Join us for casual daytime talks and listening sessions presented by leading lights of the Bay Area jazz community. Bring your own lunch or order ahead from the JazzCaffè. Wednesdays at lunchtime! Free, drop-ins welcome.

Clarinetist Ben Goldberg’s musical hero was Steve Lacy and even received a one-on-one lesson, focusing on the fundamentals of intervals, harmony, and melody. In 2004, after learning that Steve Lacy was ill, Goldberg began working on compositions dedicated to him. Inspired by the nature of Lacy’s influence and how Goldberg might separate his voice from the powerful effect of Lacy. Goldberg convened a quintet (Carla Kihlstedt, violin; Rob Sudduth, saxophone; Devin Hoff, bass; Ches Smith, drums) to perform the pieces. The compositions were recorded shortly after Steve’s death and released in February 2006 on the CD the door, the hat, the chair, the fact (Cryptogrammophone). Commenting on the CD on NPR’s Fresh Air, Kevin Whitehead said “all his music has one quality in common. Call it ‘soul’.”

To order lunch from the JazzCaffè, call 510-654-0148 to place your order before 10:30 am the day of the program.

For the menu visit actcatering.com/jazzcaffe
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Hailed as a “stirring voice” by The New York Times, Bay Area vocalist Roopa Mahadevan combines South Indian Carnatic singing with jazz, soul/R&B, and adventurous improvisation in her ensemble Roopa in Flux. Her energetic music conveys emotional depth through humor and storytelling, celebrating the power of individual expression and immigrant musical traditions.

Frank Martin – piano
Isaac Schwartz – drums
Sruti Sarathy – violin

This May, in honor of Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, the Jazzschool celebrates the contributions of Asians in Bay Area jazz through a series of salons and concerts organized in collaboration with artists in the AAPI community.

Doors 7 pm
Pre-concert talk 7:30 pm
Concert 8 pm

Concert series programmed by pianist/composer Erika Oba.
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Buy Tickets: https://concerts.jazzschool.org/aapi-heritage-month-salon-series-a-community-affair-asian-american-lineages-as-bay-area-history/

AAPI Heritage Month Salon Series

A Community Affair: Asian American Lineages as Bay Area History

featuring Francis Wong, Jon Jang, Scott Oshiro, and Roopa Mahadevan

Join us for the second installment of our Friday Salon Series celebrating AAPI Heritage Month, featuring insightful panel discussions, live music presentations, light refreshments, and community conversation. Curated by Francis Wong, Chris Trinidad, and Noah Rosen in collaboration with Asian Improv aRts and Iridium Records.

This session spotlights the history and influence of Asian American jazz — a practice deeply rooted in the Bay Area’s multicultural history and unique in its emphasis on Asian American social issues and the fusion of traditional Asian instruments with jazz vocabulary. A panel of musicians discuss their efforts to continue to shape the sound of Asian diasporic expression while engaging in community efforts toward solidarity and equality.

This May, in honor of Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, the Jazzschool celebrates the contributions of Asians in Bay Area jazz through a series of salons and concerts organized in collaboration with artists in the AAPI community.
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RSVP: https://concerts.jazzschool.org/student-showcase-max-roston-saul-sextet/

Oren Cohen, alto saxophone
Victor Taraboukhine, tenor saxophone
Sai Ray, trumpet
Max Roston-Saul, piano
Milo Kolesas-Stolzenberg, bass
Lucas Quan, drums

Pianist and composer Max Roston-Saul, a member of Peter Horvath’s award-winning Advanced High School Workshop and the (also award-winning) Jazzschool Studio Band, leads a stellar sextet of young Bay Area jazz musicians in this special student showcase concert. The performance features Roston-Saul’s original compositions, which have been recognized by Downbeat Magazine and the YoungArts Foundation.
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Celebrating Asian American Jazz: Vernaculars plays the Music of Francis Wong

Buy Tickets: https://concerts.jazzschool.org/celebrating-asian-american-jazz-vernaculars-plays-the-music-of-francis-wong/

Francis Wong, tenor saxophone
Karl Evangelista, guitar
Chris Trinidad, electric bass/synth
Jimmy Biala, drums

Saxophonist Francis Wong celebrates 50 years as a Bay Area musician, activist, and educator with Wong Works, a retrospective project featuring music from his long and influential musical career. In the ensemble Vernaculars, he is joined by a who’s-who of local improvisers for a set of freewheeling and powerful music. Album release celebration!

Francis Wong’s work from the 1970s to today has lifted and inspired Asian American collectives to build and work for a just and equitable society. As a student and community worker with roots in the Asian American consciousness movement, he participated in struggles for ethnic studies, culturally responsive campus services, divestment in apartheid South Africa, and community campaigns including Free Chol Soo Lee, Japanese American redress and reparations, Justice for Melvin Truss, immigrant worker rights, and Jesse Jackson for President. In parallel to this organizing work, he embarked on an artistic career influenced by his social justice activities, co-founding the hugely influential organization Asian Improv aRts in 1987 with Jon Jang.

This May, in honor of Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, the Jazzschool celebrates the contributions of Asians in Bay Area jazz through a series of salons and concerts organized in collaboration with artists in the AAPI community.

Doors 7 pm
Pre-concert talk 7:30 pm
Concert 8 pm

Concert series programmed by pianist/composer Erika Oba.
✚gCal  ✚iCal  More...