A Cool Exchange Between Old Friends - Jazz and Poetry

Imira Baraka

Poet Imira Baraka and saxophonist Sonny Simmons shared the stage in performance at EastSide Cultural Center in Oakland on November 13, 2011.

Coming into its 5^th year, Oakland’s own EastSide Cultural Center is known as the platform for artists, activists and brave truth-tellers.

This lively community arts district is one of the few places where the predominantly Asian, Latino, Native and African American communities share common ground to create cultural dialogue of understanding and solidarity.

Michel Rabouin, percussionist, Dinah deSpenza, and Eddie Gale, American Trumpeter - EastSide Cultural Center, Oakland, CA - photo by Julian Carroll

The Center is located at 2277 International Boulevard in Oakland in a neighborhood with a rich history in industry and early homesteads where immigration remained constant. With recent immigrants from Asia and Latin America having joined the descendents of earlier African American settlers makes this area of Oakland one of the most multicultural areas in the East Bay.

Having opened its doors New Year’s Eve 2007, EastSide is a spacious yet intimate venue presenting weekly performances and ongoing arts workshops with open rooms for music, dance, theater, multimedia and visual arts.

The fall 2011 line-up included the performance of Amiri Barika and Sonny Simmons.

Hosted by KCSM and KPFA’s Greg Bridges, the poetry came into direct contact with the music.

Joe McKinley, bass

Sonny Simmons, Joe McKinley, Imira Baraka

“The artists here tonight are Freedom Fighters – fighting with their instruments. This stage is the canvas that these artist paint on,” says Bridges.

With over 40 books of essays, poems, drama, music history and criticism, the poet icon and revolutionary political activist Baraka reads his poetry and lectures on cultural and political issues extensively in the USA, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe.

The influences on Baraka’s work range from Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk and Sun Ra. Renown as the founder of the Black Arts Movement in Harlem in the 1960s, other influences are the Cuban Revolution, Malcolm X and world revolutionary movements.

Somebody Blew Up America is part of Baraka’s first collection of poems published in the Caribbean. The title poem headlined him in the media in ways rare to poets and authors.

The poem’s own detonation caused the author’s photo and words to be splashed across the pages of New York’s “Amsterdam News” and the “New York Times.” Baraka was also featured on CNN, and national and international media.

Baraka has appeared in numerous documentary films including Mario Van Peeble’s “Poetic License” for the Sundance Channel.

Sharing the stage with Baraka was Sonny Simmons.

Firmly rooted in tradition as a disciple of Charlie Parker and master of the saxophone, Simmons inspires and excites audiences and as well as the musicians that share the stage with him.

Simmons embodies the homegrown spirit of Oakland.

“I grew up in Oakland with Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale and all of the beautiful brothers who escaped the revolution,” says Simmons.

His interest in jazz happened at a time when the Oakland scene was really fertile with music. As a kid Simmons witnessed first hand, musicians such as Dexter Gordon, Lena Horne, Cab Calloway and Louis Jordan. As one of the few jazz musicians to also play English horn, in the early 60s he worked with Charles Mingus and Prince Lasha before recording for ESP-Disk.

Both distinguished artists, Baraka and Simmons brought to the stage an aura of literary and post bop celebrity.

Bob Joslin, violin, piano, Sonny Simmons, saxophone 

Sharing EastSide’s stage with the two masters were other bay area master musicians, Michael Floyd on drums, Joe McKinley on bass, and Bob Joslin on violin and piano.

Michael Floyd, drums

Simmons’ performance breathlessly invoked the inventor of his instrument and together both artists invoked their ancestral legacy.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the show,” said Janine Theodore, a patron of the arts.

Sonny Simmons

The show ends with Simmons boldly saying “it’s autumn in New York,” before belting out the tune on his horn.

SF Jazz Festival Listening Party and Wine Tasting Featuring Robin Eubanks, trombonist for SF Jazz Collective

Robin Eubanks, courtesy of google images

 

Triple Crown master performer, Robin Eubanks took audience on a journey through the history of the trombone at SF Jazz Listening Party and Wine Tasting on November 9^th.

The event was held at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, in San Francisco. The event packed a full house.

Spinning recordings from legends and innovators of the trombone, Eubanks shared his insights and demonstrated trombone techniques with educators, students, and jazz enthusiasts.

“As an athlete has to warms up with stretches before an event, you must first warm up with the Trombone,” said Robin Eubanks.

Vintage Berkeley featured acclaimed selections of small-production wines from around the world.

On stage with Eubanks for the discussion was Randall Kline, Executive Artistic Director and founder of SF Jazz, followed by a question and answer session.

 “It’s a chance for the audience to get to know the artist,” said Kline.

Eubanks appeared on the jazz scene in 1980, performing with Slide Hampton, Sun Ra, and Stevie Wonder.

He came from an exceptional musical family.  His mother was a piano player who played the organ at church and gave music lessons to young students while his brothers, Kevin and Duane played the guitar and trumpet, respectively. His cousins Ray Bryant and Tommy Bryant were also musicians.

Eubanks got early exposure to the music while still in the womb, his mother played piano while pregnant with him with her belly rubbing against the piano.

At age 8, while his mother was giving piano lessons, Eubanks’ curiosity was cause for him to pick up the trombone.

austinpost.org

“I was trying to figure out how to play an instrument just moving your arms,” said Eubanks.

Eubanks has appeared on television numerous times, often playing with brother Kevin and doing fill-ins with the “Tonight Show” band, as well as for the bay area’s own Steve Turre on “Saturday Night” Live in New York.

“A musical instrument from the brass family, the trombone is a 15^th century instrument originally designed after an Old English instrument called the sackbut. It is a symphonic horn characterized by a telescopic slide in which the player varies the length of the tube to change pitches, it uses three valves like those on a trumpet.

ceciliomusic.com

There are 7 positions of the trombone, you get different overtones series, B flat, F and D,” says Eubanks, before playing a Calvary bugle song on his horn. “There is a physical awkwardness because of the slide. F to G, you move about a foot. That’s a physical problem with the trombone.”

According to Eubanks, “Kid Ory from the 1920s in New Orleans was one of the most influential trombonists in early jazz. During the tail gate parties where bands rode around in the back of a truck, Ory was known for having his trombone hanging off the side of the truck while playing due to the awkwardness of the horn.”

A tenured professor at Oberlin College, Eubanks talked early jazz history of trombone players who were the biggest names in Jazz and helped the trombone to become well known.

From the small bands that included Kid Ory, King Oliver, who played along with Louis Armstrong, to Jack Teagarden, to the big bands like Duke Ellington Band.

“It is said that it is the closest sound to the human voice,” says Eubanks, while spinning a recording of Ellington’s band on a cut where Joe Tricky Sam Norton has his trombone making sounds like someone saying ya ya ya ya ya.

“I loved how his letter flutter did a harmony with his notes,” said Joe Stritchy, a junior at Delmar High School in San Jose who is the only trombone player at his school.

keepswinging.blogspot.com

After taking a journey with Eubanks through the Big Band era during WW II with J.J. Johnson, whom he calls the godfather of modern trombone in the 40s and known for his film scores, Eubanks credits him as the most important influence because he recommended him for his teaching position at Oberlin College.

“I was so indebted to J.J., I saw it as him passing the torch on to me and I will always be indebted to him and his memory, said Eubanks.

SF Jazz Presents - Profile of American Jazz Masters - Javon Jackson

The SF Jazz Festival experience is the hotplate where locals meet legends from the Bay Area and abroad in one of the most brilliant musical art forms.

Now in its 29^th year, SF Jazz has been a Bay Area cultural institution for nearly three decades. Founded in 1983, it is the largest jazz presenting venue and educational institution on the West Coast.

Offering extensive productions of a phenomenal array of jazz and world music artists at venues throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area, their year-round educational programs brings great artist to the Bay Area.

The Friday, October 28^th performance was held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, located at 701 Mission Street in San Francisco. The location is easily accessible by public transportation on either Muni or if traveling on BART, one can take either the Montgomery or Powell Street exits.

The venue’s contemporary arts center offers visual arts performances of music, film and media exhibitions. It is the perfect place for students and community residents looking for fun things do on weekends in beautiful downtown San Francisco.

Javon Jackson - www.2downfront.com

Of the many tributes to legendary John Coltrane, tenor saxophone mastermind Javon Jackson stood beyond the ordinary in his project focusing on Coltrane’s associated compositions and immortal recordings featuring four veteran masters with close spiritual and professional ties to Trane.

Heating up the stage on drums was Jimmy Cobb, pianist Mulgrew Miller and Nat Reeves on bass.

The highly esteemed musical masters were especially honored to share the bandstand with Jackson.

Jimmy Cobb - http://www.absoluteastronomy.com

“I love playing with Javon,” says Cobb who is still going strong at 82. Having collaborated extensively with Coltrane during their years as Miles Davis’ sidemen, he appeared together on the epochal album Kind of Blue and today he continues to lead his hard hitting bands and teaching jazz workshops at Stanford University for the past 9 years.

Mulgrew Miller

“Seeing Bobbie Hutcherson in the audience and being on the bandstand with Jimmy Cobb, I appreciate Jackson’s energy, says Miller, a potent leader himself who has been consistent across the years, having released several albums to date including, Live At Yoshi's Vol. 1 (2004), Live At Yoshi's Vol. 2 (2005), Live At The Kennedy Center Vol. 1 (2006), and Live At The Kennedy Center Vol. 2 (2007). Miller is the Director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University and was the Artist in Residence at Lafayette College for 2008-2009.

Nat Reeves

“Sensing the energy all around me, especially the audience, while playing with Javon, I forget I’m onstage,” says world renown bass player Reeves who has been teaching at the Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut and the University of Hartford. Reeves have also performed internationally with a number of jazz artists including the legendary Jackie McLean.

The highly esteemed hip sophisticated crowd in the house for Jackson’s performance, included world renown Bay Area musicians, John Handy, former Jazz Studies Professor at San Francisco State, Bobby Hutcherson and Herbie Hancock, to name a few.

Having transcended his young lion status to become a noted composer and bandleader, Jackson has headed up acclaimed sessions for Blue Note, Criss Cross and Palmetto.

Michel Rabouin, Javon Jackson

“I’ve attended Javon’s performances for a number of years,” says Michel Rabouin of San Jose.

Jackson came on the jazz scene gaining attention while apprenticing with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the 80s and had memorable stints with molten drummer Elvin Jones, a member of Coltrane’s “classic” quartet.

“The most important thing I learned from Art Blakely was never forget to thank the audience, and to play as if it were your last time,” said Jackson.

A very versatile and eclectic musician, Jackson feels that doing different types of music helped him find his own style.

“Starting the day listening to classical music every morning relieves me from stress and helps center me for the day,” said Jackson.

Having collaborated with artists in other music genres, Jackson has also been known to work with R&B/soul singer, songwriter, and producer, Kem, and recording artist Carlos Santana.

Jaz Sawyer, 33, The Jazz Drummer Who Inspires

Jaz Sawyer

Jaz Sawyer, master drummer extraordinaire, united with some of the best and hardworking talents in the bay showcased a spectacular night of music at Yoshi’s Oakland, in October.  

In celebration of the release of their live recording from 2009, with his longtime peers, the Bay Area All Stars, Sawyer’s artistry, versatility and ingenuity in musicianship illuminated the stage.

Geechi Taylor

Marcus Shelby

Matt Clark

Ryan "Solar" Burke, Valerie Troutt, Howard Wiley

“Bassist, Marcus Shelby, is one of the worlds preeminent talented composers, Matt Clark is a great talent on piano, Howard Wiley, saxophones, and Geechi Taylor, trumpets, have been playing together for years as a unit and they are flat out awesome musicians,” says Julian Carroll, Jazz Poet and Musicologist.

The All Stars were joined by special guest vocalists, Valerie Troutt and Ryan “Solas” Burke, and Adrian Areas, formerly of Carlos Santana’s band played Congas. 

Jaz Sawyer, Adrian Areas

“Jaz Sawyer is my birth name. My parents were inspired by the music and decided to name me that. I grew into it around the age of 5,” says Sawyer.

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sawyer learned to play the trumpet and bass before beginning music studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music/Preparatory Division.

As a teenager, he participated in the Stanford Jazz Workshop’s programs for several years and was a member of the San Francisco Youth Orchestra for two years before graduating from the San Francisco School of the Arts. He has performed at many of the world’s premier venues, including the Blue Note, Village Vanguard and Carnegie Hall in New York City, Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, New Morning in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Eilat, Israel, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague, Holland.

Having worked with luminaries such as Abbey Lincoln, Wynton Marsalis, George Benson, Bobby Hutcherson, Mose Allison, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Dee Dee Bridgewater and M’lumbo, Sawyer, gives much back to the community as a teacher at Oakland School of the Arts and Oakland Public Conservatory of Music.

“Jaz is great teacher of young people and role model for all musicians in Bay Area, says Carroll.

Sawyer swung like a strong breeze, and called all his young students in the audience to the stage to do solo performances.

According to Sawyer, performing with his peers from high school and for the next generation to join him was like a 360. “Wondering where the music would take me and knowing that the next generation is ready to push the music forward.”

Ryan "Solas"Burke, Valerie Troutt, Renzel Merritt, Traci Fitzsimmons, Jasim Paralas, Ayinde Webb

From Jasim Peralas, 13, on trombone, to his older teen students, Ayinde Webb on drums, Traci Fitzsimmons on trumpet, and the oldest, Ranzel Merritt, firing up the stage on Tenor/Soprano Saxophones.

“Jaz has influenced me from a very young age. I find elements of his persona reflected in me everyday. It's always great to be around him whether I'm playing or not, but last night was a beautiful experience and I got to stretch out with great musicians,” says 17 year old Ayinde Webb.

Ayinde Webb

“I am humbled by my son's dedication to the art of making music.  I am thrilled about his determination to perfect his skills and expand his knowledge - not just as a performer, but also as a composer. 

His thirst to soak up good music by the masters is unquenchable.  Their music is instructive and encourages him to work hard to unfold the depths of his own talent. 

I am very happy that he is exploring his own depth and finding his way,” says Georgia Webb, mother of Ayinde Web.

Renzell Merrit

“Ranzell Merrit  is one of the next up and growing "Great Saxophonists," he is only 19 years old with all of that sound and music in his heart,” says Carroll.

Merrit currently attends San Francisco State University.

Periodically stalking the perimeter of the stage with cool finger snaps, Sawyer elevated the audience in full participation in improvisational art.

The praise that he showers on his band mates and guests implies that he didn’t get there by himself.

Improvisation in the Raw

The India Cooke and Bill Crossman duo, known for its unique unrehearsed raw improvisational art form weaves elements of various genres while maintaining an African rooted jazz and blues backdrop.

“India and I are about total improv with no rehearsals,” says Crossman.

Dedicated to the notion that in Berkeley everyday is an arts festival, the Berkeley Arts Festival presents a full monthly calendar of scheduled concerts featuring some of the most creative people in Berkeley – the musicians, composers and writers bring a cornucopia of vibrant talents for all audiences.

Filling a need for information about the activities of all the Berkeley arts organizations year-round, BAF serves as a guide for the arts loving people of Berkeley with appreciation of the City's continued support.

The mid-month October calendar featured the Violinist Cooke and Pianist Crossman joined by special guest artist, world-renowned saxophonist Lewis Jordan in concert on Sunday.

Often featured on KCSM-FM radio, and having recorded three CDs, Cooke and Crossman also has performed together in Crossman’s multi-genre musically-improvised opera, John Brown’s Truth.

Whether it’s classical or jazz, Cooke, a violinist, composer and educator, plays a wide range of music.

Having performed in the San Francisco Bay Area symphony and opera orchestras, chamber ensembles and Broadway shows, Cooke is one of California’s most respected contract artists.

Known for sharing the stage as a featured soloist with Joe Williams and the Louie Bellson Orchestra, Cooke has also played with Sarah Vaughn, Ray Charles, and Frank Sinatra.

Her jazz and improvisation experiences include performances with Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Pauline Oliveros and many others.

As an educator, Ms. Cooke was an Artist-in Residence at the San Francisco School of the Arts, and currently teaches at the San Francisco Community Music Center, Mills College, Santa Clara Children's Shelter and at her private studio.

Susan Hevrdejs started out as one of Cooke’s violin students at San Francisco Community Music Center and now takes private lessons from her. “India is my teacher, but it’s the first time I’ve seen her in a live performance,” says Hevrdejs.  “I love the music.”

Cooke lectures and performs in bay area public schools, colleges, and other educational programs.

With whispers of the classical music integrated with the avant-garde, Cooke is known for putting her entire body into a performance. Her wild facial expressions, soft smiles, and bursts of laugh out loud moments while playing high-pitched notes are indicative of her passion.

“I am so enjoying this,” says Mary Watkins, composer.

With eyes closed, Crossman anticipates long enough to relinquish the spirit and go wherever the music takes him.

When his solo parts grow contemplative, it never loses its sense of inherent tension, internal drama and communicative strength. Crossman’s compositions are sometimes a fusion of gospel, blues, classical and jazz.

“Bill always does Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child and Danse Macabre” by C. Saint-Saens, but this performance was the best, says Carrie Weick, a classical musician in the audience.

A natural innovator in freely improvised jazz piano, Crossman, is a composer and educator, and has performed with some of the world's greatest jazz musicians and appears in performance venues and festivals from coast to coast and internationally.

Currently a teacher at Berkeley City College and the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, Crossman has also hosted OPC's free-jazz and free-improv monthly open-mike sessions.

Crossman is also a member of several other bands, including B-FREE, the Ritual Resurrection Band and the Troublemakers Union.

Clad in Afrocentric attire, San Francisco born Jordan heated up the stage with the sounds of the saxophone in an explosion of jaw dropping virtuosity with a postmodernist embrace of the past, present and future of jazz like no other.

“I am into appreciating the music the way India and Bill approaches it,” says Jordan. “Improvisational music comes from the jazz idiom. We are all steeped in music history and it all comes out with other things.”

UpSurge! Talking Jazz

UpSurge! Jazz poets Raymond Nat Turner and Zigi Lowenberg bend metaphors, integrating spoken-word, jazz, history, and politics that hold true to the rhythms at Freight and Salvage Coffee House.

Promoting public awareness and understanding of music rooted in and expressive of variety of ethnic and social cultures, the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, is a Green State-of-the-Art Folk Music Venue.

The sound system is superb, and the seating is spacious and comfortable in an environment where you can easily see the performers on stage with ease.

Serving coffee, teas, sodas, desserts, night snacks, beer and wine, this nonprofit community arts organization is a world famous venue for traditional music.

Be it jazz, blues, bluegrass, folk, gospel or world beat, the venue is located at 2020 Addison Street in downtown Berkeley, directly across the street from the Berkeley Repertory Theater, and walking distance from the Berkeley Bart Station and AC Transit.

The first in the line-up on their October calendar, UpSurge! JazzPoetry Ensemble featured Raymond Nat Turner and Zigi Lowenberg.

Taking center stage, Saturday, October 1, 2011, the Oakland based Jazz Ensemble paid homage to jazz vocalist Eddie Jefferson, and actor/playwright/civil rights activist Oscar Brown, Jr. Both were instrumental in inspiring the group’s unique cutting-edge mix of music and poetry.

Joined by Richard Howell on saxophones, Benny Watson on Piano, Rob Rhodes on drums, and bassist Ollen Erich Hunt, and guest vocalist Ernest East, the experience and energy brought together onstage crossed boundaries and brings down barriers.

The multiethnic group’s founder, Turner, African American, originally from South Central/Watts Los Angeles, and co-leader, Lowenberg, a New York Jewish visual artist, created a stunning movement of unity.

“They are spectacular. Not only were they just saying words, but I could feel the emotion from the music,” said Eileen Joyce, a patron of the arts.

“We go way back,” said Sally Wolfer, a retired art teacher from Berkeley High School.

Turner, founded the group in 1990.

Lowenberg started performing with him as a guest poet in 1993 and joined forces with UpSerge in 1996 as co-leader.

Influenced by Bunchie Carter, a Los Angeles Black Panther Party Member, poet, and mentor, Turner says, “the force and impact he had on me with his poetry was great.”

Poet and performer, Ron Karenga, was another influence as Turner’s teacher at UCLA.

As a child Turner remembers his Mother reading lots of nursery rhymes and singing lullabies to him. His life was inundated with poetry and books.

“There always were jazz musicians around,” says Turner.

 Photo Compliments of UpSerge!

Lowenberg, raised in Queens relocated to the bay area from East Village in Manhattan, comes from a family where the women were involved in politics. Her mother was involved in fair housing issues as well as in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAAC) and had met Eleanor Roosevelt. Lowenberg’s aunt was an all out communist.

From New York, Boston, New Orleans, Detroit, Chicago, and Ghana, West Africa, the ensemble has performed together nationally and internationally, collaborating across disciplines of jazz and poetry, and history and politics.

“Raymond and Zigi have such respect for the words and tradition. It’s really a pleasure working with them,” said Benny Watson, piano player with UpSurge!

The performance started with Turner doing a call to the ancestors with Lowenberg’s smooth melodic voice rhythmically echoing, backed by drums hitting to the beat, followed by piano and bass. The sweet sounds of the saxophone had a hypnotic effect on the audience.

“I particularly, liked the sax player,” says Joyce.

UpSurge! presented a unique fusion of eclectic jazz and fierce poetry. Their innovative poetics were juxtaposed with the politics of today as they value the art form as a hammer for change.

For more information on UpSurge! and future performances visit their website at:

http://www.upsurgejazz.com/upsurgehome.html

            For more information on Freight & Salvage Coffee House, visit their website at:

http://www.thefreight.org/

Jazz Buzz - 2011 Countdown - Terrence Blanchard

Known as one of the best jazz clubs in the country, featuring a wonderful Japanese restaurant in the mix, Yoshi’s Jazz Club Oakland is the bay area’s most respected jazz venue.

Now in its 14^th year at the Jack London Square location, it is one of the east bay’s greatest destinations.

Featuring live jazz every night of the week and wonderful sushi, its affordability makes it easy to experience world-class musicians, with ticket prices starting at $14.

Located at 510 Embarcadero West between Washington and Clay Streets, the club is easily accessible and there is validated parking. 

Yoshi’s sit on the ground floor on the front side its seven-story parking structure across from Jack London Square Cinema Complex. 

The location is ideal and allows for multiple modes of transportation – Bart, AC Transit, Amtrak and the Alameda/Oakland Ferry.

Yoshi's began in 1973 as a small, North Berkeley sushi bar owned by a trio of struggling students.

Its founder and namesake, Yoshie Akiba, orphaned during World War II, came to the U.S. to study fine arts, dance and dance therapy.

She opened Yoshi's Japanese Restaurant in North Oakland with her two best friends Kaz Kajimura, a journalist and carpenter, and Hiroyuki Hori, a painter and Japanese cook, says Akiba.

By 1997, the award-winning 330 seat jazz club setting opened its doors in Oakland’s Jack London Square.

Presenting the finest in jazz and latin jazz, as well as blues, neo-soul, afro-cuban, world, and African music, the Yoshi’s experience is the ultimate delight in a classy, colorful and intimate setting.

Be prepared to let go of your personal space. The club gets packed and the tables are tiny and everyone is friendly. 

You'll probably strike up a little conversation with your table-mates.

Most impressive is that the performance hall is so well insulated, guests can't hear the freight and Amtrak trains as they periodically rumble down Embarcadero, the Jack London Square street facing the club.

Looking at the photos on the walls, this true jazz venue remembers the legends.

Jazz greats such as Betty Carter, Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Dizzy Gillespie, and Oscar Peterson among hundreds of others are part of the Yoshi’s Oakland archival history.

Among the acts closing out the summer of the 2011 calendar was New Orleans born Terrence Blanchard, who at age eight played alongside childhood friend Wynton Marsalis in summer music camps.

Boasting over 50 scores to his name, trumpeter, band leader, arranger, composer, film composer and four time Grammy Award winning musician, Terrence Blanchard, seduced audiences with his sleek postbop sound.

With more than 29 albums to his credit, Blanchard has unquestionably established himself as one of the most influential jazz players and movie-score masters of his generation.

In this two night-residency, Blanchard took the Yoshi’s audience on a journey that included compositions by the bright younger members of his equally yoked band of movers and shakers on the music scene.

Sharing the stage with Blanchard were saxophonist Brice Winston of Tucson, pianist Fabian Almazan, of Havana, Cuba, bassist Derrick Hodge of Los Angeles, and drummer Kendrick Scott of Houston.

“My drummer is the most creative drummer I’ve ever met. When our eyes are closed, it means we’re counting our asses off,” said Blanchard.

When recording companies refused to sign them, drummer, Scott, and bassist, Hodge started their own recording label, “World Culture Music,” in New York City.

The quartet performed a new composition by pianist, Almazan, entitled “Pet Step Sitters Theme Song.” “When the economy got bad, my mother started her own pet sitters business,” said Almazan. “I wrote this song for her.”

“Young students of Saxophonist Winston are currently touring the jazz scene in Europe,” said Blanchard.

“The band hit with a lot of flavor,” said Lewis Williamson Nelson, a voice over actor in the audience.

Originally a straight ahead jazz musician, Blanchard is making waves on the jazz scene as he sets new standards, infusing the crucible of catastrophe as it impels creative expression to new heights inspiring new tunes.

From his artistic responses to the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the war in Iraq to the pummeling of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Blanchard is taking his music to another level and changing the face of jazz with a slightly different bent that represents today’s world.

“As a patron of jazz for many years, I didn’t hear anything that was familiar. I loved the music even though I didn’t understand it at first,” said Bobby Warren, 81, owner of Oakland’s King’s Gym, a gym for boxers. ”

 “As artists we document our social surroundings and give our impressions of events. Life is all about expansion and evolution. We make choices every day, none of which are right or wrong. They are simply choices that allow us to explore the variety of what’s before us,” said Blanchard.

Blanchard's musical work is currently represented in the Broadway production of Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Motherf**ker With the Hat.