For MLK Day, Living Jazz Celebrates Sly Stone and ‘Everyday People’

In the late ’60s, as the Black Power movement gained steam, funk became its soundtrack. Young people organized free breakfast programs, defended their communities from police violence and stood up for their rights as songs like Sly & the Family Stone’s “Stand!” echoed from their radios.

Rustee Allen was a young bassist at the time, and he remembers playing at Oakland’s DeFremery (aka Lil Bobby Hutton) Park at Black Panther rallies. By 1972, he became a member of Sly & the Family Stone, the groundbreaking Vallejo band whose albums like There’s a Riot Going On captured the hope and ambition of a generation coming of age amid a violent and chaotic political climate.

Now, more than 50 years later, Allen will take the stage at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre with an intergenerational crew of musicians for a tribute to Sly Stone, who died in 2025 at 82 years old. It’s part of an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration called In the Name of Love organized by the long-running music education nonprofit Living Jazz.

“[Sly] was a visionary because his whole theme was to live together in harmony and respect for one another,” says Allen. “And that’s why he had the first multi-gendered, multi-racial funk band. And his message was clear: We’re all the same. We’re everyday people.”

The concert will be led by music director Kev Choice, a rapper and pianist who first gained prominence as a sideman for stars like Lauryn Hill and paved the way for the cross-pollination of hip-hop, jazz and classical music.

On stage, a wide array of powerhouse vocalists and top-tier instrumentalists, including Adrian Marcel, Black London, Martin Luther McCoy, August Lee Stevens and B DeVeaux, will perform reimagined versions of Sly Stone classics like “Everyday People” and “Dance to the Music.” And because Living Jazz is, first and foremost, a music education organization, the concert will also spotlight young musicians from Oaktown Jazz Workshops and Living Jazz RootED Choir, which features 150 singers from elementary to high school.

“The big theme is everyday people, everyday joy,” says Living Jazz Executive Director Lyz Luke. “And you’ll see it in the programming. You’ll see in the stage design, every big speech for each concert.”

Cultivating a sense of togetherness is top of mind for Luke. In 2026, arts organizations aren’t just competing with each other for attendance; they’re also competing with Netflix, TikTok and all the ways we can entertain ourselves at home. But convenience comes at the cost of isolation, and amid escalating military invasions and ICE raids, culture organizations are doubling down on art to unify and inspire — even as nonprofits, Living Jazz included, attempt to rebound from cuts to arts funding locally, statewide and nationally.

“If you could just get your outfit on, put on your earrings, your lipstick, get your purse, and just get to the show, you’ll be so grateful,” Luke wants audiences to remember. “You’ll be in community. You will see people different than you. You might see ideas that challenge you or make you think or wonder, and you’re going to grow.”

Luke and the teaching artists at Living Jazz see the effects of social isolation on children firsthand. Since the pandemic, there’s been an uptick of young students with depression, anxiety and mental health needs in Living Jazz’s programs.

“I think kids really need a positive outlet because I know how that feels, not to have nothing around you but negativity, especially times like now,” says Living Jazz dance instructor Johnny “Johnny5” Lopez, whose crew Turf Inc has helped put Oakland’s homegrown dance style of turfing on the global map. Johnny5 and turf dancer Intricate will improvise contortionist-like moves at In the Name of Love.

For Living Jazz organizers and performers alike, it’s crucial in this age of division to remember the message of Martin Luther King Jr., of fighting for justice for the most vulnerable, and for standing together in the face of fear. Rustee Allen, the Sly & the Family Stone bassist, says that message echoes through Sly Stone’s music, which he’s excited to share with younger generations.

“He said, ‘Stand! / In the end, you’ll still be you / when you’ve done all the things you set out to do,’” remembers Allen. “Well, you can’t do the things you set out to do if you’re being oppressed and depressed. So you have to make a stand.”

In the Name of Love: A Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. takes place at Paramount Theatre (2025 Broadway, Oakland) on Jan. 17 at 6 p.m.