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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.

Photos from the Darren Johnston / Evan Francis Quartet live at Chez Hanny in the Haight on February 24, 2008.

Darren Johnston, Trumpet
Evan Francis, Tenor Sax
Eugene Warren, Bass
Smith Dobson, Drums

Here’s a killin’ video clip featuring Realistic Orchestra with special guest Dublin on vocals during their recent live album recording session last Tuesday night March 4, 2008. As usual, the Jazz Mafia crew was lighting up Bruno’s just like they always do, so make sure to head down there on Tuesday nights for a good time, and definitely keep an eye on their website for updated info about when their new live album will be released.

Late last year, I had the distinct privilege of helping the talented Jeff Anderle and Jonathan Russell produce the first album related to their ongoing project Sqwonk. The CD features innovative compositions and arrangements for dueling bass clarinets that I recorded in the acoustically-pleasing Recital Hall of the new San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Listening to these guys play off of one another with that primal bass clarinet sound is truly something to behold, so it is with great pleasure that I present this sample of Profiteering from the album. If you like what you hear and want to support their efforts, the complete CD can be purchased for a nominal price here.

Jon and Jeff are also helping organize, and will be playing as Sqwonk, at the upcoming Switchboard Music Festival, which is an eight-hour music festival that brings together composers and musicians who are seriously pushing the boundaries of their respective genres. The festival will be held on March 30, 2008 at the Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco, so mark your calendars because that’s certainly going to be a show to remember!

Note: Photo is from Sqwonk’s CD Release at Old First Church on October 5, 2007.

 Profiteering [9:10m]: Play Now | Download

Here’s two very clean audio tracks of Inditranego and Joey Rubber Special from the amazing Mitch Marcus Quintet +13 big band who performed live on October 21, 2007 at the de Young as part of the museum’s Cultural Encounters program and done in collaboration with Jazz at Intersection.

Eight bands were commissioned to create and perform eight original compositions for what turned out to be an outstanding outdoor concert series at the museum. Although the series is now complete, the whole program will culminate in a combined performance by all eight bands playing each of their commissioned works at 6:30pm on January 18, 2008 at the museum. And best of all, the final concert is completely FREE to the general public! So, please enjoy these tracks, and I hope to see you all back at the de Young in a few weeks.

Note: the photo is actually a video frame capture from the tiny pocket cam I had with me at the show. The audio was captured with one stereo pair in the middle up in front, and two additional condensers were placed off to each side of the band.

Mitch Marcus & Sheldon Brown, Tenor Saxophones
Sylvain Carton & Marcus Stephans, Alto Saxophones
Dave Scott, Henry Hung, Erik Jekabson & Darren Johnston, Trumpets
Mike Rinta, Jeff Cressman & Joel Behrman, Trombones
Marc Bolin, Bass Trombone & Tuba
George Ban-Weiss & David Ewell, Bass
Jason Slota, Vibraphone & Percussion
Cornelius Boots, Bari Saxophone
Mike Abraham, Guitar
Jeff Marrs, Drums

 Joey Rubber Special [12:18m]: Play Now | Download
 Inditranego [16:20m]: Play Now | Download

The Music of The Supplicants is so much more than an intricately woven framework of sounds, beats, and melodies. It is an experience. The level of emotion with which they play is so deep, so personal, and the energy so pure that it is almost as if existence, or being itself, creeps most surprisingly yet receptively into our souls. … The Supplicants personify the spirit of jazz in its purest form. It is fitting that their members—David Boyce, tenor and soprano sax, bass clarinet; Richard Howell, tenor and soprano sax; David Ewell, bass; and Sameer Gupta, drums—have not chosen a leader; rather, they all lead in their own right. This humility is both at once rare to find in the age of individual jazz and a perfect epitome for their art. The purity of their music is just as rare to find in a time in the history of jazz where its staunch supporters, critics, and historians have crystallized an art form which is still very much alive and placed it behind the glass displays of museums as an untouchable antiquity. ~ Drew Foxman, All About Jazz

After a year hiatus, the four original members of The Supplicants got back together and put on one hell of a live show at the Red Poppy Art House on November 25, 2007. It was a great Sunday evening of improvised music in the Mission, and one that I’m pleased to be able to share with you. So download and listen to these two spontaneously-created audio tracks, and make sure to support these fine musicians whenever you have the chance.

David Boyce, Tenor & Soprano Sax
David Ewell, Bass
Richard Howell, Tenor & Soprano Sax, Talking Drum
Sameer Gupta, Drums

 Song for Charles [16:47m]: Play Now | Download
 Missouri [26:07m]: Play Now | Download

On Friday, October 27th, 2007 I was invited to record the incredible FOCUS Trio live at the Red Poppy Art House in the Mission District of San Francisco. The trio featured Marc Cary (all the way from New York) on keys and synth, Sameer Gupta on drums and tabla, and David Ewell on double bass. They played a few new tracks as well as songs from their 2006 album FOCUS. The audience was also treated to a guest appearance by Marcus Shelby who stepped in to play bass on Elephants’s Eye and Minor League. The recording is a bit ambient because I set up in the back of the room, but it’s positively worth a listen, so you can thank Marc, Sameer, David, and Marcus for letting me share this sample track with all of you!

“The concept of FOCUS Trio is a collaboration between three cultures. Aside from that, playing our asses off the in the tradition of the great Duke Ellington, Max Roach and Paul Chambers, is the focus. … The live show will expand on the concepts developed since the recording of our 2006 album, FOCUS. The recording is the seed and the performance is when the plant grows.” ~ Marc Cary

 Appointment in Ghana [12:32m]: Play Now | Download