work putting this together, I’m very excited to release this stellar nine-minute multimedia piece of the always amazing Realistic Orchestra performing their killin’ track SR 75 live at the Coda Lounge in San Francisco’s Mission District on February 9, 2010. I really can’t stress enough how incredible it is to witness this much awesomeness live and in person, so make sure to check Coda’s Jazz Mafia Tuesdays schedule for their next performance — it’s a guaranteed WIN every single time!

Also, please note that this video can be streamed directly from this page and is directly playable on your iPhone too, and if you have the bandwidth to handle it, you can watch or download the original high definition 720p version from here.

Download audio file (2010.02.09.RealisticOrchestra.Coda.mp3)

Musicians (On This Night)
Adam Theis, Bandleader, Trombone
Eric Garland, Bandleader, Drums
Evan Francis, Alto, Flute
Kasey Knudsen, Alto, Flute
Sheldon Brown, Tenor, Clarinet
Matt Nelson, Tenor
Doug Rowan, Bari
Jeanne Geiger, Trombone
Danny Grewen, Trombone
Jamie Dubberly, Bass Trombone
Dave Scott, Trumpet
Mike Olmos, Trumpet
Erik Jekabson, Trumpet
Joel Ryan, Trumpet
Colin Hogan, Keyboards
Jon Monahan, Guitar
Tommy Folen, Bass
Dublin, Guest Vocalist
Joe Bagale, Guest Vocalist

Here’s a video mashup I recently put together of Adam Theis and the whole Jazz Mafia family performing their hip hop symphony Brass, Bows & Beats live at Yoshi’s in San Francisco on August 21, 2009. These clips were from the second night of a sold out three-night run at Yoshi’s, which was the group’s first time playing the piece live since its world premiere at the Palace of Fine Arts earlier this Spring.

If you dig what these cats are up to, please consider making a donation towards their efforts to record a new studio album and take the piece on a far reaching U.S. Tour — no small task for a 70-piece orchestra.

SF Jazz showcased the premiere of Adam Theis’ Brass, Bows & Beats: A Hip Hop Symphony at the Palace of Fine Arts on Saturday, April 18, 2009. Supported by a generous “Emerging Composer” grant from the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the composition featured more than 40 of the Jazz Mafia’s incredible jazz, funk, classical, and hip hop musicians.

It was a truly remarkable event, my hat goes off to everyone involved! I was quite simply blown away by it all, and I was grateful to have been given such intimate access to document the day in photos. If you’d like to read a more detailed review of how entirely awesome it was, make sure to stop by Kirk Hamilton’s Blog for a fittingly excellent writeup.

Musicians
Adam Theis, Rita Thies, Evan Francis, Alex Budman, Sheldon Brown, Kasey Knudsen, Matt Nelson, Doug Rowan, Dave Scott, Neil Levonious, Mike Olmos, Joel Ryan, Joel Behrman, Danny Grewen, Jeanne Geiger, Jaime Dubberly, Allison Sawyer, Mads Tolling, Anthony Blea, Dina Macabee, Celia Harris, Kathy Marshall, Graeme Jennings, Elizabeth Prior, Charith Premawardana, Darcy Rindt, Jess Ivry, Robin Reynolds, Sam Bass, Jon Monahan, Matt Berkeley, Colin Hogan, Geroge Ban-Weiss, Tommy Folen, Eric Garland, Joe Bagale, Pat Korte, Matt Lucas, Aspect McCarthy, Karyn Paige, Chris McGee, Dublin, Seneca, Gedeon, and Lyrics Born. I’m sure I missed someone, sorry, but I wrote everyone I could possibly remember!

I’ve been sitting on this gem for far too long, so here’s a post with photos and a tasty audio sample of the Realistic Orchestra performing live, with other acts that included Mos Def, as part of the Band Shell Music Summit in Golden Gate Park on October 18, 2008.

The band delivered some serious music to an enthusiastic crowd and were joined by special guest vocalists that included Chris McGee, Joe Bagale, Karen Page, and a first-ever performance by Lavay Smith with the Orchestra! The included audio track is Sun Up segued into Search with solo action from Doug Rowan, Mike Olmos and Evan Francis.

Download audio file (realistic04.2008.10.18.mp3)

Musicians
Adam Theis, Bandleader & Trombone
Eric Garland, Bandleader & Drums
Joel Behrman, Trumpet
Daniel Casares, Tenor Sax
Evan Francis, Alto Sax & Flute
Jeanne Geiger, Trombone
Danny Grewen, Trombone
Colin Hogan, Keys
Erik Jekabson, Trumpet
Kasey Knudsen, Alto Sax & Flute
Jon Monahan, Guitar
Matt Nelson, Tenor Sax
Mike Olmos, Trumpet
Doug Rowan, Bari Sax
Joel Ryan, Trumpet
Dave Scott, Trumpet
Joe Bagale, Guest Vocalist
Chris McGee, Guest Vocalist
Karen Page, Guest Vocalist
Lavay Smith, Guest Vocalist