BayTaper.com

On Tuesday, June 5th Realistic Orchestra presented it’s Second Annual Prince Birthday Tribute at Bruno’s. The orchestra was in full effect and guest vocalists like Joe Bagale, Chris McGee and Emily Schmidt ripped it up with the band as the night progressed. DJ Daymitreeus was also in the house spinning crates of rare Prince related records all night long, not to mention busting some sick Prince-themed freestyles with the band. The good news is Adam and the guys gave me permission to post my entire audio source, but the bad news is I ended up leaving before the end of the second set. Oh well, there’s still twelve tracks of Realistic goodness available for your listening pleasure! So please enjoy this eclectic mix of original compositions and unique arrangements of some classic Prince by everyone’s favorite big band. And although I didn’t bring my own camera, thankfully someone else did.

 Fringetown [10:38m]: Play Now | Download
 Reactance [10:00m]: Play Now | Download
 Scary [9:08m]: Play Now | Download
 Hard Times [10:02m]: Play Now | Download
 Living for the City [5:16m]: Play Now | Download
 Prince Medley [13:39m]: Play Now | Download
 Musicology [7:06m]: Play Now | Download
 D.M.S.R. [4:55m]: Play Now | Download
 777-9311 [6:49m]: Play Now | Download
 Darling Nikki [9:38m]: Play Now | Download

Adam Theis recently organized an early night of jazz music at Bruno’s in tribute to Miles Davis’s birthday. It was an ambitious undertaking that included some painstaking efforts in the charting department. With only a single rehearsal under their belt, a chunk of the Jazz Mafia crew, along with other talented local musicians (complete lineup below), took on the awe-inspiring 1950’s era Birth of the Cool album in full Nonet form.

The group played Boplicity, Budo, Rouge, Moon Dreams, Move, Venus de Milo, God Child, Israel, and Deception to an attentive and enthusiastic packed house. The only tracks not played from the original album were Jeru, Rocker, and Darn That Dream. You can learn more about the original groundbreaking album at Wikipedia, and please enjoy the MP3 audio and MP4 video samples of Move below.

Joe Cohen, Alto Sax
Charlie Gurke, Bari Sax
Eric Jeckabson, Trumpet & Flugelhorn
Jeff Marrs, Drums
Mike Olmos, Trumpet & Flugelhorn
Mike Rinta, Tuba
Marcus Shelby, Bass
Adam Shulman, Piano
Adam Theis, Trombone

 QuickTime MP4 Video [8:19m]: Play Now | Download
 Windows Media Video [8:19m]: Play Now | Download
 MP3 Audio [8:58m]: Play Now | Download

I managed to catch one last jazz performance before the end of the year, and it made perfect sense that it was of the Erik Jekabson Quintet because they just happened to also be the subject of one of my first-ever recordings a year ago at the Condor Club. On this night, they played at Bruno’s in the Mission as part of the weekly Jazz Mafia Tuesdays series put on by Adam Theis and crew. Matt Renzi played clarinet and tenor, Jeffrey Burr was on guitar, Eric Garland was hittin’ the skins, Kurt Kotheimer was on double bass, and of course Erik was rippin’ on trumpet. There was a good crowd for a Tuesday night before the holidays, and I was quite amazed by the sheer number of musicians in attendance. The group played a fantastic set of five songs that were mostly original compositions written by Erik. These guys never fail to impress, so please support their efforts and enjoy yourself at the same time by seeing them play live and by purchasing their studio albums. I hope you can find some time to enjoy this great live recording as much as I have!

 In a Hurry [10:35m]: Play Now | Download
 Einchornchen [12:40m]: Play Now | Download
 Intersection [11:54m]: Play Now | Download
 Cresent Boulevard [12:14m]: Play Now | Download
 Big Hurtin' [11:45m]: Play Now | Download

Here’s a short post with a bunch of photos I shot from the Realistic Orchestra’s recent performance last Wednesday night as part of the Northbeach Jazz Festival. Sorry to say I didn’t record audio that night, but trust me, these guys rocked the house as usual and are not to be missed when they assemble in big band form like this. You simply must see these guys live sometime.

I’ve finally found some time to write and post about this superb gig of Low End Theory playing live at 12 Galaxies. These guys are part of the Bay Area’s super-talented Jazz Mafia collective that we’ve been covering for a while now, and they sure know how to kick down some serious low-end brass through their powerful section of in-your-face trombones. The group is made up of Adam Theis, Marty Wehner, and Joel Behrman on trombones (with a little trumpet thrown in for good measure), Marc Bolin on bass trombone, Dave Scott on keys, George Ban-Weiss on upright bass, and Eric Garland on drums. It was a kickin’ night of pumping horns, and the recording came out absolutely outstanding. And, thanks to the Mafia’s willingness to share their live performances with fans for personal, non-commercial use, you should definitely spend some serious quality time listening to the MP3s posted below, and don’t forget to support the band, and the collective in general, by getting out to see their live shows.

 Complete Compunction [8:12m]: Play Now | Download
 Anyone Who Had A Heart [8:21m]: Play Now | Download
 Super Glue [12:18m]: Play Now | Download
 Gospel Sermon [8:08m]: Play Now | Download
 Confucious [7:31m]: Play Now | Download
 The Whip [6:58m]: Play Now | Download
 Straight Shuffle [5:57m]: Play Now | Download
 Whoop Ass [10:01m]: Play Now | Download
 Not Standard [5:50m]: Play Now | Download