Greetings,

I am dedicating this newsletter to my friend, drummer and fantastic person, Paul Van Wageningen. Paul passed away on Friday November 9th after fighting brain cancer for over 2 years. He fought bravely and graciously, just how he lived. His questions always to me was, "How are you?" or he would say "What's the scoop?" - Even when he became ill, he asked how I was doing.

I met Paul when I was the bar manager at Anna's Jazz Island when he played with Ray Obiedo and sometimes Dave Matthews would be on the keys. I was always happy to see these guys walk in the door, as the laughs were gonna be flowin'. Paul always encouraged me. The profound blessing he brought into my life was his beautiful dear wife Toni and her daughter Annie, who through them the Haiti Benefit for Sionfonds happened that so many of you who read this newsletter attended. I send my deepest condolences to Paul's brother bassist Marc Van Wageningen, his parents and the Van Wageningen family, as well as to all of you, his musical family. I will truly miss you Paul, and do my best to live up to your encouragements.

As always, I am thankful to sharing Bay Area music with you and we have some fantastic sho

ws coming our way without a doubt! This list is just a snapshot of the great music happening the next 2 weeks, so I do hope you get out and enjoy some LIVE MUSIC! Also, just a reminder, whatever is highlighted in RED is a chance to win tickets or for a free download so be sure to read on to get some REAL MUSIC in your life!

 

This Saturday, November 17th, the Yerba Buenda Center for the Arts presetns a lively celebration of Afro-Cuban folklore and creative jazz improvisation, featuring the inimitable sounds of the Dafnis Prieto Proverb Trio. The evening opens with performances by Oakland-based Cuban drummer Sandy Perez y Su Ladé and the Ramon Ramos Alayo Dance Company, and culminates with a dance party featuring contemporary Cuban dance music by Rumbach� playing timba, son, and fresh originals.

 

Since making its debut at the Whitney Museum in 2009, the Dafnis Prieto Proverb Trio, led by 2011 MacArthur Fellow Dafnis Prieto, has deepened its rapport and honed its sound on concert tours in the US and Europe. The entirely improvised interactions of Prieto's virtuosic and dynamic drumming, Kokayi's rapid-fire rapping and soulful singing, and Jason Lindner's harmonic sophistication and daring sound explorations yield exhilarating results. Creating advanced compositional structures on the spot, the band makes music that is full of deep grooves and surprises and takes a different, explosive shape every night, but always with the Dafnis Prieto Proverb Trio's distinct personality and engaging spirit.

 

Under the leadership of percussionist Patricio Angulo, Rumbache is the voice of youth for San Francisco's salsa scene, and ignites enthusiasm in dancers and musical connoisseurs alike. For this occasion, the renowned and beloved Cuban Bay Area sonero, Fito Reynoso, will be featured as a special guest vocalist.

This Saturday November 17 the Jazz Mafia is celebrating their 12 year Anniversary at The Fillmore! Going  all the way back to Thursday nights at Bruno's with the Realistic Orchestra and the Shotgun Hip Hop Wedding Quintet to The Jazz Mafia Symphony at the Palace of Fine Arts with Brass, Bows and Beats this is show to not miss... I hear the cheapest way to get tickets is to buy at the DOOR - $25 gets you in and every penny well spent - always featuring that night is DJ Qbert as guest MC. To purchase tickets ahead of time please click here. To get a taste of what to expect click here for a free download... I love the spirit of these musicians ... they go beyond and always take you with them!
 

He is bringing a stellar line up and his violin simply sings soul. Check out his website here, purchase tickets here, to catch a glimpse of the music check out this video, and to win a FREE pair of tickets please tell me what you love about the violin in music - please be the 3rd person to email me to win!

Make 'Em Dance!Check out their website here or check out the "Dance on the Mothership" here and get your tickets here

KATDELIC is P Funk Allstar RONKAT SPEARMAN's extraordinary band. RonKat is a grammy nominated, BMI "songwriter of the year award" winner with multiple platinum records to his credit. His musical genius is obvious and overwhelming from the first moment KATDELIC takes the stage. It is spectacular!

RonKat has merged talent with San Francisco's finest musicians to create a sound so altogether unique and electrifying with its deep funky grooves that it is simply and immediately addictive energy. David Boyce on sax and Kirk Peterson on bass hail from San Francisco's beloved Broun Fellinis. Kevin Carnes on drums of Broun Fellinis...Funk mix master DJ PTFI JONES spins FX the turntables, Alan Williams on Trumpet and Michael Cavaseno rips it on guitar (from Storm,Inc. and Orixa).

RonKat's music is a combination of funk and rock. Bridging unbelievably tasteful elements of multi-genres in a musical blend of pure magic, KATDELIC draws bits of hip hop, touches of gospel and soul-jazz funk into a rockin heavy dance-charged hard pop fusion all its own. Think PRINCE, ROLLING STONES, The ROOTS, THE SEX PISTOLS, AL GREEN and New Orleans METERS forged into its own undefinable new sound.

RonKat's unique showmanship and singularly energized music style brings a powerful sound and a funk to his show that is incomparable. It is its own thing! It is *KATDELIC*!

Also on Friday November 23, one of my favorite Bay Area bands is Lavay Smith & the Red Hot Skillet Lickers over at Biscuits and Blues.

Lavay Smith is the Queen of Classic Jazz and Blues and takes you back to the 40's and 50's where people knew how to dress, and the music was always swinging!

 Check out her website, check out this video and to purchase tickets click here!

With a singing style influenced by Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Bessie Smith, Little Esther Phillips and other legendary greats. Whether singing her own compositions or drawing on a large repertoire of classics, Lavay and her all-star 7-piece band bake up

This sultry chanteuse evokes a sensuous era of Jazz queens and sexy pinups and adds a modern, feminist twist.  No wonder Los Angeles Magazine chose her as one of the sexiest people around!  Lavay began attracting crowds right from the start thanks to her big, bluesy voice, exciting stage personality, and glamorous approach. According to Fox TV, the band has become "a San Francisco Landmark", winning numerous awards including a "Wammie" and a "Bammie". In 1998, the reader's of San Francisco's two major newspapers, the Chronicle and the Examiner, voted Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers the "Best Band" in the annual readers poll.

Saturday November 25th, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings perform at Davies Symphony Hall! I saw this band 2 years ago at Stern Grove and even the trees were dancing! LOVE SHARON JONES! Check out this video and Buy Tickets here.   I have a FREE pair of tickets to give away to the show! Please be the 6th person to email me tell me why you love Gospel Music!  

The group's first headlining appearance in San Francisco for over two years. Steeped in gospel, soul, and funk, this nine-piece Brooklyn collective has continued to electrify fans the world over with its authentic, heartfelt sound.  Their four critically-acclaimed albums recall an honest, analog sound reminiscent of Motown and Stax Records, and have thrust Jones, a native of Augusta, GA, and crew into the multimedia limelight. Their live show has attracted collaborators including David Byrne, They Might Be Giants, Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed, and Michael Bubl� and they have appeared on The Colbert Report, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and many more. The Dap-Kings' musical chops have also been in high demand by artists including Al Green, for his Grammy-winning Blue Note release, Lay It Down, and Mark Ronson who utilized them for much of Amy Winehouse's 2006 Back to Black album, the UK's best-selling album of the 21st century. Jones celebrated her silver-screen debut in the Denzel Washington-led film The Great Debaters, in which she acted, sang, and recorded the majority of the movie's soundtrack including the band's version of Shuggie Otis's "Inspiration Information." Their cover of "This Land Is Your Land" was prominently featured in the Golden Globe and Oscar winning Up in the Air. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are renowned thanks to their live show and relentless touring.  In summer 2012, the band appeared at the Bonnaroo Festival, and in Europe for a month-long tour. In summer 2011 they opened for Prince at his shows in New York City, Paris, and Belgium and at his request Ms. Jones joined Prince on stage at each show.

Saturday November 24, Tito y su Son de Cuba is bringing his Salsa Orchestra to the Ashkenaz in Berkeley! Taking you back to Old Havana and playing with some of the best Bay Area Afro - Cuban musicians you will not be sitting down Check out their site and buy tickets here!
Also on Saturday November 24, Locura and the BSide Players are at the Brick and Mortar in San Francisco.  This night will be... Latin Soul, Latin Funk, Latin Folklorico, mixing in Cuban Son, Reggae, and Funk all into one beautiful night of music! To buy tickets click here

This band is off the hook featuring some of the Bay Area's most celebrated female musicians including: including pianist Tammy Hall, trumpeters Ellen Seeling and Marina Garza, saxes Mad Duran and Jean Fineberg, and trombonists Sarah Cline and Mara Fox." Rounding out the personnel are saxes Kasey Knudsen, Yvonne Lin and Carolyn Walter; trumpets Tiffany Carrico and Ariel Vento; trombones Crystal Bryant and Becca Burrington; pianist Tammy Hall; bassist Ruth Davies and drummer Russ Gold.

To Purchase Tickets Click here and check out video!

On Wednesday November 28th, Darryl Anders~ AGAP�SOUL "Believe in Love" CD Release Party at Yoshi's Oakland. Darryl Anders is a funkified, soulful, musical bassist whose original music is inspiring! Definitely catch AgapeSoul if you like grooves - to learn more visit www.agapesoul.com, to buy tickets click here and to hear the music check this video out...

Truth is, if you've been missing real music, you'll love Agap�Soul. Besides being highly- skilled purveyors of soulful originals and definitive covers, Agap�Soul represents a movement that is at once innovative and deeply-rooted in a continuum; a new voice of music from the "True School."

Get your tickets here! Check this video out.

Bassist Larry Graham - the architect of the slap-and-pluck bass technique that defined the funk sound of the '60s and '70s and continues to inspire bassists across virtually every genre to this day - may specialize in the low end of the sonic spectrum, but he's just as ready to take his music to unprecedented heights. He's been doing it for more than four decades - first as the rock-solid foundation for a string of enduring and iconic hits by Sly and the Family Stone, and later as the head of his own powerhouse unit, Graham Central Station.

"Raise Up" does just what the title demands, with a series of high-energy bursts that force listeners out of their chairs and into action. The combination of thumping backbeat, no-hold-barred orchestrations and upbeat, optimistic messages is designed to not just make people move, but make them move in a positive direction. Raise Up is a statement of defiance against the many obstacles and challenges that so often slow us down or keep us from realizing our fullest potential.

Friday November 30th OAKLAND CARNIVAL with Boca do Rio! SambaFunk w/ King Theo and Brothers Calatayu at The New Parish in Oakland! To Purchase Tickets click here!

To Purchase Tickets, Check this video out, check out their website!

The Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir was founded originally by Rhythmic Concepts, Inc. in 1986. Its inspiration came as a result of a Gospel music workshop led by Terrance Kelly, at RCI's Jazz Camp West, and Kelly became its co-founder and artistic director.  OIGC went on to become an independent organization in 1991, and consists of 60 singers and 4 musicians, who represent a multi racial, multi- cultural, interfaith community of diversity. There is also a smaller ensemble group and a youth choir. Auditions are held annually.

The choir is a Bay Area institution known for its annual holiday concerts in Oakland, San Francisco, as well as the South Bay. It performs year-round at local events such as Oakland's Art and Soul Festival and the Monterey Jazz Festival. Choir members also donate their time to perform at prisons, homeless shelters and hospitals.