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Spring Season 2006
- Savion
Glover, D’Rivera at SF Jazz Festival This Weekend
By Ira Steingroot
Berkeley Daily Planet, June 9, 2006
Today we have Savion Glover who has bundled up all the steps and styles of the past
and carried them into the present. Nothing of the past has been lost, but something
brand new has been added. Savion is the greatest living tap dancer because he is the
most innovative and contemporary. Read
article
- BETTER
LATE THAN NEVER
By Andrew Gilbert
SF Chronicle, May 7,2006
Jimmy Scott's haunting voice is marked by every twist and crash that he's endured. As
much as any singer in American music, he taps into the latent pain and vulnerability
that runs through the American Songbook. Read
article
- BRAZIL'S
RITA DOES FAMILY LEGACY PROUD
By Andrew Gilbert
SF Chronicle, April 30, 2006
Maria Rita was born in the whirlwind, but her music is as cool and refreshing as a chilled
mountain stream.
At 28, she's one of Brazil's biggest stars, a jazz-inflected singer with a silky, translucent
sound that evokes the golden age of popular Brazilian music, or MPB, in the 1970s.
Read article
- Celebrated
musician found jazz roots in Africa
By Andrew Gilbert
Contra Costa Times, April 25, 2006
Randy Weston was on a State Department-sponsored tour of Africa in 1967 when he first
heard the genbri, a string instrument with a cadence similar to a stand-up bass. The
sound was both utterly new and deeply familiar to Weston, who heard within it a soul-deep
connection between Africa and America. Read
article
- Tenor
saxophonist Pharoah Sanders burst through the gates in John Coltrane's group. At 65,
he's going strong.
Daniel King, Chronicle Staff Writer
SF Chronicle, April 19, 2006
Now 65, Sanders, with disarming eyes and a chinstrap beard, continues to make some wrenching,
hulking and, at the same time, serene music. His Bay Area reputation continues to grow,
ever since he moved to Oakland from Little Rock, Ark., in 1959. A Los Angeles transplant
for the past few years, he returns to San Francisco for a solo concert at Grace Cathedral
on Friday -- his second there in 18 years. Read
article
- Sax
master Pharoah Sanders leads trip through 'Sacred Space'
By Jim Harrington, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area, April 25, 2006
The chance to hear music — be it gospel, classical, jazz or any other suitable
genre — in the gorgeous Grace Cathedral shouldn't be missed. And I'm certainly
glad not to have missed the latest "Sacred Space" show Friday night at the
church that featured former Oakland resident Pharoah Sanders. I've seen Sanders before
and I hope I'll see him again. But to witness the 65-year-old tenor sax great perform
in the glorious Grace Cathedral — arguably the most spectacular church in all
of Northern California — was an experience that always will stand out in my memory.
Read article
- Hercules
steals SFJAZZ show
By Jim Harrington, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area, April 18, 2006
IT'S a Herculean task for a drummer to steal the show when he's playing behind mega-talents
such as Berkeley-born saxophonist Joshua Redman and San Mateo County's own vibes-legend
Bobby Hutcherson.
Meet Eric Harland, now known in these parts as Hercules. The fiery Texas-born drummer,
who has set the beat for the likes of McCoy Tyner, Greg Osby and Charles Lloyd, was
an absolutely dominating presence during the SFJAZZ Collective concert Friday night
at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Read
article
- Jazz Collective
all-stars are gleaming and gritty
By Richard Scheinin
The Mercury News, April 16, 2006
Jazz concerts don't usually feel like sporting events, but Friday night's homecoming
of the SFJAZZ Collective had the happy, celebratory feeling of a big game at the ballpark.
One by one, the band's eight members walked onstage to a roar from the sold-out crowd
at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre: ``Bobby Hutcherson!'' (Roar). ``Nicholas Payton!''
(Roar). ``Joshua Redman!'' (Roar). Back from a tour that included performances at Carnegie
Hall in New York and the Barbican in London, the Collective was playing the first of
three consecutive weekend concerts on home turf. Read
article
- Improvisation
master floats over Collective's rich cushion
By Jesse Hamlin, STAFF WRITER
SFGate.com, April 14, 2006
Bobby Hutcherson recorded Herbie Hancock's glowing "Maiden Voyage'' 40 years ago,
with the composer at the piano. For the past month, the brilliant Bay Area vibraphonist
has been playing that and other Hancock classics in concert halls across the country
and Europe with musicians who hadn't been conceived when he cut the song for Blue Note.
Read article
- All-star
ensemble a winner
By Andrew Gilbert, TIMES CORRESPONDENT
Contra Costa Times, April 13, 2006
One sure sign that the SFJAZZ Collective experiment is paying impressive creative dividends
is that musicians around the country are starting to take notice. Founded three years
ago by the San Francisco Jazz Organization as both a laboratory for investigating compositions
by jazz's most influential figures and a workshop for generating new material by its
own members, the eight-piece ensemble has gained widespread attention through tours
and recordings. Last month, Nonesuch released the group's sophomore album, "SFJAZZ
Collective 2."
Read article
- 'Lucky' star: Menlo
Park's Taylor Eigsti shoots for success with major-label debut
By Jim Harrington, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area, April 11, 2006
TAYLOR Eigsti is sitting backstage at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco and talking
a mile a minute. That makes perfect sense — because his world is moving at least
10 times that fast these days... But the most pressing commitment is only a few moments
(and a few feet) away: He's supposed to sit in with the world-class guitarist-vocalist
John Pizzarelli during a SFJAZZ family matinee show. Later on Saturday night, Eigsti
and his close friend, guitarist Julian Lage of Santa Rosa, will perform a full-length
opening set for Pizzarelli at the Herbst. Read
article
- All-star
lineup: Eight top musicians come together in the SFJAZZ Collective
By Marcus Crowder - Bee Staff Writer
The Sacramento Bee, April 9, 2006
What began as a cautious experiment has become a full-fledged success story. The SFJAZZ
Collective, an eight-member, all-star jazz band that debuted in 2004, is now the crown
jewel of the San Francisco Jazz Festival. Read
article
- Collective
makes superb music under SFJAZZ logo
By Richard Scheinin
The Mercury News, April 9, 2006
In recent years, jazz has been brought under the wings of academia and the high arts
-- and, like sneakers (think Michael Jordan) or symphonies (think Michael Tilson Thomas),
it has been branded. In New York, there's Jazz at Lincoln Center (a.k.a. Jazz@Lincoln
Center) with its own elaborate concert series, concert halls and orchestra, a big band
led by Wynton Marsalis. In San Francisco, there's SFJAZZ, which presents its own slew
of concerts, is still working on its own building, and for three years now has had its
own all-star house band, the SFJAZZ Collective, led by saxophonist Joshua Redman. Read
article
- Jazz
pianist's star is rising
By Andrew Gilbert
The Mercury News, April 6, 2006
After Norah Jones made a mint for Blue Note Records, jazz fans eagerly expected some
of that cash to go toward new talent. Despite a six-decade track record as jazz's most
influential record label, Blue Note took a conservative turn, recruiting established
pop and jazz players such as Van Morrison and Wynton Marsalis. Until last year, that
is, when a brilliant pianist and composer from Houston, Robert Glasper, became the first
young instrumentalist signed to Blue Note in five years. Read
article
- A
Fine Salute From SFJAZZ
BY Mike Joyce
Washington Post, Friday, March 24, 2006
The SFJAZZ Collective will never be accused of repeating itself. Since its founding
in 2004, the ensemble has toured every year with a different program of original material
(new pieces composed by each member of the octet) and fresh arrangements of tunes written
by a jazz legend. Led by saxophonist-artistic director Joshua Redman and featuring the
great vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, the group celebrated Herbie Hancock's legacy at
the Music Center at Strathmore on Wednesday night.
Read article
- Musicians
shelve egos to pursue shared goal
BY Jory Farr, Special Correspondent
The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio), March 20, 2006
The best-known might be tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman, a solid melodic improviser
and an evolving composer; and Nicholas Payton, a New Orleans-born trumpeter whose early
collaborations with Doc Cheatham established him as a rising star of his generation.
Others in the group, which includes veteran vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson and Canadian
pianist Renee Rosnes, have also fronted their own outfits. Yet a jazz band achieves
greatness only when each player uses his or her virtuosity in the service of an overall
vision -- as with the collective, founded in 2004. Read
article
- SWELLS
By Catherine Bigelow
SF Chronicle, Sunday, March 19, 2006
Chic, hot and hip, this year's swinging musical gala garnered $250K for SFJazz's artistic
and education programs and kick-started the second spring concert season (through June
17) for this 24-year-old festival, the largest in the Western states. Read
article
- Strength
in Numbers
By Britt Robson
City Pages (Minneapolis, MN), March 15, 2006
In 2003, Redman and Kline hit upon a model for a permanent ensemble that would extend
beyond the classic repertory form that Wynton Marsalis has deftly fashioned with the
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Along with honoring a specific composer each year, the
Collective would commission an original work from each of its members. Read
article
- Critic's
Choice: New CD's
By NATE CHINEN
New York Times, March 13, 2006
Two years ago, SFJAZZ, the institution behind the San Francisco Jazz Festival, started
an eight-piece house band called the SFJAZZ Collective. It was a West Coast answer to
the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, with the tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman filling
the Wynton Marsalis role. Yet the upstart ensemble set its own agenda, including original
contributions as well as repertory work. Its inaugural season surveyed the music of
Ornette Coleman, hardly the obvious starting point for a mainstream organization. Read
article
- S.F.
jazz series welcomes international headliners
By Andrew Gilbert, Times Correspondent
Contra Costa Times, Sunday, March 12, 2006
Produced by the organization that presents the fall San Francisco Jazz Festival, the
spring season opens Friday with a Sacred Spaces concert at Grace Cathedral featuring
Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares, the amazing 22-member vocal choir from Bulgaria. Running
through mid-June, the season features some 30 concerts in venues around San Francisco,
with nearly half the headlining artists hailing from countries such as Brazil, Cuba,
Italy, the Netherlands, Senegal and Morocco.
Read article
- Are
we there yet?
By Alex K. Fong
San Francisco Bay Guardian, March, 2006
This year's SFJAZZ Spring Season program, beginning March 17 and ending June 17, packs
a surprise for listeners that strikes straight to the heart of this city's renowned
festival: inclusiveness. While last season focused on an unprecedented survey of John
Coltrane as post-bop and free jazz master, 2006 draws the likes of smooth jazz trumpeter
Chris Botti and saxophonist David Sanborn (March 24, Masonic Center) in addition to
the usual suspects: Latin jazz heroes, world beat masters, living legends, and contemporary
powerhouses. Read
article
- Spring
season for SFJAZZ
By JENNIFER BIRCH
San Francisco Downtown
San Francisco is also home to the largest non-profit jazz presenter on the West Coast,
SFJAZZ, who bring to us the yearly jazz festival in October as well as the spring and
summer live concert series, community outreach programs and educational events. Remind
yourself to be grateful you live in a city with an organization so complete. Jazz is
an American institution that is and will be forever relevant, beyond radio play and
personality. There is something unique about live jazz that can’t be replicated
in other forms of music.
- Keep
Bulgaria singing
By Andrew Gilbert, Times Correspondent
The Mercury News, Thursday, March 09, 2006
Drawing on regional vocal styles from throughout Bulgaria and a repertoire of folk songs
arranged by the country's greatest composers, Voix Bulgares brings a contemporary sensibility
to a refined tradition dating to the ancient Thracians. Read
article
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