Greetings,

Another amazing two weeks of not to miss music coming to the Bay Area. Thanks for letting me share what I think are not to miss shows and as always thank you for supporting LIVE MUSIC and the community that brings it to you!

"Perhaps the most innovative Latin Jazz group playing today outside Cuba...highly innovative, intimately explosive." ~ East Bay Express
 

To celebrate his life and the principles he lived by, Angela Wellman, founding director of OPC, commissioned award-winning visual artist, James Gayles, to create a mural that celebrates Kelly's life in music in Oakland, the city he loved and to which he dedicated his work in music. Gayles is the recipient of a City of Oakland Cultural Arts grant with which he created "JazzMasters," a work created to pay tribute to Oakland's Local Jazz musicians who gained world recognition. Having relocated from New York, Gayles was unfamiliar with the Bay Area music scene. He  solicited the help of the very knowledgeable KPFA and KCSM jazz DJ Greg Bridges who told him, "Oh man, you got to do Ed Kelly". Gayles says he soon discovered that Kelly was "a legendary giant who influenced and mentored generations of great musicians to come out of the Bay Area. He was an extraordinary musician and educator who possessed the talent to become an international star, but chose to stay in Oakland to raise his family rather than go out on the road.  Countless young Bay Area musicians were the beneficiaries of that decision. Ed Kelly was indeed an Oakland treasure and I am honored to be a part of this well deserved tribute."

   

Gayles, an Emmy award winning artist who studied at the Pratt Institute with Jacob Lawrence, says he hopes to create an emotional spark in those who view his work by capturing, "...the power and emotion, the essence of the human." The portrait will be unveiled before the evening of music begins.

 

Michelle Rosewoman, an Oakland native and internationally celebrated musician, is the featured guest artist. With more than 30 years performing, Rosewoman stands out as a visionary pianist, composer, bandleader and gifted performer. She attributes her traditionally rooted but wide open vision of music to the time she spent studying with Ed Kelly. Rosewoman, now based in New York City, has played with Jimmy Heath, Billy Hart, Celia Cruz, Reggie Workman, Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill, James Spaulding,  Paquito D'Rivera, Gary Bartz, Rufus Reid, Howard Johnson, Carlos Ward, Andy Gonzalez, Pedro Martinez and many, many more. She flies into Oakland with great joy to honor her teacher, Ed Kelly. Of her participation Rosewoman remarked, "I am really so pleased that you asked me to be part of this honoring of my mentor and my love, Ed--and that I can contribute to your efforts at this school. Looking forward to everything."
 

Ed Kelly Hall is located in the Oakland Public Conservatory 

of Music in downtown Oakland, CA, 1616 Franklin St.

 

Tickets: $15/adv - $20/door - $10/seniors - Free/12 & under 

Advanced tickets available online & at OPC

 

To Purchase Tickets Click Here

 

 

 

Saturday November 3

Dj Jeremiah Farewell Celebration

SILA & BOCA DO RIO with

Dj Leydis Freire, Dj Vanka, Dj Jeremiah, Dj Jimmy Love 

@ Brick and Mortar Music Hall

To Purchase Tickets Click Here

 

After more than a decade in San Francisco, DJ Jeremiah is moving on to the bright lights of an even bigger city - New York, New York. 

A native of Liberia, Jeremiah Kpoh experienced great tragedy at an early age, losing both parents at age 12 amidst a protracted military conflict between two tribal warlords, who wreak ed havoc on neighboring villages. Kpoh's mother and father both fell victim to the civil war, and young Jeremiah found himself an orphan, eking out a meager existence in a refugee camp in the Ivory Coast. It was there that he first became introduced to Fela Kuti and other Afrobeat/Afropop groups and started DJing, playing music on cassette for his fellow refugees, providing a glimmer of hope in a hopeless situation. That experience taught Jeremiah to be strong, and to stay positive, no matter how bleak things might seem. It also affirmed the healing power of music for him.

After relocating to San Francisco, in 2002, Jeremiah met fellow African expat Sila, and began to further his DJ career, playing at local venues and starting a production company, Maisha Productions, which produced numerous humanitarian benefit shows for NGOs benefitting refuges in Africa and Haiti and created the annual Afrofunk Festival. Establishing himself as one of SF's most in-demand world beat DJs, Jeremiah became known as "Mr. Afrobeat," and opened up shows for the likes of Salif Keita, Femi Kuti, Seun Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Alpha Blondy and Konono No. 1.

"I am deeply indebted to the people of San Francisco and the Bay Area for supporting me all these years, for coming to Maisha shows and my club nights, and helping to make me the person I am today. I am very sad to leave here, but I need to pursue my dream and move forward in life. I will never forget all the smiles and laughter you have shared with me." Jeremiah said. "In particular, I want to thank all the booking agents and promoters who I've worked with: Allen Scott and Bryan Duquette (The Independent /Another Planet Entertainment); Michael O' Connor and Jason Perkins (Brick and Mortar/New Parish); Guy Carson (Café Du Nord); and Dennis Ring and Matt Shapiro (Elbo Room). I couldn't have done it without you."

DJ Jeremiah Farewell Celebration featuring live sets from Sila and Boca do Rio, plus DJs Leydis, Vanka, Jimmy Love, and Jeremiah aka "Mr. Afrobeat."