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Photos from Joe Bagale’s CD Release Party live at the Great American Music Hall on April 4, 2008.

Photos from the Shotgun Wedding Quintet live at the Great American Music Hall on April 4, 2008.

On October 19th, I was fortunate enough to be given access to make photographs of the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra and the Jon Jang Seven performing as part of the San Francisco Jazz Festival. The musicians played an inspired show to a sold out crowd at the historic Great American Music Hall, and I had a great time listening to the live music and sleuthing around making the images you see here. I’d also like to personally thank Marcus, Kate, and SFJazz for making these photographs possible.

Two of the Bay Area’s most accomplished composer-performers present new works inspired by powerful women. Bassist Shelby’s “epic oratorio” (SF Chronicle) “Harriet Tubman: Bound for the Promised Land” celebrates the great abolitionist, while pianist Jang’s “Unbound Chinatown: A Musical Tribute to Alice Fong Yu” honors Yu, a groundbreaking Chinese American teacher in San Francisco.

– SFJazz

Marcus Shelby brings deep social and political awareness to his large-scale, indeed epic compositions. His latest, which he will perform with his 15-piece orchestra plus four singers Friday night, is based on the life of Harriet Tubman, which he discussed at length with the San Francisco’s Chronicle’s Jesse Hamlin in a recent story available here.

– San Francisco Chronicle

Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra
Faye Carol, Kenny Washington, Jeannine Anderson, Joseph Mace, Vocalists
Dave Scott, Mike Olmos, Darren Johnston, Joel Ryan, Trumpets
Danny Grewen, Marc Bolin, Scott Larson, Trombones
Marcus Stephens, Gabe Eaton, Alto Sax
Evan Francis, Tenor Sax and Flute
Rob Barics, Tenor Sax and Clarinet
Tom Griesser, Bari Sax
Adam Shulman, Piano
Jeff Marrs, Drums
Marcus Shelby, Bass and Conductor

Jon Jang Seven
Jon Jang, Piano
Min Xiao-Fen, Pipa, Vocals
Jim Norton, Soprano Saxophone
Francis Wong, Tenor Sax and Flute
John L. Worley Jr., Trumpet and Flugelhorn
Wayne Wallace, Trombone
David Belove, Electric Bass
Jason Lewis, Percussion

My old friends from Ithaca rolled back through town a few weeks back, so I had another opportunity to record one of the most talented American reggae acts around. On May 17, 2006, John Brown’s Body played live at the historic Great American Music Hall. The venue is a classic hall with acoustics all it’s own and the band filled the room with some thumping bass for sure. We were a little disappointed when the venue denied the band a soundboard feed of their own music (they said it required pre-approval and a $1,000 fee), so that squelched our hopes of pulling a matrix of the board mixed with our ambient mics like we did previously at the Warfield. So, this recording is a classic audience tape with all the reverb and boom you could ever want in a reggae recording! Also,thanks to the band’s generous open taping policy, which permits non-commerical sharing of their live performances among fans, you can enjoy the entire show by clicking the links below or by downloading them directly from Archive.org.

 Intro [0:42m]: Play Now | Download
 This is Not the End [5:01m]: Play Now | Download
 Make It Easy [6:19m]: Play Now | Download
 Rock Stone [5:08m]: Play Now | Download
 New Blood [5:55m]: Play Now | Download
 Blazing Love [5:43m]: Play Now | Download
 Heart and Soul [5:09m]: Play Now | Download
 Singers and Players [8:23m]: Play Now | Download
 Original Man [9:21m]: Play Now | Download
 Not Enough [5:23m]: Play Now | Download
 Dreadnaught [11:19m]: Play Now | Download
 Garden Tree [7:01m]: Play Now | Download
 What We Gonna Do [6:27m]: Play Now | Download
 Tree of Life [7:27m]: Play Now | Download
 33 RPM [6:13m]: Play Now | Download
 Encore Break [1:35m]: Play Now | Download
 Full Control [8:47m]: Play Now | Download