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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

Here are a few photos from the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra’s official debut performance of Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman as the kick-off show for the annual Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. A sizeable crowd came to enjoy a beautiful sunny afternoon of original jazz compositions based on one of our more inspiring — and sometimes overlooked — American heroes. You can read more about MSJO’s project in some of our previous coverage.

Next up is an outstanding performance from the Mitch Marcus Quintet +13 playing live at the Metro Opera in Oakland on April 12, 2007. This was a seriously fun show, I mean how can you not like listening to a live big band with that many great musicians playing such a diverse set of songs? The lineup included Mitch’s standard quintet grouped together with a substantial horn section made up of lots of local talent. These guys don’t get together in this format too often, so make sure to keep an eye on Mitch’s Calendar so you can check them out the next time around. Trust me, it’ll be worth it!

Also, thanks to Mitch’s generous permission, I’m able to share this excellent recording made from a single stereo pair of mics placed dead center right in front of the action. My mics had the best seat in the house, and now you can hear the entire show from that exact same spot! Enjoy…

 Joey Rubber Special [12:52m]: Play Now | Download
 Pork Chops [10:34m]: Play Now | Download
 Mangoes [4:11m]: Play Now | Download
 Inditranego [18:12m]: Play Now | Download
 Hello Don [17:02m]: Play Now | Download
 Maggie's Mambo [Machito] [5:23m]: Play Now | Download
 3rd Movement of Big Castle Suite [8:46m]: Play Now | Download

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to photograph the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra performing live at Presentation Theater as part of the USF Black History Month series of events. The band played two sets comprising music from The Lights Suite, Port Chicago, and their current work-in-progress Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman — this was one of only a few opportunities for jazz fans to get a “preview listen” to this challenging new work.

Marcus has been commissioned by the Creative Work Fund and the Committee for Black Performing Arts at Stanford University to collaborate with the Yerba Buena Arts & Events and the Museum of the African Diaspora to develop Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, an original oratorio for jazz orchestra. The work, which is based on a book of the same name by Kate Clifford Larson, tells the inspiring story of Harriet Tubman and features the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, members of the Glide Memorial Church choir, as well as many other well-known Bay Area vocalists.

The full, completed piece is set to premiere at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival at 1pm on May 5, 2007. In the meantime, you might want to check Marcus’s schedule for more upcoming shows and educational events surrounding this new body of work.

You can click the thumbnails below to see larger versions of the pictures, or alternatively, click here to view a slideshow of the entire photo set.

We were lucky enough to attend the first public performance of a new exciting project being developed by the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra as part of the free outdoor Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. The piece is currently a work-in-progress, and this was a rare opportunity for jazz fans to get a “preview listen” to this challenging new work. Marcus has been commissioned by the Creative Work Fund and the Committee for Black Performing Arts at Stanford University to collaborate with the Yerba Buena Arts & Events and the Museum of the African Diaspora to develop Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, an original oratorio for jazz orchestra. The work, which is based on a book of the same name by Kate Clifford Larson, will tell the inspiring story of Harriet Tubman and will feature the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, members of the Glide Memorial Church choir, as well as several other well-known Bay Area vocalists. The full, completed piece is set to premiere at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival in Spring 2007.

It was my pleasure to help archive the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra’s headlining performance at the Fillmore Street Jazz Festival on July 1, 2006. The band took the stage at 4pm and proceeded to give the crowd EXACTLY what they came to see, some swingin’ big band action live on the streets of San Francisco. The orchestra played original songs from their Port Chicago Suite and The Lights Suite, and they also played a whole host of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn classics in memory of their visits to San Francisco back in the heyday of Jazz in the Fillmore. The band’s Ellington set list included Tourist Point of View and Ad Lib on Nippon from the Far East Suite and four tracks from Harlem Nutcracker and Blue Harlem. It was a great afternoon of big band jazz in the Fillmore, and the audience was just lapping it up! So, I hope you enjoy the photos and this five-minute audio sample from the archival recording I made of their amazing performance. I’d also like to personally thank Marcus for letting me share this little taste of their Fillmore Street set with all of you.

 Peanut Brittle Brigade [Ellington] [5:30m]: Play Now | Download