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SFJAZZ presents a historic Fridays At Five: Wayne Shorter Celebration concert series with Herbie Hancock, Kamasi Washington, Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Terrace Martin, Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci, Brian Blade, and more. Recorded over four nights at the SFJAZZ Center in January of 2019 as a tribute to the legendary saxophonist and composer, who at the time had become ill and was unable to perform that week. Over four separate broadcasts, these exclusive “only-at-SFJAZZ” concerts will be shown for the first time.

100% of donations made through this page will directly support Wayne Shorter for his ongoing medical needs.

Your donations made through this webpage are tax-deductible to the extent of IRS guidelines as you will receive no goods and services in exchange for your gift. SFJAZZ (San Francisco Jazz Organization) is a registered 501(c)3 with EIN # 94-2990335.

An album of expansive drones and analogue electronics, created using vintage analogue synthesizers. A posthumous collaboration between the late Phil Western (Download, Beehatch), Jesse Creed (The Passenger), and Mark Spybey (Download, Dead Voices On Air, Reformed Faction, Beehatch).

Both Phil and Jesse shared a love for vintage analogue synthesizers such as the VCS3, and the music for “W ands” was largely created using this equipment. In the spirit of how it was created, Spybey added improvised passages using his collection of homemade and ethnic instruments and then edited the pieces.

Phil would often talk about being ‘taken away’ by music. Both Jesse and Mark have laboured to do this through their own music too, not as a means of escape but to transcend. This music strives to explore the desire to go beyond the ordinary everyday experience and to reach a place where the egos and the individual contributions of the players are largely inconsequential. A place where time doesn’t really matter. A place of healing and invention.

FOR FANS OF: Coil, Nurse With Wound, Zoviet France.

DIGIPAK: The first 100 copies of this CD come with an exclusive art-card designed by Phil’s daughter Mora.

Read the full story of this release here.

• BUY/ORDER [Cold Spring Records]

Eddie Gale, the pioneering Brooklyn-born jazz trumpeter who began his career as a sideman with legendary jazz artists such as Sun Ra, Larry Young, and Cecil Taylor before forging his path as a band leader on Blue Note Records and a performer and music educator on the East and West Coasts, passed away Friday, July 10, 2020. Gale was 78.

He’d resided in San Jose since 1972. In 1974, San Jose Mayor Norman Y. Mineta named him “San Jose’s Ambassador of Jazz,” for helping to bring jazz to the schools, an honor that Gale took seriously.

Gale used jazz diplomacy to build bridges between multicultural communities and generations, and promoted world and inner-peace through music. It caught on, earning him a loyal following and numerous awards, including the Sankofa Award from the California Arts Council for 25 years of service to youth and the Jefferson Award for community service in the arts. He was recognized by the New York Village Voice for “A Minute with Miles” named one of the Best Jazz Recordings of 1992. In 2019 he received a Black Legends Hall of Fame, Silicon Valley Award.

With 35 years of support from his wife, Georgette Gale, the couple created community partnerships for youth and the world.

Gale was a healthcare advocate, especially for musicians. He created Jazz Musicians’ Self-Help Healthcare fundraisers donating proceeds from the performances to the Jazz Foundation of America.

To support the arts in public schools and engage music lovers, Gale organized the Evergreen Youth Adult Jazz Society, and the We’re Jazzed! Youth/Adult Jazz Festival to create performance opportunities for youth at venues in San Jose. One of his last San Jose projects was to give away dozens of free trumpets to youth.

With support from the San Jose State Cultural Heritage Center for 20 years, Gale produced his annual Concerts for World Peace and Peace Poetry Contest, and annual Concerts for Inner Peace in America and the World.  These events were held at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library and the First AME Zion Church in San Jose. Gale also held a California Arts Council residency and received funding from the council to produce improvisational music workshops at San Jose State University, and venues in the Oakland, CA community.

A believer in the power of jazz to transform society, Gale’s musical activism is highlighted in the history book Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 by Pat Thomas.

“Eddie Gale and Horace Silver changed the sound of Blue Note with consciousness-raising lyrical-jazz compositions,” Thomas wrote. “While there are other politically conscious recordings in the Blue Note catalog, there’s nothing quite like the two albums trumpeter Eddie Gale recorded in 1968 and 1969. Social messages aside, Ghetto Music and it’s sequel, Black Rhythm Happening, are delightfully unique by any comparison.”

As a sideman Gale’s discography includes Cecil Taylor’s composition “Enter, Evening,” which is part of The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz (LP side 11, track 2).

Gale was the oldest son of Edward and Daisy Gale Stevens, both deceased. He is survived by three of his four siblings, his first wife, Marlene, and their five children: Marc, Chanel, Djuana, Gwilu and Teyonda; His oldest daughter, Donna, from a teenage relationship, and 12 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, numerous nephews, nieces, cousins, friends, and admiring jazz supporters worldwide.

• Eddie Gale (1941-2020), Online Memorial Website
• Jefferson Award: Presented to Eddie Gale / Gale lends a hand by sharing his music with students
• San Jose Jazz Legend Donates Dozens Of New Trumpets To Get Next Generation Playing

An individual, creative approach to teaching, grounded in traditional technique:

• Bennington College Faculty, 2009 – present
• Atlantic Center for the Arts Master Artist, Residency 167
• Improvisation workshops throughout the US and Europe
• Accepting students online

Contact: Michael Bisio

Michael Bisio, bassist-composer, has 85 recordings in his discography, 24 of these are split evenly between leader/co-leader, 10 of them document his extraordinary association with modern piano icon Matthew Shipp. Michael has been called a poet, a wonder and one of the most virtuosic and imaginative performers on the double bass. Nate Chinen in the New York Times writes: “The physicality of Mr. Bisio’s bass playing puts him in touch with numerous predecessors in the avant-garde, but his expressive touch is distinctive;…”

As a composer Michael has been awarded 9 grants and an Artist Trust Fellowship.

Collaborators include: Matthew Shipp, Joe McPhee, Charles Gayle, Connie Crothers, Whit Dickey, Ivo Perelman, Barbara Donald, Newman Taylor Baker, Rob Brown, and Sabir Mateen.

Like Shipp, bassist Bisio projected a larger-than-life sound that nonetheless conveyed a dark tonal beauty. His bowed solos, particularly one that quoted “My One and Only Love,” suggested a burnished lyricism one sooner associates with the cello.
– Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

Listen to how contrabassist Michael Bisio interacts with it all. He adds so much in a monsterously good way. The deeply flushed tone, the unexpected or reconfirming note choices, the way he can walk or be that “second horn”, the impeccable touch and in-the-moment thrust, all that is here in a fantastic way.
– Gapplegate Music Review

His distinctive approach features an enormous sound, warm and woody; impeccable classical bowing technique; a soulful, moody feel for the blues and swing; and a bevy of extended techniques.
– Paul DeBarros, Seattle Times

The fleet-fingered and pitch-perfect Bisio ends the piece with an absolutely jaw-dropping solo.
– Bill Tilland, BBC Review

The interplay was uncanny with bassist Michael Bisio fine-tuned to every move, and delivering the first-set highlight, a resonant and thumping solo that ended as a bowed bass elegy themed on Coltrane’s “Naima”.
– Mike Hobart, Financial Times

Contact: Michael Bisio

IMAGE by Albert Brooks

Let’s face it: we could all use something nice. Quarantine’s been extended, people are continuing to lose their livelihoods, and it really does seem as if some otherworldly force has grabbed the planet and forced it into a sudden and ugly halt. So for this issue of Down the Rabbit Hole, I’d like to offer something you can lose yourself in in a different way. A rabbit, so to speak, a soft and pleasant creature you can take some time out of your day and watch nibble on leaves.

Today, I’d like you to meet Joe Pera, and his show, Joe Pera Talks With You.

Joe Pera is an actor/comedian, and profound enigma. The frequently asked questions that come up when you Google him only prove the latter, from one person asking “Does Joe Pera have special needs?” (No, he doesn’t), to another wanting to know “What is the point of Joe Pera Talks With You?” (A question that, according to the Internet, has no real answer). He is a man in the vein of Bob Ross or Mister Rogers, a thoroughly inoffensive figure who dedicates his show to talking about dancing, breakfast options, and the different kinds of rocks in his hometown. There is a plot, in a sense, but in every episode it seems inconsequential to the true goal of the episode – to talk about the very simple subject in the episode’s title, be it cold weather sports or creating a bean arch. And there’s something beautiful about that, especially in days like these.

What have you been doing lately? Since I work in a kind of unconventional food startup, I’m lucky enough to still have a job, but my days off have consisted of much of the same. I nap a lot and go on walks around my neighborhood. I watch arthouse movies. Every so often, I’ll check the news and immediately regret it. There’s so much going on that’s rapidly beyond my control, it’s become very important to focus on the things that are right in front of me. I heard somewhere that there’s only three days of the week now – yesterday, today and tomorrow – and the best I can do is look for the little joys that’ll keep me going through that cycle.

So there’s an immense comfort, and almost a source of inspiration that comes from Pera’s work. Take the episode Joe Pera Reads You The Church Announcements, probably my personal favorite of the series. The framing device is what the title states, with the semi-fictionalized Joe Pera reading the weekly announcements for St. Benedict’s Parish. Volunteers are needed, a toy drive is approaching – but there’s something more important than that. You see, Joe Pera only just now discovered The Who, more specifically their song “Baba O’Riley”. He immediately falls in love with the track after hearing it on the radio, and proceeds to call every station he could find to request it. We see him jump around the house to the music playing on repeat, dancing and generally rocking out.

He tells this church all of this until the pastor finally ushers him out. But he doesn’t mind, because he has a newly-installed CD player in his car and can listen to “Baba O’Riley” as he drives off into the snowy day. And that’s it. That’s the episode.

There’s something powerful about a form of storytelling that focuses on the small stuff. Because we’ve all been in Pera’s place, haven’t we? I myself have recently unearthed a strange and entirely unironic love for the music of Jimmy Buffett, and let me tell you, nothing spices up a quarantine more than a nice bath with those friendly islands jams playing in the background. But enthusiasm is a tricky thing, and it easily becomes passé, especially when it’s something that’s already gone through the ebb and flow of popularity. Try getting really into Tech Decks, for instance. Remember Tech Decks? The little skateboards that you pilot with your fingers? Really make that a substantial part of your life and try and share it with anyone else, and watch the reactions range from polite indifference to confusion or blatant mockery.

But Joe Pera doesn’t care about that. He cares about his dog and going on long drives to enjoy the scenery in fall. He cares about the different types of Christmas trees and their individual merits, and his favorite part about breakfast is dipping his toast in his egg yolk, which is so absolutely relatable that it I feel in in my very soul.

So, this is what/how I’m trying to realign myself. Because life has taken its scope and has somehow both minimized it and stretched it past the breaking point. I’m choosing to keep the latter in my periphery and focus on the former, the little stuff that’s far more manageable for someone with a realistic amount of power – which, right now, doesn’t amount to much.

It’s not all bad, though. I have a cat that lets me pet her tummy, and I’m close to my family. Maybe I’ll start an herb garden, but I might also spend a little extra time in bed. It’s all about taking care of yourself and living your best life, as unconventional or menial as it may seem.

Maybe we’ll learn in this time that nothing in this life is truly menial. And If we can’t learn it ourselves, perhaps Joe Pera can teach us.

Take care of yourself, friends.

Greetings from Miami!

A lot of my friends and colleagues have been hit hard by cancellations of concerts, festivals, tours all over the world because of the Coronavirus, myself included… so, I’m continuing with my call to support my work in this moment in time by purchasing my music. That said, if you are not in immediate danger of financial ruin please reach out and support us artists in general. Go to shows, if they haven’t been canceled, buy our music and art, commission new works, etc. This is quickly becoming a tangible disaster for the arts community at large for what is already an exceptionally difficult life. Most of us barely eek out a living with our work as it is. There’s basically no middle class for independent artists, and unfortunately, most money spent on music goes to the top .0001%. For me, I spent hundreds of hours setting up my upcoming tour, none of which I am paid for until I actually show up for the concerts and workshops, which means I won’t be paid for any of that work. And the organizations who were presenting me are also taking huge hits, many of whom may not be able to continue after this. I know many people are experiencing disruptions in their lives, and clearly the global economy is taking a big hit, so I am not petitioning you lightly, and frankly it’s uncomfortable for me as well as most artists to promote ourselves this way or to even talk about money at all. All of that said, Bandcamp is a great way to support me as well as so many other amazing musicians around the world. As artists we are in complete control of how much we charge and how we organize our platform on there. As opposed to all of the corporate distributors of music (I don’t need to mention their names). Bandcamp takes a small percentage from the top of sales and the rest goes directly and immediately to the artists. Today, I’m featuring my first Electric Confluence album which I published last year.

His omnivorous interest in styles and format is dizzying, but he maintains a steady focus on Electric Confluence Vol. 1, an album comprised simply of solo synth instrumentals. Thollem uses this formalist restriction to launch into a wide array of sounds, gliding all over the map in pursuit of whatever next idea interests him. What we’re left with is a record full of surprises that both engages and challenges the ears.
– Marc Masters, Bandcamp Best Experimental albums of January, 2019

There’s also tons of other music on my account with a myriad of great musicians (mostly compilation albums with tracks from all of my published albums). Please check them out and please give us extra love right now!

Love, Thollem

Thollem is a perpetually traveling pianist, keyboardist, composer, improviser, singer-songwriter, activist, author and teacher, he’s spent most of his life living on the road throughout North America and Europe. His work is ever-changing, evolving and responding to the times and his experiences, both as a soloist and in collaboration with hundreds of artists across idioms and disciplines. Thollem’s known internationally as an acoustic piano player in the free jazz and post-classical worlds, as the lead vocalist for the Italian agit-punk band Tsigoti and as an electronic keyboardist through a multitude of projects.

Article by Miranda Seaver

Venue: The Regency Ballroom

Featuring: The Edwardian World’s Faire 2020

I was a weird kid. If you know me, even tangentially, this probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

I spent a majority of my formative years dressed in ill-fitting thrift store suits, making campfires at the park and carving Pink Floyd lyrics into tree stumps with my brother’s switchblade. I’ve since grown up, and every so often I have been hit with a sense of un-direction. I mean, where do weird kids go when they aren’t kids anymore?

On January 24, I learned the answer to that question: they go to The Edwardian World’s Faire.

The Edwardian Ball is described on their website as “an elegant and whimsical celebration of art, music, theatre, fashion, technology, circus, and the beloved creations of the late, great author and illustrator Edward Gorey”. You may recognize Gorey from his grim black and white drawings depicting old-timey, high society-types. Or, if you’re like me, perhaps you have vague memories of The Gashlycrumb Tinies, an alphabet book consisting entirely of children dying terrible deaths. I’ll admit I don’t know much about his work aside from the feeling of indescribable dread it gave me when I was young, so I turned to a more knowledgable friend to ask what she believed attracted people to the Gorey’s work and aesthetic.

“His macabre subjects and the gallows humor,” she said, “accompanied by the lifework that can range from stark to densely-packed with lines… And a lot of it, though not necessarily macabre, just feels bizarre.”

So what type of people are drawn together in the same of such a bizarre man?

I arrived to The Regency Ballroom about an hour ahead of time, which worked in my favor as the line stacked up quickly. What really struck me first was how elaborate the costumes I saw were. There was a blend of fashion and technology that fit in well coming from the culture of Silicon Valley. I was lucky enough to be in line behind Greg and Lora Price from Steamy Tech in Santa Clara. Their ensemble was drawing in a lot of attention from passersby, especially Greg with his modified top hat containing four wooden walls of light and moving gears. This was built by hand, as was the pendent around Lora’s neck that lit up and acted as a sort of decibel meter.

Steamy Tech works with laser cutters, 3-D printers, and basic programming to create motorized trinkets and kits you can put together on your own. And Greg and Lora are regulars at the Edwardian Ball, coming each year with a new wooden pin to give out. I saw several guests donning this year’s pin of a scroll and quill, along with designs from previous years. It was clear to me that there was a tight-knit community surrounding the Ball, of which Greg and Lora were a vital part.

When the doors finally opened to the crowd I was one of the first inside. And god, there was a lot to look at. The Edwardian Ball takes up three floors of the Regency Ballroom. When you first enter there’s the Grand Ballroom, a vast space with people on stilts and posed on platforms. There were a lot of photo opportunities, from the flying alligator in the center of the room to the set pieces modeling different Edward Gorey stories from previous years. Below that is the Vendor Bazaar, where artisans sell their handcrafted goods, and two stories up is a more intimate space, with the Fireplace Stage and the Museum of Wonders.

Needless to say, I was lost in a heartbeat and overwhelmed almost immediately. Three floors, each packed with entertainment for the entirety of the night. There was a period of time while the line along the block was filing in (There was a metal detector at the door and almost everyone’s costumes had some amount of metal in them), and I used that period to take in the space while it was still relatively empty.

I enjoyed the Museum of Wonders, a hall of oddities reminiscent of a carnival funhouse with a cage containing the severed hands of the Baba Yaga, and a mermaid skeleton displayed in a case. Outside of that I got to see Belinda Blair’s Mechanical Doll, a performance piece where Blair posed as an animatronic doll that would come to life and play a song on her ukulele for anyone willing to toss her a few coins or trinkets.

The street performer energy was strong here, from the actual performers to the lavishly dressed patrons. There was a figure in a fox mask with an luminescent cape that glided through the ball on a pair of roller blades, and another one in a massive skeletal headpiece. The show was incredible, yes, with performances by the dancers of Le Cancan Bijou and the incredible acrobatics and contortionists of The Vau de Vire Society. But what really struck me about the Edwardian Ball were the people that were attending it.

I got the chance to speak with a few of them, and with the ghost of my younger self on my mind, I asked them all what they would say to the weird kids of the past and future.

There was a range of answers, but what I heard again and again was that things get better. One man advised that old clothes come in handy – which, as a lifelong Goodwill advocate, I can definitely agree with. And I spoke with a young woman in a mohawk and ballgown about her thoughts on the subject.

“Don’t stop being weird,” she said. “Other guys are going to some lame house party tonight, and I’m going to have a fabulous time watching people be themselves and be amazing and feel great about themselves. And what’s not great about that?”

This really struck me. Because, while Edward Gorey’s work is rather restrained, the Ball is anything but. These people are here to celebrate – celebrate themselves, each other, and the spark in Gorey’s work that pushed them to continue. And there’s something wonderful about that. There’s a magical quality in the spectacle of it all, the sense of joy without judgement.

When I left the party was still going on, and I left with with a sense of community that I’d never known before. After this weekend the patrons of the Ball will go back to their everyday lives, scattered all across the Bay Area. They’ll be working their jobs, going about their days, perhaps even passing you on the street. You might see them draped in regalia, or they might look so inconspicuous that you don’t notice them at all.

So take their advice, reader, and keep it weird. You might feel like you’re the only one, but that’s far from the truth.

They’re out there. We’re out there. You just have to know where to look.

Revelers at The 20th Annual Edwardian Ball and Edwardian World’s Faire | Photo by Neil Girling

Revelers at The 20th Annual Edwardian Ball and Edwardian World’s Faire | Photo by Leori Gill

Revelers at The 20th Annual Edwardian Ball and Edwardian World’s Faire | Photo by Leori Gill

Revelers at The 20th Annual Edwardian Ball and Edwardian World’s Faire | Photo by Neil Girling

Article by Jon Bauer | SAT, JUL 13, 2019, 8:00PM – 2:00AM

Venue: The Midway, San Francisco, California

Featuring: IllUM Art.Tech.Music (GAIKA vs. Madam X, The Flashbulb + More)

Article by Małgorzata Stanek

Still in the world, but not of the world
– Adam Mickiewicz from Dziady (“Forefather’s Eve”)

November is a month of solemn and important celebrations in Poland. November 11 is Polish Independence Day and early November is dedicated to honoring the departed. Specifically, November 2 is All Souls’ Day called Zaduszki in Polish. Zaduszki can be translated as “a day of prayer for the souls”. The eve of this holiday is known as All Saints’ Day. On these two days families visit the graves of the departed, lay flowers and light up candles. The cemeteries emanate otherworldly and solemn beauty as the sea of candles flickers as far as the eye can see. The words of Polish Romantic poet, Adam Mickiewicz from Dziady (“Forefather’s Eve”), aptly capture this atmosphere: “still in the world, but not of the world”. There are many folk traditions related to Zaduszki. It is said that on this day the spirits of our forefathers come to inhabit the world once more.

Thus, on November 2 in Lublin, an interesting annual event, now in its third year, is held. Translated roughly into English as “Souls ardently in tears”, it is an open gathering for singing traditional songs accompanying death.

The gathering is open to all, regardless of singing abilities. You are given a singing book – which you can pay for what you will – a token to help the organizers cover their costs. The songs come from traditional repertoire and speak about death and what comes after, they offer a moment to meditate on death and mortality. The lyrics are characterized by solemn beauty. There’s a distinctly poetic feel to them that sweeps you into their meditative mood.

The songs deal with a sense of paltriness of worldly things, show the departing soul saying farewell to their family, the village – they give voice to the dead. Some of the songs are prayers for them. However, the organizers say that while singing the songs, they also think about the living, to help them go through difficult moments. 

One of the organizers thus speaks about the songs: “They are very varied. Some talk about death in a literal way, reminding us about the decomposition which awaits us at the end; other use more delicate comparisons, focusing on the spiritual side of the process. It’s interesting that melodies which are used for these songs aren’t always as clam or sad as you might think. Frequently, we encounter dance tunes and only the lyrics remind us that it’s a song about a death. I think that this ambiguity and changeability of “moods” makes people want to get to know more songs. Every song brings in something new, even though it deals with a subject as old as death.

The group gathered in the cemetery filled with ancient graves – the resting places of people who came before us and are a part of the history of every day. The singing began right after dark. The voices carried above the lit-up graves, resonating with honesty and the sombre mood of the moment.

Even if your own individual singing isn’t particularly good, the group’s shared voice sweeps you away and your voice melts into the others. You distinctly feel a part of a community, it is a strongly shared experience. The organizers highlight that it is an important aspect. One of the initiators of the event recalls that he had to sing such songs alone on the occasion of one funeral he attended and that it’s really difficult because one singer focuses all the ritual tension on him or herself. For this reason, community is important. Moreover, the group of attendees increases every year and the sense that singing gathering rather than a concert becomes stronger every year – say the organizers. 

And even if your singing might not be the best, when it joins the others, what in the end comes through is one voice, singing as one, in honor of the dead. It’s a strongly reflective and moving experience.

Article by Natalie Wiser

If you’re looking to be amazed by raw talent, real music, and lots of witty banter, be sure not to miss the musical duo of EVAN + ZANE! featuring Evan Rachel Wood, actress in the HBO series Westworld and movie musical Across the Universe, and Zane Carney, guitarist for John Mayer, U2, Spider-Man on Broadway, and more.

On Monday (October 29, 2018), EVAN + ZANE came through my city of San Francisco and performed at the Great American Music Hall. I will say I was a bit tired and worn down from a tough workday. Fortunately, this show turned my whole mood around.

It was my first time at the venue, which has such a unique and intimate charm as a music venue. Evan + Zane simply walked onstage: no introduction or opening acts. As they welcomed the crowd, they jumped right into the music immediately afterward. Their set was Halloween themed and they covered lots of spooky Halloween favorites.

One of my favorite aspects about their set was that the first half was heavy on long guitar interludes. Zane is absolutely incredible! I wasn’t as familiar with him before the show and I was astounded on how fast his fingers move. He is brilliant and was nice enough to give us a mini music theory lesson on parallel minor chords. You could tell how passionate and knowledgeable he was about his craft.

Evan was equally amazing. She sounded like a 1920’s jazz club singer mixed with Gwen Stefani. I knew of her as an actress on Westworld and quickly realized she is just as good of a singer as she is an actress! Truly a double-threat. What I enjoyed most about Evan’s performance is that she took on the persona of the singer of each song they covered. While she kept her own personal flair, she really sounded like Dolores O’Riordan from the Cranberries when they covered “Zombie.”

My favorite aspect about this whole event is that Evan + Zane were so real and down to earth. They decided to throw in a last-minute song after the first half just for fun, and they still sounded amazing! The audience cheered for an encore and they told us that they played all of the songs they knew already. We got to hear them sight-read “Creep” by Radiohead, which again was still incredible. Oftentimes, I feel that concerts these days can be so artificial and focus more on the show than the music. This concert definitely was not that.

Overall it was a fantastic show. I hope they come back to San Francisco soon. Make sure you are able to check them out next time they come to your city!

• EVAN + ZANE: Jealousy Tour