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"content": "\u003cp>As cold weather and lack of sunlight cause the leaves’ dominant shades of green to fade, other pigments, like the orange and yellow carotenoids and red and purple anthocyanins, become more visible. The beautiful colors lie dormant in the leaves year-round, only to be revealed by darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a perfect metaphor for \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/miapixley/\">Mia Pixley\u003c/a>’s new album, \u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/miapixley/sets/love-dark-bloom/s-GNOs40YEvhV\">\u003ci>Love. Dark. Bloom.\u003c/i>\u003c/a> The soulful jazz singer and cellist pulls from the unknown, the absence of light and even the underworld in her latest body of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984301\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1710px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984301\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with an afro sings while on stage.\" width=\"1710\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-scaled.jpg 1710w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-768x1150.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-1026x1536.jpg 1026w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-1368x2048.jpg 1368w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1710px) 100vw, 1710px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Multitalented musician Mia Pixley, seen here performing at Ciel Creative Space in Berkeley, is using her music to explore the beautiful things that can come from the darker side of life. \u003ccite>(Josh Sugitan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I naturally gravitate towards what’s unseen,” says Pixley during a phone call, explaining that her attraction to “what’s underneath” or what some people might deem as “taboo” is pushed by her understanding that darkness is a huge part of who we are as people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so when I’m approaching my art, I’m interested in looking at these areas,” she says in reference to darkness, adding that she’s mindful of finding ways to them “zing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That alchemy is shown from the start of the nine-track album, \u003ca href=\"https://miapixley.com/contact-1\">which she’ll be performing\u003c/a> across the state, in Occidental on Dec. 20 and at \u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15380/15381-barbara-higbie-and-friends-winter-solstice-celebration-251221\">The Freight\u003c/a> in Berkeley on Dec. 21, the evening of the Winter Solstice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The album kicks off with the song “Like Water, Like Love,” providing theme music for an adventure into the depths. The rhythmic thud of Pixley’s cello is paired with drums, creating a sound that’s tailor-made for a lovely jaunt into the unknown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the end of the song, the drums are stripped from the track and the jaunting is over; the only thing left is Pixley’s haunting hymns and the umph of the string instrument. The journey toward darkness begins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The album proceeds to a jazzy, uptempo, smoky-room-sounding song in “Gimmie The Juice,” before leading us to “Dirty” (inspired by the James Baldwin’s \u003cem>Previous Condition\u003c/em>) and “Marigold” (inspired by Toni Morrison’s \u003cem>The Bluest Eye\u003c/em>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pixley, the co-organizer of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bushwickbookcluboakland/?hl=en\">the Bushwick Book Club Oakland\u003c/a>, periodically meets with other local musicians, reads the same book and then writes music inspired by the literature. If so moved, the artists perform their song for an audience. (Pixley, \u003ca href=\"https://nikbomusic.com/\">Nikbo \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://clairecalderon.com/\">Claire Calderón\u003c/a> also co-wrote the song “Mother Told Me,” which appears later in the album; it was inspired by the book \u003cem>Women Who Run with the Wolves\u003c/em>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZxtGhk8rPA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just past the halfway point of the project, the fifth song brings us into peak darkness. And it’s beautiful. The track, “A Woman, A Wind,” opens with a foot-tapping rhythm as Pixley plays the cello and sings in a gritty tone, “She was walking along the road…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The song literally came to Pixley during a walk, when she had this idea about a person wearing a top hat. A people pleaser like herself, the top-hatter had to learn how to not “dance and jive for people,” she tells me. Instead, both she and the fictional character had to learn to “let it go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The driving rhythm — an urgent strumming of the cello strings that sounds like change is coming — came to her thereafter. She paired it with a benevolently delightful melody for juxtaposition. “It’s, like, free,” Pixley says in reference to the lighter side of the song’s counterbalance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She laid it all down on a five-channel looper and then mapped out where the supporting artists would fit in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do all the harmonies,” says Pixley, bringing me into the magic behind the scenes. “And then,” she says, “in the recording session is when I invite people that I think whose artistic sensibilities can take those ideas to the next level.” On this track those “artistic sensibilities” were provided by \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/hapabass?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnKDAfxmOM8xik_-ykOJmi_zmfTHhPI7m0mr31HW3YzSkmOg8-vCJIcTDI77E_aem_BhexGW1hvR6uWl9-i1H_eg\">Kevin Goldberg\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://chezhanny.com/isaac_schwartz_2022.html\">Isaac Schwartz\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mc.arthurgiuseppe/?hl=en\">Ian McArdle\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bryancsimmons/?hl=en\">Bryan C. Simmons\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The song is a journey and, arguably, the epitome of the album. It takes the listener from the darkness of confusion through the driving sound of change before ending on a profound note.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it don’t matter where that wind blows,” Pixley sings in an ominous tone over slow strums of the cello at the very end of the song. “Just know, it gets harder when you won’t let go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984302\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 774px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984302\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley.png\" alt=\"A woman sits, posing for a photo, holding her cello vertically. \" width=\"774\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley.png 774w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley-160x161.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley-768x774.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mia Pixley, who has been playing the cello since about the age of four, uses the instrument to guide her through dark times as an adult. \u003ccite>(Victor Xie)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A psychologist as well as an artist, Pixley says her dealings in darkness in both practices “cross-pollinate.” At the heart of it all is the idea of “transforming hard things into new energy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through listening, feeling and intuiting — trusting her intuition — Pixley gathers the information she needs for her work. “I like being \u003cem>in the things,” \u003c/em>she says of her ability to use more than her eyes to explore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Artistically inclined from a young age, Pixley asserts that her time in New York studying at Columbia University nurtured her natural proclivities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in Texas during the winter months, Pixley used to not like the cold season. But through the process of making this album, she’s shifted her relationship with winter and simultaneously broken free of repeating patterns in her life by simply “feeling” her way through it, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Darkness requires a different kind of sensing,” states Pixley, explaining that this season is all about hearing, tasting, feeling and “listening to ancestral guidance.” And because it requires a different set of senses, some people can find it “totally unnerving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Pixley, navigating darkness, be it from lack of light or clarity, is like the child’s game of “Lights Out,” or Hide-And-Go-Seek in the dark. To play the game, she says, you have to move slower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the album concludes, it goes from the cold, somber depths of the songs “Dark” and “Line” to remerge with light in the final track, “Bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The track was originally written as a commissioned piece for famed violinist\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/570165123/anne-akiko-meyers\"> Anne Akiko Meyers\u003c/a>, who was moved by Pixley’s performance of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZxtGhk8rPA\">Everything is Slow Motion\u003c/a>” at the de Young Museum with Mercury Soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She reached out to me and said, ‘Could you write me a song?'” recalls Pixley, who then wrote “Bloom,” but Meyers never used it. “So,” explains Pixley, “I asked her permission if I could put it on this project because it felt like the right track to close the album.” Meyers agreed, under one condition: that Pixley note that it was originally penned for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whenever I need good external validation,” Pixley reflects, with a lightness in her tone, “I’m like, ‘But Anne believes in me.'” More seriously, she notes that reassurance is a necessity when you’re on a path through darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I do this journey with openness and with surrender and with love,” says Pixley, “It’s gonna bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Mia Pixley’s album \u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/miapixley/sets/love-dark-bloom/s-GNOs40YEvhV?si=e2bbb10ddc484e9d8d6e38eb7cac4a44&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing\">Love. Dark. Bloom.\u003c/a> was released on Dec. 4. She’ll be performing on Dec. 21, as a part of Barbara Higbie and Friends Winter Solstice Celebration (with Vicki Randle, Kofy Brown, Michaelle Goerlitz and Jasper Manning). Doors open at 6 p.m., and the event starts at 7 p.m. at The Freight in Berkeley (2020 Addison St.). \u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15380/15381-barbara-higbie-and-friends-winter-solstice-celebration-251221\">Check here for more information\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"subhead": "'Tis the season to \"feel your way through\" the darkness. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As cold weather and lack of sunlight cause the leaves’ dominant shades of green to fade, other pigments, like the orange and yellow carotenoids and red and purple anthocyanins, become more visible. The beautiful colors lie dormant in the leaves year-round, only to be revealed by darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a perfect metaphor for \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/miapixley/\">Mia Pixley\u003c/a>’s new album, \u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/miapixley/sets/love-dark-bloom/s-GNOs40YEvhV\">\u003ci>Love. Dark. Bloom.\u003c/i>\u003c/a> The soulful jazz singer and cellist pulls from the unknown, the absence of light and even the underworld in her latest body of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984301\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1710px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984301\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with an afro sings while on stage.\" width=\"1710\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-scaled.jpg 1710w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-768x1150.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-1026x1536.jpg 1026w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-1368x2048.jpg 1368w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1710px) 100vw, 1710px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Multitalented musician Mia Pixley, seen here performing at Ciel Creative Space in Berkeley, is using her music to explore the beautiful things that can come from the darker side of life. \u003ccite>(Josh Sugitan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I naturally gravitate towards what’s unseen,” says Pixley during a phone call, explaining that her attraction to “what’s underneath” or what some people might deem as “taboo” is pushed by her understanding that darkness is a huge part of who we are as people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And so when I’m approaching my art, I’m interested in looking at these areas,” she says in reference to darkness, adding that she’s mindful of finding ways to them “zing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That alchemy is shown from the start of the nine-track album, \u003ca href=\"https://miapixley.com/contact-1\">which she’ll be performing\u003c/a> across the state, in Occidental on Dec. 20 and at \u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15380/15381-barbara-higbie-and-friends-winter-solstice-celebration-251221\">The Freight\u003c/a> in Berkeley on Dec. 21, the evening of the Winter Solstice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The album kicks off with the song “Like Water, Like Love,” providing theme music for an adventure into the depths. The rhythmic thud of Pixley’s cello is paired with drums, creating a sound that’s tailor-made for a lovely jaunt into the unknown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the end of the song, the drums are stripped from the track and the jaunting is over; the only thing left is Pixley’s haunting hymns and the umph of the string instrument. The journey toward darkness begins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The album proceeds to a jazzy, uptempo, smoky-room-sounding song in “Gimmie The Juice,” before leading us to “Dirty” (inspired by the James Baldwin’s \u003cem>Previous Condition\u003c/em>) and “Marigold” (inspired by Toni Morrison’s \u003cem>The Bluest Eye\u003c/em>).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pixley, the co-organizer of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bushwickbookcluboakland/?hl=en\">the Bushwick Book Club Oakland\u003c/a>, periodically meets with other local musicians, reads the same book and then writes music inspired by the literature. If so moved, the artists perform their song for an audience. (Pixley, \u003ca href=\"https://nikbomusic.com/\">Nikbo \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://clairecalderon.com/\">Claire Calderón\u003c/a> also co-wrote the song “Mother Told Me,” which appears later in the album; it was inspired by the book \u003cem>Women Who Run with the Wolves\u003c/em>.)\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/PZxtGhk8rPA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/PZxtGhk8rPA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Just past the halfway point of the project, the fifth song brings us into peak darkness. And it’s beautiful. The track, “A Woman, A Wind,” opens with a foot-tapping rhythm as Pixley plays the cello and sings in a gritty tone, “She was walking along the road…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The song literally came to Pixley during a walk, when she had this idea about a person wearing a top hat. A people pleaser like herself, the top-hatter had to learn how to not “dance and jive for people,” she tells me. Instead, both she and the fictional character had to learn to “let it go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The driving rhythm — an urgent strumming of the cello strings that sounds like change is coming — came to her thereafter. She paired it with a benevolently delightful melody for juxtaposition. “It’s, like, free,” Pixley says in reference to the lighter side of the song’s counterbalance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She laid it all down on a five-channel looper and then mapped out where the supporting artists would fit in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do all the harmonies,” says Pixley, bringing me into the magic behind the scenes. “And then,” she says, “in the recording session is when I invite people that I think whose artistic sensibilities can take those ideas to the next level.” On this track those “artistic sensibilities” were provided by \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/hapabass?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnKDAfxmOM8xik_-ykOJmi_zmfTHhPI7m0mr31HW3YzSkmOg8-vCJIcTDI77E_aem_BhexGW1hvR6uWl9-i1H_eg\">Kevin Goldberg\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://chezhanny.com/isaac_schwartz_2022.html\">Isaac Schwartz\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mc.arthurgiuseppe/?hl=en\">Ian McArdle\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bryancsimmons/?hl=en\">Bryan C. Simmons\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The song is a journey and, arguably, the epitome of the album. It takes the listener from the darkness of confusion through the driving sound of change before ending on a profound note.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it don’t matter where that wind blows,” Pixley sings in an ominous tone over slow strums of the cello at the very end of the song. “Just know, it gets harder when you won’t let go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984302\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 774px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984302\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley.png\" alt=\"A woman sits, posing for a photo, holding her cello vertically. \" width=\"774\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley.png 774w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley-160x161.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Headshot-by-Victor-Xie-Mia-Pixley-768x774.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mia Pixley, who has been playing the cello since about the age of four, uses the instrument to guide her through dark times as an adult. \u003ccite>(Victor Xie)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A psychologist as well as an artist, Pixley says her dealings in darkness in both practices “cross-pollinate.” At the heart of it all is the idea of “transforming hard things into new energy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through listening, feeling and intuiting — trusting her intuition — Pixley gathers the information she needs for her work. “I like being \u003cem>in the things,” \u003c/em>she says of her ability to use more than her eyes to explore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Artistically inclined from a young age, Pixley asserts that her time in New York studying at Columbia University nurtured her natural proclivities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in Texas during the winter months, Pixley used to not like the cold season. But through the process of making this album, she’s shifted her relationship with winter and simultaneously broken free of repeating patterns in her life by simply “feeling” her way through it, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Darkness requires a different kind of sensing,” states Pixley, explaining that this season is all about hearing, tasting, feeling and “listening to ancestral guidance.” And because it requires a different set of senses, some people can find it “totally unnerving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Pixley, navigating darkness, be it from lack of light or clarity, is like the child’s game of “Lights Out,” or Hide-And-Go-Seek in the dark. To play the game, she says, you have to move slower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the album concludes, it goes from the cold, somber depths of the songs “Dark” and “Line” to remerge with light in the final track, “Bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The track was originally written as a commissioned piece for famed violinist\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/570165123/anne-akiko-meyers\"> Anne Akiko Meyers\u003c/a>, who was moved by Pixley’s performance of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZxtGhk8rPA\">Everything is Slow Motion\u003c/a>” at the de Young Museum with Mercury Soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She reached out to me and said, ‘Could you write me a song?'” recalls Pixley, who then wrote “Bloom,” but Meyers never used it. “So,” explains Pixley, “I asked her permission if I could put it on this project because it felt like the right track to close the album.” Meyers agreed, under one condition: that Pixley note that it was originally penned for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whenever I need good external validation,” Pixley reflects, with a lightness in her tone, “I’m like, ‘But Anne believes in me.'” More seriously, she notes that reassurance is a necessity when you’re on a path through darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I do this journey with openness and with surrender and with love,” says Pixley, “It’s gonna bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Mia Pixley’s album \u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/miapixley/sets/love-dark-bloom/s-GNOs40YEvhV?si=e2bbb10ddc484e9d8d6e38eb7cac4a44&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing\">Love. Dark. Bloom.\u003c/a> was released on Dec. 4. She’ll be performing on Dec. 21, as a part of Barbara Higbie and Friends Winter Solstice Celebration (with Vicki Randle, Kofy Brown, Michaelle Goerlitz and Jasper Manning). Doors open at 6 p.m., and the event starts at 7 p.m. at The Freight in Berkeley (2020 Addison St.). \u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15380/15381-barbara-higbie-and-friends-winter-solstice-celebration-251221\">Check here for more information\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "berkeley-jazzschool-lisa-mezzacappa-executive-director",
"title": "Berkeley’s Jazzschool Appoints Lisa Mezzacappa as Executive Director",
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"headTitle": "Berkeley’s Jazzschool Appoints Lisa Mezzacappa as Executive Director | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Berkeley-based community education institution \u003ca href=\"https://jazzschool.org/\">The Jazzschool\u003c/a> on Tuesday announced Bay Area composer, educator and bassist \u003ca href=\"https://www.lisamezzacappa.com/bio.html\">Lisa Mezzacappa\u003c/a> as its new executive director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m feeling great, excited, nervous and thrilled,” says Mezzacappa, reached by phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezzacappa plans to listen to the needs of students to add to the “magical” environment that already exists at the school — a place she said she’s fallen in love with over the past five years as an educator at the institution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984505\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984505\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa.jpeg\" alt=\"A candid shot of two people playing jazz on stage. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bassist Lisa Mezzacappa with vibraphonist Mark Clifford, one of many local musicians she’s worked with throughout her career. \u003ccite>(Lenny Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When you’re teaching there at night,” she says, “the place is just so alive and activated by so many different kinds of people, who are kind of giddy with playing music together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezzacappa refers to the school, housed in a basement in downtown Berkeley, as a “subterranean realm” full of music and community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are drummers looking for cymbals and swapping out their gear,” she says, painting a picture of the place on any given night. “There are people looking for cables, moving amplifiers around, getting vibraphones wheeled in, finding percussion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Founded in 1997 by music scholar and jazz pianist \u003ca href=\"https://jazzschool.org/people/susan-muscarella/\">Susan Muscarella\u003c/a>, the Jazzschool was previously connected to the California Jazz Conservatory (CJC), which offered a program for students to earn bachelors degrees in music. That program \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969281/california-jazz-conservatory-degree-program-ending\">came to an end last year.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezzacappa, who has also performed at the Jazzschool, says the driving force behind the institution’s appeal — beyond music — is its outstanding staff and the community of artists who gravitate to its classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984507\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984507\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people stand on stage playing jazz together.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Composer, bandleader and bassist Lisa Mezzacappa (second from right) and her ensemble Five(ish) performing in the Bay Area. \u003ccite>(Lenny Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With year-round classes offered on a quarterly basis for both adults and youth, the school teaches various styles, from Latin jazz to Brazilian funk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond acquiring technical expertise, Mezzacappa describes an added draw of the school: people often spend years at the Jazzschool, and connect “on that really interpersonal level through music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An avant-garde jazz artist who has a long resumé of playing gigs all over the Bay Area and beyond, Mezzacappa holds nothing back when it comes advocating for the art form.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13981396']“I think jazz should be part of every conversation,” she says, noting that she’s even open to exploring the ways technological advancements are impacting one of this country’s oldest genres of music. “We can’t run away from new technology,” she attests. “We have to see what students are interested in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her first assignment, as she takes the helm of the nearly thirty year-old institution, is the school’s fall \u003ca href=\"https://concerts.jazzschool.org/\">Youth & Adult Student Performance Series\u003c/a>. An annual showcase that runs Dec. 5–16, it features nearly 400 students from different levels, playing different styles of jazz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The showcase doubles as a way of expanding community. Many people bring friends and loved ones, Mezzacappa said, who may eventually get involved and become part of a new crop of talented musicians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re curious about dusting off your guitar, or the keyboard that’s been in your garage,” offers Mezzacappa, “and you’re like, ‘Maybe I wanna take a class,’ it’s a good chance to see what happens here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Jazzschool’s \u003ca href=\"https://concerts.jazzschool.org/\">Fall Youth & Adult Student Performance Series\u003c/a> features several free concerts from Dec. 5–16 at the Jazzschool (2087 Addison Street, Berkeley). \u003ca href=\"https://concerts.jazzschool.org/\">More event information here.\u003c/a> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Berkeley-based community education institution \u003ca href=\"https://jazzschool.org/\">The Jazzschool\u003c/a> on Tuesday announced Bay Area composer, educator and bassist \u003ca href=\"https://www.lisamezzacappa.com/bio.html\">Lisa Mezzacappa\u003c/a> as its new executive director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m feeling great, excited, nervous and thrilled,” says Mezzacappa, reached by phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezzacappa plans to listen to the needs of students to add to the “magical” environment that already exists at the school — a place she said she’s fallen in love with over the past five years as an educator at the institution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984505\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984505\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa.jpeg\" alt=\"A candid shot of two people playing jazz on stage. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Lisa-Mezzacappa-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bassist Lisa Mezzacappa with vibraphonist Mark Clifford, one of many local musicians she’s worked with throughout her career. \u003ccite>(Lenny Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When you’re teaching there at night,” she says, “the place is just so alive and activated by so many different kinds of people, who are kind of giddy with playing music together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezzacappa refers to the school, housed in a basement in downtown Berkeley, as a “subterranean realm” full of music and community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are drummers looking for cymbals and swapping out their gear,” she says, painting a picture of the place on any given night. “There are people looking for cables, moving amplifiers around, getting vibraphones wheeled in, finding percussion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Founded in 1997 by music scholar and jazz pianist \u003ca href=\"https://jazzschool.org/people/susan-muscarella/\">Susan Muscarella\u003c/a>, the Jazzschool was previously connected to the California Jazz Conservatory (CJC), which offered a program for students to earn bachelors degrees in music. That program \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13969281/california-jazz-conservatory-degree-program-ending\">came to an end last year.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mezzacappa, who has also performed at the Jazzschool, says the driving force behind the institution’s appeal — beyond music — is its outstanding staff and the community of artists who gravitate to its classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984507\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984507\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people stand on stage playing jazz together.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/download-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Composer, bandleader and bassist Lisa Mezzacappa (second from right) and her ensemble Five(ish) performing in the Bay Area. \u003ccite>(Lenny Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With year-round classes offered on a quarterly basis for both adults and youth, the school teaches various styles, from Latin jazz to Brazilian funk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond acquiring technical expertise, Mezzacappa describes an added draw of the school: people often spend years at the Jazzschool, and connect “on that really interpersonal level through music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An avant-garde jazz artist who has a long resumé of playing gigs all over the Bay Area and beyond, Mezzacappa holds nothing back when it comes advocating for the art form.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I think jazz should be part of every conversation,” she says, noting that she’s even open to exploring the ways technological advancements are impacting one of this country’s oldest genres of music. “We can’t run away from new technology,” she attests. “We have to see what students are interested in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her first assignment, as she takes the helm of the nearly thirty year-old institution, is the school’s fall \u003ca href=\"https://concerts.jazzschool.org/\">Youth & Adult Student Performance Series\u003c/a>. An annual showcase that runs Dec. 5–16, it features nearly 400 students from different levels, playing different styles of jazz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The showcase doubles as a way of expanding community. Many people bring friends and loved ones, Mezzacappa said, who may eventually get involved and become part of a new crop of talented musicians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re curious about dusting off your guitar, or the keyboard that’s been in your garage,” offers Mezzacappa, “and you’re like, ‘Maybe I wanna take a class,’ it’s a good chance to see what happens here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Jazzschool’s \u003ca href=\"https://concerts.jazzschool.org/\">Fall Youth & Adult Student Performance Series\u003c/a> features several free concerts from Dec. 5–16 at the Jazzschool (2087 Addison Street, Berkeley). \u003ca href=\"https://concerts.jazzschool.org/\">More event information here.\u003c/a> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "eastside-arts-alliance-greg-morozumi-elena-serrano-susanne-takehara-oakland",
"title": "Oakland’s EastSide Arts Alliance Celebrates 25 Years — With Big Changes Ahead",
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"headTitle": "Oakland’s EastSide Arts Alliance Celebrates 25 Years — With Big Changes Ahead | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981412\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1144px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981412\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.MalcolmX.2001.sitting.jpg\" alt=\"A man sitting in front of a white board with writing on it.\" width=\"1144\" height=\"1754\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.MalcolmX.2001.sitting.jpg 1144w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.MalcolmX.2001.sitting-160x245.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.MalcolmX.2001.sitting-768x1178.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.MalcolmX.2001.sitting-1002x1536.jpg 1002w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1144px) 100vw, 1144px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">EastSide Arts Alliance cofounder Greg Morozumi, pictured planning the 2001 Malcolm X Jazz Festival. With Morozumi’s passing in June and two other cofounders stepping down, the EastSide Arts Alliance will be led by a collective. \u003ccite>(EastSide Arts Alliance)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/21803/eastside_arts_alliance\">EastSide Arts Alliance\u003c/a> is a cultural hub where young artists are politicized, community members are fed and events like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/programs/malcolm-x-jazz-arts-festival\">Malcolm X Jazz Festival\u003c/a> are organized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a traditional jazz fest, the event is a community resource where creatives, educators and entrepreneurs celebrate a variety of arts. It’s where 10 years ago \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2014/01/09/261101520/amiri-baraka-poet-and-co-founder-of-black-arts-movement-dies-at-79\">Amiri Baraka\u003c/a>, the father of the Black Arts Movement, was honored after he transitioned. It’s where \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnJEz776THs\">a young Kehlani once performed\u003c/a> under the mentorship of the late \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13972818/dwayne-wiggins-dead-oakland-musician-tony-toni-tone-died\">D’Wayne Wiggins\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Saturday, Sept. 20, EastSide Arts Alliance kicks off its 25th anniversary with \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/calendar/tastes-of-eastside\">A Taste of EastSide\u003c/a>, the first in a year-long series of events celebrating the center with art, food, history and community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The afternoon \u003ca href=\"https://donorbox.org/eastside-arts-alliance-25th-anniversary-giving-campaign?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAac0m59hLWeTNQTBkUR8idP-wpemAX9EzvxbbXvgh94Tl1i_2IthyiqOrw6myA_aem_6dPCml5WDgEQa-mGuWqR0A\">fundraiser\u003c/a> and performance includes the talented \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dnagadance/\">Dnaga Dance Company\u003c/a>, longtime EastSide Arts collaborator and \u003ca href=\"https://www.deepwatersdance.com/\">Deep Waters Dance Theatre\u003c/a> founder amara tabor-smith, violinist \u003ca href=\"https://www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/joan-tarika-lewis\">Tarika Lewis\u003c/a> — the first woman to join the Black Panther Party — and others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981409\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981409\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/0.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of a woman in a light blue shirt and a man in a black shirt, sun glasses and hat standing in a park. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1307\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/0.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/0-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/0-768x502.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/0-1536x1004.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elena Serrano and Greg Morozumi, two of the co-founders behind EastSide Arts Alliance pictured at Malcolm X Jazz Festival at San Antonio Park. \u003ccite>(EastSide Arts Alliance)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The event comes at a time of transition for for the community institution. \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/blog/greg-jung-morozumi\">Greg Jung Morozumi\u003c/a>, EastSide Arts Alliance co-founder and mentor to many, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/blog/greg-jung-morozumi\">passed in June\u003c/a>. Elena Serrano and Susanne Takehara, the center’s two remaining founding members, will soon step down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet even as the baton is passed to the next generation, Serrano says, the work isn’t going to stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The birth of an community institution\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The seeds that grew into EastSide Arts Alliance were planted in the late 1990s, when four collectives came together. Aerosol writers \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp38sltic8\">Mike “Dream” Francisco\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://dreamtdk.com/\">TDK\u003c/a> crew, \u003ca href=\"https://favianna.com/\">Favianna Rodriguez\u003c/a>’s C4 collective, the Black Dot’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Against-Gentrification-Marcel-Diallo-sees-a-2622101.php\">Marcel Diallo\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://openspace.sfmoma.org/2009/10/seeing-with-the-blackeyed-peathe-art-of-letitia-ntofon/\">Letitia Ntofon\u003c/a> and organizers from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tallersinfronteras/?hl=en\">Taller sin Fronteras\u003c/a> (also known as TSF or Workshop Without Borders) all came together to curate the first Malcolm X Jazz Festival in 2000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They were informed by the work of Amiri Baraka, Yuri Kochiyama, Malaquías Montoya and especially Malcolm X. The festival exemplified “the liberation of people from Third World,” says Serrano — and art was the unifying force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981408\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981408\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Amiri-Baraka-and-Greg.jpg\" alt=\"Two men pose for a photo\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1418\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Amiri-Baraka-and-Greg.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Amiri-Baraka-and-Greg-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Amiri-Baraka-and-Greg-768x545.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Amiri-Baraka-and-Greg-1536x1089.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Poet, playwright and author Amiri Baraka with organizer, artist and mentor Greg Morozumi, circa 1992. The following year, Morozumi would organize a ‘No Justice, No Peace’ event at Oakland’s Pro Arts, predating his work with EastSide Arts Alliance. \u003ccite>(EastSide Arts Alliance)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t know what we were doing,” Serrano says, reflecting on the first Malcolm X Jazz Festival. “We booked 11 acts on the main stage.” Attempting to reach all demographics with “straight-ahead jazz, jazz with hip-hop, Asian jazz, Latin jazz” and more, Serrano says, they soon learned to book less performers. But their heart was in the right place, and San Antonio Park provided a perfect location for their mission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Formerly \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/transportation/documents/projects/san-antonio-park-master-plan/saphistoryarticle.pdf\">the site of bear and bull fights in the 1800s\u003c/a>, San Antonio Park is located on the rolling hills of the 20s in East Oakland. At the time of the first jazz festival, organizers saw the surrounding community of Southeast Asian, Chicano, Indigenous, and African-American residents as a prime example of Third World solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But,” says Serrano, “it was also one of the poorest neighborhoods in Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As philanthropic efforts were aimed at curbing the neighborhood’s problems, Serrano and company emphasized its benefits, like its diversity. “This is the most culturally rich community ever,” she says. “This is a true asset.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the newly founded EastSide Arts Alliance secured funding, they launched a cultural space focused on unity to “build power amongst the people” and make needed change, says Serrano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981411\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1110px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981411\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/unnamed.jpg\" alt=\"A man standing, reading a book, while standing in front of a bookcase. \" width=\"1110\" height=\"740\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/unnamed.jpg 1110w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/unnamed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/unnamed-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">EastSide Arts Alliance co-founder Greg Morozumi reading one of his many books. To honor his love of books, EastSide now has a reading room dedicated to him. \u003ccite>(EastSide Arts Alliance)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A far-ranging influence\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Over the decades, and spanning three different locations, the center has provided a home for young people. It’s where artists grow into refined practitioners, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ladimeuna/?hl=en\">Leslie “Dime” Lopez\u003c/a>. At the turn of the millennium, Lopez was a teenager who just wanted to spray paint. Now in her late 30s, Dime’s aerosol artwork now covers walls throughout the Bay Area and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Graf was a big thing during that time in my life,” she says, reflecting on her teenage years during a recent phone call. She was introduced to the center when a close friend volunteered at EastSide Arts’ first Malcolm X Jazz Festival. Lopez tagged along, and soon she started attending programs, working on murals and doing banner pieces on the sidewalk. “It was the very first stages,” says Lopez, “of being a part of a community of writers that were doing a bigger things in the neighborhood.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/kev.akhidenor\">Kevin Akhidenor\u003c/a>, an educator, lyricist and accomplished freestyle rapper, also found a home at EastSide starting in 2002, when he and a friend first attended its Beats Flows program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Akhidenor clearly remembers his first day, when he was a glasses-wearing fresh face on the scene. When he walked into the center, program leaders “bum-rushed” him — “they were just roasting me, and battling me,” he laughs. Momentarily overwhelmed, he quickly responded: “Battling and freestyling ain’t never been no issue to me,” he reflects, “so I just battled back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Akhidenor has been involved ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13832468\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13832468\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_.jpg\" alt=\"The Malcolm X Jazz Arts Festival in 2009.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Malcolm X Jazz Arts Festival in 2009. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2003, Akhidenor met Greg Morozumi, Elena Serrano and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tracibartlow/?hl=en\">Traci Bartlow\u003c/a>, and realized, “This is an arts political organization.” He soon joined the Malcolm X Jazz Festival planning committee, hosted a stage at that year’s event and eventually joined EastSide’s staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well-known jazz musician \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/howard-wiley\">Howard Wiley\u003c/a> has been part of the Malcolm X Jazz Festival since the event’s second year. He remembers it vividly — not only because he played alongside Marcus Shelby’s group, but because he borrowed his grandmother’s diesel Mercedes Benz to get there. “And I didn’t have a license,” Wiley says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, he’s become the de facto curator of the main stage. One of the most important aspects for him of the jazz festival, and EastSide as a whole, is how artists gain political knowledge from people who’ve lived it firsthand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through Morozumi and Serrano, Wiley has met members of the Last Poets and hung-out with famed jazz saxophonist David Murray. He’s heard about conversations with Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane and Malcolm X from people who were there when the titans talked. He was also blessed with Greg Morozumi’s record collection before he passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When he had to go into hospice,” Wiley says, “we moved him out, and we were just moving all these tapes, records and books.” Blown away by the wealth in Morozumi’s archives, Wiley says, “Man, that was a dude who was committed to knowledge of the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981410\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1686px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981410\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.officedesk.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white photo showing a man's back as he sits at a desk. \" width=\"1686\" height=\"1118\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.officedesk.jpg 1686w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.officedesk-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.officedesk-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.officedesk-1536x1019.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1686px) 100vw, 1686px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Greg Morozumi was a constant learner, and eternal teacher. \u003ccite>(EastSide Arts Alliance)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘You want to make the ancestors proud’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the space adjacent to EastSide Arts is \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/bandung-books\">Bandung Books\u003c/a>, where many of Greg’s old books have found a home. “That idea of literacy,” says Serrano, “is something that we want to stress.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Known for community events like the last month’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/blog/thank-you-for-attending-xicana-moratorium\">Xicana Moratorium Block Party,\u003c/a> the center’s most foundational practice is the simple act of reading. The first program at EastSide was the Community Archive Resource Project, which started with materials Greg had collected over 50 years of organizing work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Comprised of binders of material from around the world, highlighting community actions against police brutality and uplifting the importance of the arts, Greg would use the archive as a tool for mentorship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When this generation of young people in our music studio wants to write about police brutality,” says Serrano, “Greg would be like, ‘Okay, look at all this stuff that came before you. You don’t have to reinvent stuff, you have to take it to the next level.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/archive-carp\">Now digitized\u003c/a>, Serrano says Greg’s archives of posters, music, buttons and books push artists to ask themselves, “Now, what is your role?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the coming months, Serrano will fully transition out of leadership at the center, and pass the baton to a collective of people who’ve been with the center since their teens, including Kevin Akhidenor and Leslie “Dime” Lopez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My heart is split in so many different ways,” says Lopez, about the forthcoming changes. On one hand, “I’m excited for our elders, and to continue their legacy and to really stand on the shoulders of those that built the space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she can’t help but feel the pressure of taking the reins. “It’s scary,” Lopez says, “you want to make your parents proud, you know? And you want to make the ancestors proud as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reflecting on the legacy of Greg Morozumi, as well as Elena Serrano and Susanne Takehara, Lopez gives them their flowers: “They shared so much and gave so much of their lives to this space,” she says, “for us to continue that work, the only thing we can do is pay it forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/calendar/tastes-of-eastside\">A Taste of EastSide\u003c/a> takes place Saturday, Sept. 20, at EastSide Arts Alliance (2277 International Blvd., Oakland). \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/calendar/tastes-of-eastside\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981412\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1144px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981412\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.MalcolmX.2001.sitting.jpg\" alt=\"A man sitting in front of a white board with writing on it.\" width=\"1144\" height=\"1754\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.MalcolmX.2001.sitting.jpg 1144w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.MalcolmX.2001.sitting-160x245.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.MalcolmX.2001.sitting-768x1178.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.MalcolmX.2001.sitting-1002x1536.jpg 1002w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1144px) 100vw, 1144px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">EastSide Arts Alliance cofounder Greg Morozumi, pictured planning the 2001 Malcolm X Jazz Festival. With Morozumi’s passing in June and two other cofounders stepping down, the EastSide Arts Alliance will be led by a collective. \u003ccite>(EastSide Arts Alliance)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/21803/eastside_arts_alliance\">EastSide Arts Alliance\u003c/a> is a cultural hub where young artists are politicized, community members are fed and events like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/programs/malcolm-x-jazz-arts-festival\">Malcolm X Jazz Festival\u003c/a> are organized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a traditional jazz fest, the event is a community resource where creatives, educators and entrepreneurs celebrate a variety of arts. It’s where 10 years ago \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2014/01/09/261101520/amiri-baraka-poet-and-co-founder-of-black-arts-movement-dies-at-79\">Amiri Baraka\u003c/a>, the father of the Black Arts Movement, was honored after he transitioned. It’s where \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnJEz776THs\">a young Kehlani once performed\u003c/a> under the mentorship of the late \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13972818/dwayne-wiggins-dead-oakland-musician-tony-toni-tone-died\">D’Wayne Wiggins\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Saturday, Sept. 20, EastSide Arts Alliance kicks off its 25th anniversary with \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/calendar/tastes-of-eastside\">A Taste of EastSide\u003c/a>, the first in a year-long series of events celebrating the center with art, food, history and community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The afternoon \u003ca href=\"https://donorbox.org/eastside-arts-alliance-25th-anniversary-giving-campaign?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAac0m59hLWeTNQTBkUR8idP-wpemAX9EzvxbbXvgh94Tl1i_2IthyiqOrw6myA_aem_6dPCml5WDgEQa-mGuWqR0A\">fundraiser\u003c/a> and performance includes the talented \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dnagadance/\">Dnaga Dance Company\u003c/a>, longtime EastSide Arts collaborator and \u003ca href=\"https://www.deepwatersdance.com/\">Deep Waters Dance Theatre\u003c/a> founder amara tabor-smith, violinist \u003ca href=\"https://www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/joan-tarika-lewis\">Tarika Lewis\u003c/a> — the first woman to join the Black Panther Party — and others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981409\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981409\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/0.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of a woman in a light blue shirt and a man in a black shirt, sun glasses and hat standing in a park. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1307\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/0.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/0-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/0-768x502.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/0-1536x1004.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elena Serrano and Greg Morozumi, two of the co-founders behind EastSide Arts Alliance pictured at Malcolm X Jazz Festival at San Antonio Park. \u003ccite>(EastSide Arts Alliance)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The event comes at a time of transition for for the community institution. \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/blog/greg-jung-morozumi\">Greg Jung Morozumi\u003c/a>, EastSide Arts Alliance co-founder and mentor to many, \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/blog/greg-jung-morozumi\">passed in June\u003c/a>. Elena Serrano and Susanne Takehara, the center’s two remaining founding members, will soon step down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet even as the baton is passed to the next generation, Serrano says, the work isn’t going to stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The birth of an community institution\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The seeds that grew into EastSide Arts Alliance were planted in the late 1990s, when four collectives came together. Aerosol writers \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp38sltic8\">Mike “Dream” Francisco\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://dreamtdk.com/\">TDK\u003c/a> crew, \u003ca href=\"https://favianna.com/\">Favianna Rodriguez\u003c/a>’s C4 collective, the Black Dot’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Against-Gentrification-Marcel-Diallo-sees-a-2622101.php\">Marcel Diallo\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://openspace.sfmoma.org/2009/10/seeing-with-the-blackeyed-peathe-art-of-letitia-ntofon/\">Letitia Ntofon\u003c/a> and organizers from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tallersinfronteras/?hl=en\">Taller sin Fronteras\u003c/a> (also known as TSF or Workshop Without Borders) all came together to curate the first Malcolm X Jazz Festival in 2000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They were informed by the work of Amiri Baraka, Yuri Kochiyama, Malaquías Montoya and especially Malcolm X. The festival exemplified “the liberation of people from Third World,” says Serrano — and art was the unifying force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981408\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981408\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Amiri-Baraka-and-Greg.jpg\" alt=\"Two men pose for a photo\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1418\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Amiri-Baraka-and-Greg.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Amiri-Baraka-and-Greg-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Amiri-Baraka-and-Greg-768x545.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Amiri-Baraka-and-Greg-1536x1089.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Poet, playwright and author Amiri Baraka with organizer, artist and mentor Greg Morozumi, circa 1992. The following year, Morozumi would organize a ‘No Justice, No Peace’ event at Oakland’s Pro Arts, predating his work with EastSide Arts Alliance. \u003ccite>(EastSide Arts Alliance)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t know what we were doing,” Serrano says, reflecting on the first Malcolm X Jazz Festival. “We booked 11 acts on the main stage.” Attempting to reach all demographics with “straight-ahead jazz, jazz with hip-hop, Asian jazz, Latin jazz” and more, Serrano says, they soon learned to book less performers. But their heart was in the right place, and San Antonio Park provided a perfect location for their mission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Formerly \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/transportation/documents/projects/san-antonio-park-master-plan/saphistoryarticle.pdf\">the site of bear and bull fights in the 1800s\u003c/a>, San Antonio Park is located on the rolling hills of the 20s in East Oakland. At the time of the first jazz festival, organizers saw the surrounding community of Southeast Asian, Chicano, Indigenous, and African-American residents as a prime example of Third World solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But,” says Serrano, “it was also one of the poorest neighborhoods in Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As philanthropic efforts were aimed at curbing the neighborhood’s problems, Serrano and company emphasized its benefits, like its diversity. “This is the most culturally rich community ever,” she says. “This is a true asset.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the newly founded EastSide Arts Alliance secured funding, they launched a cultural space focused on unity to “build power amongst the people” and make needed change, says Serrano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981411\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1110px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981411\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/unnamed.jpg\" alt=\"A man standing, reading a book, while standing in front of a bookcase. \" width=\"1110\" height=\"740\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/unnamed.jpg 1110w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/unnamed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/unnamed-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">EastSide Arts Alliance co-founder Greg Morozumi reading one of his many books. To honor his love of books, EastSide now has a reading room dedicated to him. \u003ccite>(EastSide Arts Alliance)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A far-ranging influence\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Over the decades, and spanning three different locations, the center has provided a home for young people. It’s where artists grow into refined practitioners, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ladimeuna/?hl=en\">Leslie “Dime” Lopez\u003c/a>. At the turn of the millennium, Lopez was a teenager who just wanted to spray paint. Now in her late 30s, Dime’s aerosol artwork now covers walls throughout the Bay Area and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Graf was a big thing during that time in my life,” she says, reflecting on her teenage years during a recent phone call. She was introduced to the center when a close friend volunteered at EastSide Arts’ first Malcolm X Jazz Festival. Lopez tagged along, and soon she started attending programs, working on murals and doing banner pieces on the sidewalk. “It was the very first stages,” says Lopez, “of being a part of a community of writers that were doing a bigger things in the neighborhood.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/kev.akhidenor\">Kevin Akhidenor\u003c/a>, an educator, lyricist and accomplished freestyle rapper, also found a home at EastSide starting in 2002, when he and a friend first attended its Beats Flows program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Akhidenor clearly remembers his first day, when he was a glasses-wearing fresh face on the scene. When he walked into the center, program leaders “bum-rushed” him — “they were just roasting me, and battling me,” he laughs. Momentarily overwhelmed, he quickly responded: “Battling and freestyling ain’t never been no issue to me,” he reflects, “so I just battled back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Akhidenor has been involved ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13832468\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13832468\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_.jpg\" alt=\"The Malcolm X Jazz Arts Festival in 2009.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/MalcolmX.MAIN_-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Malcolm X Jazz Arts Festival in 2009. \u003ccite>(Gabe Meline)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2003, Akhidenor met Greg Morozumi, Elena Serrano and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tracibartlow/?hl=en\">Traci Bartlow\u003c/a>, and realized, “This is an arts political organization.” He soon joined the Malcolm X Jazz Festival planning committee, hosted a stage at that year’s event and eventually joined EastSide’s staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well-known jazz musician \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/howard-wiley\">Howard Wiley\u003c/a> has been part of the Malcolm X Jazz Festival since the event’s second year. He remembers it vividly — not only because he played alongside Marcus Shelby’s group, but because he borrowed his grandmother’s diesel Mercedes Benz to get there. “And I didn’t have a license,” Wiley says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, he’s become the de facto curator of the main stage. One of the most important aspects for him of the jazz festival, and EastSide as a whole, is how artists gain political knowledge from people who’ve lived it firsthand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through Morozumi and Serrano, Wiley has met members of the Last Poets and hung-out with famed jazz saxophonist David Murray. He’s heard about conversations with Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane and Malcolm X from people who were there when the titans talked. He was also blessed with Greg Morozumi’s record collection before he passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When he had to go into hospice,” Wiley says, “we moved him out, and we were just moving all these tapes, records and books.” Blown away by the wealth in Morozumi’s archives, Wiley says, “Man, that was a dude who was committed to knowledge of the community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13981410\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1686px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13981410\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.officedesk.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white photo showing a man's back as he sits at a desk. \" width=\"1686\" height=\"1118\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.officedesk.jpg 1686w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.officedesk-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.officedesk-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Morozumi.officedesk-1536x1019.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1686px) 100vw, 1686px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Greg Morozumi was a constant learner, and eternal teacher. \u003ccite>(EastSide Arts Alliance)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘You want to make the ancestors proud’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the space adjacent to EastSide Arts is \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/bandung-books\">Bandung Books\u003c/a>, where many of Greg’s old books have found a home. “That idea of literacy,” says Serrano, “is something that we want to stress.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Known for community events like the last month’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/blog/thank-you-for-attending-xicana-moratorium\">Xicana Moratorium Block Party,\u003c/a> the center’s most foundational practice is the simple act of reading. The first program at EastSide was the Community Archive Resource Project, which started with materials Greg had collected over 50 years of organizing work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Comprised of binders of material from around the world, highlighting community actions against police brutality and uplifting the importance of the arts, Greg would use the archive as a tool for mentorship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When this generation of young people in our music studio wants to write about police brutality,” says Serrano, “Greg would be like, ‘Okay, look at all this stuff that came before you. You don’t have to reinvent stuff, you have to take it to the next level.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/archive-carp\">Now digitized\u003c/a>, Serrano says Greg’s archives of posters, music, buttons and books push artists to ask themselves, “Now, what is your role?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the coming months, Serrano will fully transition out of leadership at the center, and pass the baton to a collective of people who’ve been with the center since their teens, including Kevin Akhidenor and Leslie “Dime” Lopez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My heart is split in so many different ways,” says Lopez, about the forthcoming changes. On one hand, “I’m excited for our elders, and to continue their legacy and to really stand on the shoulders of those that built the space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she can’t help but feel the pressure of taking the reins. “It’s scary,” Lopez says, “you want to make your parents proud, you know? And you want to make the ancestors proud as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reflecting on the legacy of Greg Morozumi, as well as Elena Serrano and Susanne Takehara, Lopez gives them their flowers: “They shared so much and gave so much of their lives to this space,” she says, “for us to continue that work, the only thing we can do is pay it forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/calendar/tastes-of-eastside\">A Taste of EastSide\u003c/a> takes place Saturday, Sept. 20, at EastSide Arts Alliance (2277 International Blvd., Oakland). \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastsideartsalliance.org/calendar/tastes-of-eastside\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "jazz-classical-concerts-san-francisco-oakland-bay-area-2025",
"title": "8 Great Jazz and Classical Concerts in the Bay Area This Fall",
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"headTitle": "8 Great Jazz and Classical Concerts in the Bay Area This Fall | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Be sure to check out our full \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/fall-guide-2025\">2025 Fall Arts Guide\u003c/a> to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more in the Bay Area.\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This fall, everything you know is wrong. Rock venues are selling out concerts by \u003ca href=\"https://apeconcerts.com/events/ludovico-einaudi-251022/\">quasi-classical relaxing piano guys\u003c/a>. Jazz clubs are home to \u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/too-hort-with-live-band/detail\">Bay Area rappers\u003c/a>. Folk venues are \u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15095/15096-keyon-harrold-250925\">booking jazz artists\u003c/a>. Classical concert halls are \u003ca href=\"https://www.livenation.com/event/G5vYZbc1JtNxu/live-105-presents-queens-of-the-stone-age-the-catacombs-tour\">hosting rock bands\u003c/a>. It’s anarchy! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The upshot of all this havoc: there’s a wealth of great jazz and classical performances in the Bay Area this fall. Here’s a small sampling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10137118\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10137118\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ron Carter. \u003ccite>(Fortuna Sung)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/ron-carter-quartet-matinee/\">Ron Carter Quartet\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 18–20, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you think you’ve never heard Ron Carter, believe me: you’ve heard Ron Carter. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10137113/ron-carter-and-the-low-end-theory\">most-recorded bassist of all time\u003c/a> has played on more than 2,200 albums. Still best-known for his years with Miles Davis, the bassist’s current group boasts drummer Payton Crossley, saxophonist Jimmy Green and the excellent pianist Renee Rosnes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980482\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Donald Runnicles. \u003ccite>(Chris Lee)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2025-26/RUNNICLES-CONDUCTS-MAHLER-1\">Donald Runnicles conducts Mahler 1\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 26–28, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Symphony’s upcoming season of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973375/san-francisco-symphony-new-season-2025-2026\">tried-and-true classics\u003c/a> has a bright spot in this appearance by well-loved conductor Donald Runnicles, who for 17 years occupied the podium across the street from Davies at the Opera House. In San Francisco, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951043/review-michael-tilson-thomas-mahler-5-san-francisco-symphony\">Mahler is its own hue of tried-and-true\u003c/a>, but expect Runnicles to pull surprising textures out of the composer’s first symphony, paired here with Berg’s \u003ci>Seven Early Songs\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980483\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"501\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980483\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025-768x481.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carlos Niño and Saul Williams. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/saul-williams/detail\">Saul Williams with Carlos Niño & Friends\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 30–Oct. 1, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Yoshi’s, Oakland \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trend of rap artists performing at the venerable jazz club Yoshi’s started five or six years ago, with rappers like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B7sSGFTFuCm/\">Scarface\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CgaEoJVFQBA/\">DJ Quik\u003c/a>, and has recently included Bay Area rappers Richie Rich, Mac Mall and, upcoming, B-Legit (Sept. 14). Semi-adjacent to all this is Saul Williams, the gifted poet, rapper and actor (seen in this year’s \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974810/ryan-coogler-sinners-grand-lake-theatre-interview\">Sinners\u003c/a>\u003c/i>), who performs at the club with Latin percussionist Carlos Niño and his combo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Clark. \u003ccite>(Artist Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/mike-clark-quintet/\">Mike Clark Quintet\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 4 and 5, 2025/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As if a performance by this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963945/wide-hive-records-berkeley-mike-clark-henry-franklin\">legendary drummer\u003c/a> from Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters band weren’t enough, check his cohort of heavyweights for these shows, which includes pianist Patrice Rushen, saxophonist Craig Handy and trumpeter Eddie Henderson. The fact that it’s in SFJAZZ’s tiny side room, the Joe Henderson Lab, seals these as shows for the history books. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980485\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ledisi. \u003ccite>(Courtesy SFJAZZ)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/ledisi/\">Ledisi sings Dinah Washington\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 6, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is there a more invigorating jazz singer that crossed over into pop than Dinah Washington? While “What a Difference a Day Makes” paid her bills, Washington recorded dozens of extended sides with jazz greats; her seven-minute “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/MT1t8XHAiVc?si=XuPNB7WKce6wOoO7\">Bye Bye Blues\u003c/a>” is a guaranteed depression cure. At Davies, the Bay Area’s own Ledisi pays special tribute to Washington and her natural exuberance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 960px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"576\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980484\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960-160x96.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960-768x461.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeffrey and Gabriel Kahane. \u003ccite>(Courtesy San Francisco Performances)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://sfperformances.org/performances/2526/gala-performance.html\">Jeffrey Kahane and Gabriel Kahane\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 10, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Herbst Theatre, San Francisco\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This father-and-son duo should be familiar to the Bay Area — Jeffrey Kahane conducted the Santa Rosa Symphony for 10 seasons, and Gabriel, now a musician of national renown, was raised here. The two have not often appeared onstage together, however. On this night at Herbst, they team up to perform \u003ci>Heirloom\u003c/i>, a concerto written by Gabriel for his father, along with other works for two pianos. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980481\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980481\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brandee Younger. \u003ccite>(Erin Patrice O'Brien)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15049/15050-brandee-younger-trio-251023\">Brandee Younger Trio\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 23, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>The Freight, Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The folk-and-fancy-fiddle featurin’ Freight & Salvage has slowly stepped into the 21st century with a new name (“The Freight”) and an expansion into the occasional rap show (Talib Kweli, recently, and KRS-One on Oct. 24). Jazz is in the mix too, with trumpeter Keyon Harrold (Sept. 25) and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953845/review-brandee-younger-alice-coltrane-san-francisco-sfjazz\">the most prominent torchbearer of the music of Alice Coltrane, Brandee Younger\u003c/a>, who can virtually stop time whenever she wants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980480\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 970px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"970\" height=\"546\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy.jpg 970w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang. \u003ccite>(Matthew Murphy)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/operas/the-monkey-king/\">The Monkey King\u003c/a>’ \u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nov. 14–30, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the house is sure to be packed in September for San Francisco Opera’s revival of the modern classic \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/operas/dead-man-walking/\">Dead Man Walking\u003c/a>\u003c/i> (which premiered here 25 years ago), this world premiere has its own frenzied anticipation. Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s work, based on the 16th century Chinese novel \u003ci>Journey to the West\u003c/i>, is augmented with colorful costumes, choreography, Buddhist sutras and advanced puppetry. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Briefly Noted\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://blackcatsf.turntabletickets.com/r/caelan-cardello-trio-ft-jonathon-muir-cotton-domo-branch\">Caelean Cardello Trio\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Sept. 18–20; Black Cat, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.laufeymusic.com/tour/\">Laufey\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Sept. 29 (Oakland Arena, Oakland) and Sept. 30 (Chase Center, San Francisco)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.paulcornishmusic.com/live/\">Paul Cornish\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Oct. 3 (The Break Room, San Jose) and Oct. 4 (Piedmont Piano Co., Oakland)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.symphonysanjose.org/attend/2025-2026-season/concerts/masquerade/\">Berlioz / Rachmaninoff / Clyne with Symphony San Jose\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Oct. 4 and 5; California Theatre, San Jose\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://wl.eventim.us/event/makaya-mccraven/650319?afflky=GreatAmericanMusicHall\">Makaya McCraven\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Oct. 21; Great American Music Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.srsymphony.org/event/spanish-fiesta/\">Rodrigo / de Falla / Assad with the Santa Rosa Symphony\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Nov. 8–10; Green Music Center, Rohnert Park\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandsymphony.org/25-26-season-subscription/\">Verdi’s Requiem with the Oakland Symphony\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Nov. 14; Paramount Theatre, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.californiasymphony.org/shows/beethovens-eroica/\">\u003cstrong>Montgomery / Mozart / Beethoven with the California Symphony\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Nov. 15 and 16; Lesher Center, Walnut Creek\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Enriching musical experiences outside the confines of the jazz club or concert hall are abundant this fall.",
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"title": "Your Guide to Jazz and Classical Concerts This Fall | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Be sure to check out our full \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/fall-guide-2025\">2025 Fall Arts Guide\u003c/a> to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more in the Bay Area.\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This fall, everything you know is wrong. Rock venues are selling out concerts by \u003ca href=\"https://apeconcerts.com/events/ludovico-einaudi-251022/\">quasi-classical relaxing piano guys\u003c/a>. Jazz clubs are home to \u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/too-hort-with-live-band/detail\">Bay Area rappers\u003c/a>. Folk venues are \u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15095/15096-keyon-harrold-250925\">booking jazz artists\u003c/a>. Classical concert halls are \u003ca href=\"https://www.livenation.com/event/G5vYZbc1JtNxu/live-105-presents-queens-of-the-stone-age-the-catacombs-tour\">hosting rock bands\u003c/a>. It’s anarchy! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The upshot of all this havoc: there’s a wealth of great jazz and classical performances in the Bay Area this fall. Here’s a small sampling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10137118\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10137118\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Carter11-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ron Carter. \u003ccite>(Fortuna Sung)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/ron-carter-quartet-matinee/\">Ron Carter Quartet\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 18–20, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you think you’ve never heard Ron Carter, believe me: you’ve heard Ron Carter. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/10137113/ron-carter-and-the-low-end-theory\">most-recorded bassist of all time\u003c/a> has played on more than 2,200 albums. Still best-known for his years with Miles Davis, the bassist’s current group boasts drummer Payton Crossley, saxophonist Jimmy Green and the excellent pianist Renee Rosnes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980482\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Runnicles_CRED.ChrisLee-02-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Donald Runnicles. \u003ccite>(Chris Lee)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2025-26/RUNNICLES-CONDUCTS-MAHLER-1\">Donald Runnicles conducts Mahler 1\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 26–28, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco Symphony’s upcoming season of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13973375/san-francisco-symphony-new-season-2025-2026\">tried-and-true classics\u003c/a> has a bright spot in this appearance by well-loved conductor Donald Runnicles, who for 17 years occupied the podium across the street from Davies at the Opera House. In San Francisco, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13951043/review-michael-tilson-thomas-mahler-5-san-francisco-symphony\">Mahler is its own hue of tried-and-true\u003c/a>, but expect Runnicles to pull surprising textures out of the composer’s first symphony, paired here with Berg’s \u003ci>Seven Early Songs\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980483\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"501\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980483\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025-160x100.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/SaulCarlos2025-768x481.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carlos Niño and Saul Williams. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/saul-williams/detail\">Saul Williams with Carlos Niño & Friends\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sept. 30–Oct. 1, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Yoshi’s, Oakland \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trend of rap artists performing at the venerable jazz club Yoshi’s started five or six years ago, with rappers like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B7sSGFTFuCm/\">Scarface\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CgaEoJVFQBA/\">DJ Quik\u003c/a>, and has recently included Bay Area rappers Richie Rich, Mac Mall and, upcoming, B-Legit (Sept. 14). Semi-adjacent to all this is Saul Williams, the gifted poet, rapper and actor (seen in this year’s \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974810/ryan-coogler-sinners-grand-lake-theatre-interview\">Sinners\u003c/a>\u003c/i>), who performs at the club with Latin percussionist Carlos Niño and his combo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963175\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963175\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/mike.clark_-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Clark. \u003ccite>(Artist Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/mike-clark-quintet/\">Mike Clark Quintet\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 4 and 5, 2025/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As if a performance by this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963945/wide-hive-records-berkeley-mike-clark-henry-franklin\">legendary drummer\u003c/a> from Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters band weren’t enough, check his cohort of heavyweights for these shows, which includes pianist Patrice Rushen, saxophonist Craig Handy and trumpeter Eddie Henderson. The fact that it’s in SFJAZZ’s tiny side room, the Joe Henderson Lab, seals these as shows for the history books. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980485\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Ledisi.Dinah_-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ledisi. \u003ccite>(Courtesy SFJAZZ)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/ledisi/\">Ledisi sings Dinah Washington\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 6, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is there a more invigorating jazz singer that crossed over into pop than Dinah Washington? While “What a Difference a Day Makes” paid her bills, Washington recorded dozens of extended sides with jazz greats; her seven-minute “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/MT1t8XHAiVc?si=XuPNB7WKce6wOoO7\">Bye Bye Blues\u003c/a>” is a guaranteed depression cure. At Davies, the Bay Area’s own Ledisi pays special tribute to Washington and her natural exuberance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 960px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"576\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980484\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960-160x96.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/gala-performance-A-960-768x461.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeffrey and Gabriel Kahane. \u003ccite>(Courtesy San Francisco Performances)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://sfperformances.org/performances/2526/gala-performance.html\">Jeffrey Kahane and Gabriel Kahane\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 10, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Herbst Theatre, San Francisco\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This father-and-son duo should be familiar to the Bay Area — Jeffrey Kahane conducted the Santa Rosa Symphony for 10 seasons, and Gabriel, now a musician of national renown, was raised here. The two have not often appeared onstage together, however. On this night at Herbst, they team up to perform \u003ci>Heirloom\u003c/i>, a concerto written by Gabriel for his father, along with other works for two pianos. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980481\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980481\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/Brandee-Younger-CRED-Erin-Patrice-OBrien-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brandee Younger. \u003ccite>(Erin Patrice O'Brien)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://secure.thefreight.org/15049/15050-brandee-younger-trio-251023\">Brandee Younger Trio\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Oct. 23, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>The Freight, Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The folk-and-fancy-fiddle featurin’ Freight & Salvage has slowly stepped into the 21st century with a new name (“The Freight”) and an expansion into the occasional rap show (Talib Kweli, recently, and KRS-One on Oct. 24). Jazz is in the mix too, with trumpeter Keyon Harrold (Sept. 25) and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953845/review-brandee-younger-alice-coltrane-san-francisco-sfjazz\">the most prominent torchbearer of the music of Alice Coltrane, Brandee Younger\u003c/a>, who can virtually stop time whenever she wants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980480\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 970px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"970\" height=\"546\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy.jpg 970w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/2.-Huang-Ruo-and-David-Henry-Hwang-Photo-by-Matthew-Murphy-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang. \u003ccite>(Matthew Murphy)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/operas/the-monkey-king/\">The Monkey King\u003c/a>’ \u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Nov. 14–30, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the house is sure to be packed in September for San Francisco Opera’s revival of the modern classic \u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfopera.com/operas/dead-man-walking/\">Dead Man Walking\u003c/a>\u003c/i> (which premiered here 25 years ago), this world premiere has its own frenzied anticipation. Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s work, based on the 16th century Chinese novel \u003ci>Journey to the West\u003c/i>, is augmented with colorful costumes, choreography, Buddhist sutras and advanced puppetry. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Briefly Noted\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://blackcatsf.turntabletickets.com/r/caelan-cardello-trio-ft-jonathon-muir-cotton-domo-branch\">Caelean Cardello Trio\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Sept. 18–20; Black Cat, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.laufeymusic.com/tour/\">Laufey\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Sept. 29 (Oakland Arena, Oakland) and Sept. 30 (Chase Center, San Francisco)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.paulcornishmusic.com/live/\">Paul Cornish\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Oct. 3 (The Break Room, San Jose) and Oct. 4 (Piedmont Piano Co., Oakland)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.symphonysanjose.org/attend/2025-2026-season/concerts/masquerade/\">Berlioz / Rachmaninoff / Clyne with Symphony San Jose\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Oct. 4 and 5; California Theatre, San Jose\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://wl.eventim.us/event/makaya-mccraven/650319?afflky=GreatAmericanMusicHall\">Makaya McCraven\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Oct. 21; Great American Music Hall, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.srsymphony.org/event/spanish-fiesta/\">Rodrigo / de Falla / Assad with the Santa Rosa Symphony\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Nov. 8–10; Green Music Center, Rohnert Park\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandsymphony.org/25-26-season-subscription/\">Verdi’s Requiem with the Oakland Symphony\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Nov. 14; Paramount Theatre, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.californiasymphony.org/shows/beethovens-eroica/\">\u003cstrong>Montgomery / Mozart / Beethoven with the California Symphony\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Nov. 15 and 16; Lesher Center, Walnut Creek\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "best-jazz-bay-area-summer-concerts-festivals",
"title": "10 of the Best Jazz Shows in the Bay Area This Summer",
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"headTitle": "10 of the Best Jazz Shows in the Bay Area This Summer | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Be sure to check out our full \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/summer-guide-2025\">2025 Summer Arts Guide to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more\u003c/a> in the Bay Area.\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s an unpredictable summer, folks. Some find escape in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13975778/summer-concerts-music-festivals-bay-area-san-francisco-napa-oakland\">music festivals\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13976207/bay-area-summer-djing-glass-blowing-ceramics-sewing-gardening\">hands-on diversions\u003c/a>, while I’ve always gotten lost in jazz — especially live jazz, and its beautiful reshaping of the world and one’s self in it. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are 10 excellent jazz shows in the Bay Area this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976346\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1081\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976346\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy-1536x865.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Howard Wiley. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/24-25/howard-wiley/\">Howard Wiley’s ‘California Love Pt. II’\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>May 24, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Oakland tenor saxophonist and SFJAZZ resident artistic director Howard Wiley brought a sold-out crowd to its feet in a concert celebrating the music of the Golden State. (A medley of “Hotel California” and “California Love”? Check.) This year he brings that beat back with its sequel, subtitled “Love, Kale, Pride and Revolution,” with a group including organist Lionel “LJ” Holoman and trombonist Robin Eubanks, plus a handful of Bay Area all-stars. If you’ve been meaning to introduce a date to the thrill and energy of live jazz, you can’t go wrong here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976347\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 963px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/trio.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"963\" height=\"542\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976347\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/trio.jpg 963w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/trio-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/trio-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/trio-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 963px) 100vw, 963px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LMNts Trio. \u003ccite>(Center for New Music)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://centerfornewmusic.com/event/lmnts-trio-aaron-bennett/\">LMNts Trio with Aaron Bennett\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>May 31, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Center for New Music, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re feeling adventurous with $15 in your pocket, here’s your opportunity for radical exploration. The LMNts Trio evokes the form-fluid free jazz of labels like ESP-Disk with Scott R. Looney on prepared piano and electronics, Lisa Mezzacapa on bass and Kjell Nordeson on percussion. Add into the mix saxophonist Aaron Bennett, steeped in jazz standards and Thelonious Monk, and there’s no telling what could happen. That’s the fun of it, isn’t it? \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976348\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 872px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/63_Original.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"872\" height=\"584\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976348\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/63_Original.png 872w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/63_Original-800x536.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/63_Original-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/63_Original-768x514.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 872px) 100vw, 872px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Takuya Koroda. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://thenewparish.com/tm-event/takuya-kuroda/\">Takuya Koroda\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 6, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>The New Parish, Oakland \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in Kobe and now living in Brooklyn, Takuya Koroda is Japan’s answer to Roy Hargrove: a little bit of fusion, a little bit of post-bop, a little bit of hip-hop and a lot of invention. Having made a name for himself backing vocalist José James, Koroda has since recorded albums for Blue Note, Concord and Universal; his newest, \u003cem>Everyday\u003c/em>, is alive in all the right ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976349\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976349\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Charles Lloyd Sky Quartet, with Eric Harland, Larry Grenadier and Jason Moran. \u003ccite>(D. Darr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/2025-summer/festival/overview/\">San Francisco Jazz Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 13–15, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>SFJAZZ Center and surrounding streets, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Charles Lloyd alone makes this first-year festival at SFJAZZ worth attending, but the rest of this completely bananas lineup is so exciting, it had no choice but to spill out onto the streets for a three-day block party — complete with food trucks, local DJs and wine and beer. With bona fide jazz legends (Patrice Rushen, Stanley Clarke, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Dave Holland), hot, new up-and-comers (Lakecia Benjamin, Kassa Overall) and local stars (Ambrose Akinmusire, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Idris Ackamoor), it’s the must-see jazz event of the summer in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976350\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1409\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976350\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2-800x564.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2-1020x719.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2-768x541.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2-1536x1082.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2-1920x1353.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diane Reeves. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://healdsburgjazz.org/\">Healdsburg Jazz Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 13–22, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Various venues, Healdsburg\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The best of the Bay Area’s small-town jazz festivals hosts big names in intimate environs. This year it’s vocalist Diane Reeves, pianist Kenny Barron, drummer Terri Lynne Carrington, trumpeter Nicholas Payton and more. Under the direction of Marcus Shelby, regional artists get plenty of time in the wine country sunshine as well. Pro tip: The free Juneteenth concert in the town plaza couldn’t embody the festival spirit more, and Jason Moran’s tribute to Ellington — with Shelby and his orchestra — is essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976351\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976351\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jovino Santos Neto. \u003ccite>(Daniel Sheehan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://tickets.blackcatsf.com/r/jovino-santos-neto\">Jovino Santos Neto\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 26–29, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>The Black Cat, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now 70 years old, Jovino Santos Neto is playing as well as ever, and the basement confines of San Francisco’s classic, straight-out-of-the-movies jazz club should caress something special out of the Brazilian musician for this four-night residency. The multi-instrumentalist began performing at age 16 before a long run with Hermeto Pascal’s band; his talent and experience both emanate from his rarified music. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976352\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/ambolley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976352\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/ambolley.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/ambolley-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/ambolley-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/ambolley-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gyedu-Blay Ambolley. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.jazzisdead.com/uploadevents/gyedu-blay-ambolley\">Gyedu-Blay Ambolley\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>July 18, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Cornerstone, Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hailing from Ghana, Gyedu-Bley Ambolly has released nearly 30 albums — but none so revered as his 1975 debut \u003cem>Simigiwa\u003c/em>. Mixing West African highlife with James Brown, Ambolley offered a Fela Kuti-esque vision of the world and, in the process, inadvertently created a roadmap for hip-hop. For its 50th anniversary, Ambolley plays the album in its entirety in Berkeley with an eight-piece band.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976353\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1553\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976353\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo-800x621.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo-1020x792.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo-160x124.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo-768x596.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo-1536x1193.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo-1920x1491.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pete Escovedo. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Yoshi's)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/pete-escovedo-orchestra-birthday-celebration-5/detail\">Pete Escovedo 90th Birthday Celebration\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>July 25–27, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Yoshi’s, Oakland \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between his own music, his time in the groups Santana and Azteca, and his running of the 1990s jazz club Mr. E’s, there’s no underestimating the contributions of Pete Escovedo to Latin jazz. There’s also no underestimating the stature of the percussionist’s family, either, who’ll be on hand to give their patriarch a much-deserved musical celebration in their hometown. Though no lineup for the six-show residency has been formally announced, daughter Sheila E. and sons Juan and Peter III would be natural special guests for this family affair. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976355\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1374px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/RichieRich.MacMall.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1374\" height=\"1028\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976355\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/RichieRich.MacMall.jpg 1374w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/RichieRich.MacMall-800x599.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/RichieRich.MacMall-1020x763.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/RichieRich.MacMall-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/RichieRich.MacMall-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1374px) 100vw, 1374px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Richie Rich and Mac Mall. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes (\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/j.castae/\">J.Castae\u003c/a> / Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/richie-rich-2/detail\">Richie Rich\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug. 1 and 2, 2025\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/mac-mall/detail\">Mac Mall\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug. 10, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Yoshi’s, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the more welcome developments in jazz clubs is the gradual migration of jazz’s natural lineage onto the stage: rap artists, performing with a live band. Yoshi’s in Oakland has been at the forefront of this trend, hosting thrilling shows with national artists like Scarface, Rakim and DJ Quik. This summer, local rap icons Richie Rich and Mac Mall both hit the club with a live band for a week of shows to remind you just how skilled and charismatic these two Bay legends are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13903773\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/GettyImages-1166270592.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13903773\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/GettyImages-1166270592.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/GettyImages-1166270592-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/GettyImages-1166270592-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/GettyImages-1166270592-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/GettyImages-1166270592-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mavis Staples in 2019. \u003ccite>(Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://summerfest.sanjosejazz.org/\">San Jose Jazz Summer Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug 8–10, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Downtown San Jose \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not summer in San Jose without this fantastic weekend festival, an annual tradition which takes over downtown San Jose and its scenic César Chávez Plaza. With headliners Mavis Staples, Common, Femi Kuti, Butcher Brown and Bilal — and over 100 artists total — the festival sprawls across nine stages to fill the downtown air with top-notch music and vibes that, sare we say, are immaculate. \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A new street festival, international touring acts and local favorites round out a syncopated summer.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>Be sure to check out our full \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/summer-guide-2025\">2025 Summer Arts Guide to live music, movies, art, theater, festivals and more\u003c/a> in the Bay Area.\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s an unpredictable summer, folks. Some find escape in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13975778/summer-concerts-music-festivals-bay-area-san-francisco-napa-oakland\">music festivals\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13976207/bay-area-summer-djing-glass-blowing-ceramics-sewing-gardening\">hands-on diversions\u003c/a>, while I’ve always gotten lost in jazz — especially live jazz, and its beautiful reshaping of the world and one’s self in it. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are 10 excellent jazz shows in the Bay Area this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976346\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1081\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976346\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/howardwiley.courtesy-1536x865.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Howard Wiley. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/24-25/howard-wiley/\">Howard Wiley’s ‘California Love Pt. II’\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>May 24, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Oakland tenor saxophonist and SFJAZZ resident artistic director Howard Wiley brought a sold-out crowd to its feet in a concert celebrating the music of the Golden State. (A medley of “Hotel California” and “California Love”? Check.) This year he brings that beat back with its sequel, subtitled “Love, Kale, Pride and Revolution,” with a group including organist Lionel “LJ” Holoman and trombonist Robin Eubanks, plus a handful of Bay Area all-stars. If you’ve been meaning to introduce a date to the thrill and energy of live jazz, you can’t go wrong here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976347\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 963px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/trio.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"963\" height=\"542\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976347\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/trio.jpg 963w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/trio-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/trio-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/trio-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 963px) 100vw, 963px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LMNts Trio. \u003ccite>(Center for New Music)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://centerfornewmusic.com/event/lmnts-trio-aaron-bennett/\">LMNts Trio with Aaron Bennett\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>May 31, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Center for New Music, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re feeling adventurous with $15 in your pocket, here’s your opportunity for radical exploration. The LMNts Trio evokes the form-fluid free jazz of labels like ESP-Disk with Scott R. Looney on prepared piano and electronics, Lisa Mezzacapa on bass and Kjell Nordeson on percussion. Add into the mix saxophonist Aaron Bennett, steeped in jazz standards and Thelonious Monk, and there’s no telling what could happen. That’s the fun of it, isn’t it? \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976348\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 872px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/63_Original.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"872\" height=\"584\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976348\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/63_Original.png 872w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/63_Original-800x536.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/63_Original-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/63_Original-768x514.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 872px) 100vw, 872px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Takuya Koroda. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://thenewparish.com/tm-event/takuya-kuroda/\">Takuya Koroda\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 6, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>The New Parish, Oakland \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in Kobe and now living in Brooklyn, Takuya Koroda is Japan’s answer to Roy Hargrove: a little bit of fusion, a little bit of post-bop, a little bit of hip-hop and a lot of invention. Having made a name for himself backing vocalist José James, Koroda has since recorded albums for Blue Note, Concord and Universal; his newest, \u003cem>Everyday\u003c/em>, is alive in all the right ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976349\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976349\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Sky-Quartet_2-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Charles Lloyd Sky Quartet, with Eric Harland, Larry Grenadier and Jason Moran. \u003ccite>(D. Darr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/2025-summer/festival/overview/\">San Francisco Jazz Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 13–15, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>SFJAZZ Center and surrounding streets, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Charles Lloyd alone makes this first-year festival at SFJAZZ worth attending, but the rest of this completely bananas lineup is so exciting, it had no choice but to spill out onto the streets for a three-day block party — complete with food trucks, local DJs and wine and beer. With bona fide jazz legends (Patrice Rushen, Stanley Clarke, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Dave Holland), hot, new up-and-comers (Lakecia Benjamin, Kassa Overall) and local stars (Ambrose Akinmusire, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Idris Ackamoor), it’s the must-see jazz event of the summer in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976350\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1409\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976350\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2-800x564.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2-1020x719.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2-768x541.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2-1536x1082.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/MG_1388croppedV2-1920x1353.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diane Reeves. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://healdsburgjazz.org/\">Healdsburg Jazz Festival\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 13–22, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Various venues, Healdsburg\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The best of the Bay Area’s small-town jazz festivals hosts big names in intimate environs. This year it’s vocalist Diane Reeves, pianist Kenny Barron, drummer Terri Lynne Carrington, trumpeter Nicholas Payton and more. Under the direction of Marcus Shelby, regional artists get plenty of time in the wine country sunshine as well. Pro tip: The free Juneteenth concert in the town plaza couldn’t embody the festival spirit more, and Jason Moran’s tribute to Ellington — with Shelby and his orchestra — is essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976351\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976351\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/Jovino-Santos-Neto-by-Daniel-Sheehan-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jovino Santos Neto. \u003ccite>(Daniel Sheehan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://tickets.blackcatsf.com/r/jovino-santos-neto\">Jovino Santos Neto\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>June 26–29, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>The Black Cat, San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now 70 years old, Jovino Santos Neto is playing as well as ever, and the basement confines of San Francisco’s classic, straight-out-of-the-movies jazz club should caress something special out of the Brazilian musician for this four-night residency. The multi-instrumentalist began performing at age 16 before a long run with Hermeto Pascal’s band; his talent and experience both emanate from his rarified music. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976352\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/ambolley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976352\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/ambolley.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/ambolley-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/ambolley-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/ambolley-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gyedu-Blay Ambolley. \u003ccite>(Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.jazzisdead.com/uploadevents/gyedu-blay-ambolley\">Gyedu-Blay Ambolley\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>July 18, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Cornerstone, Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hailing from Ghana, Gyedu-Bley Ambolly has released nearly 30 albums — but none so revered as his 1975 debut \u003cem>Simigiwa\u003c/em>. Mixing West African highlife with James Brown, Ambolley offered a Fela Kuti-esque vision of the world and, in the process, inadvertently created a roadmap for hip-hop. For its 50th anniversary, Ambolley plays the album in its entirety in Berkeley with an eight-piece band.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976353\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1553\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976353\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo-800x621.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo-1020x792.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo-160x124.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo-768x596.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo-1536x1193.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/peteescovedo-1920x1491.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pete Escovedo. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Yoshi's)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/pete-escovedo-orchestra-birthday-celebration-5/detail\">Pete Escovedo 90th Birthday Celebration\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>July 25–27, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Yoshi’s, Oakland \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between his own music, his time in the groups Santana and Azteca, and his running of the 1990s jazz club Mr. E’s, there’s no underestimating the contributions of Pete Escovedo to Latin jazz. There’s also no underestimating the stature of the percussionist’s family, either, who’ll be on hand to give their patriarch a much-deserved musical celebration in their hometown. Though no lineup for the six-show residency has been formally announced, daughter Sheila E. and sons Juan and Peter III would be natural special guests for this family affair. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13976355\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1374px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/RichieRich.MacMall.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1374\" height=\"1028\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13976355\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/RichieRich.MacMall.jpg 1374w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/RichieRich.MacMall-800x599.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/RichieRich.MacMall-1020x763.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/RichieRich.MacMall-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/RichieRich.MacMall-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1374px) 100vw, 1374px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(L–R) Richie Rich and Mac Mall. \u003ccite>(Jason Hayes (\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/j.castae/\">J.Castae\u003c/a> / Artist photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/richie-rich-2/detail\">Richie Rich\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug. 1 and 2, 2025\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/mac-mall/detail\">Mac Mall\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug. 10, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Yoshi’s, Oakland\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the more welcome developments in jazz clubs is the gradual migration of jazz’s natural lineage onto the stage: rap artists, performing with a live band. Yoshi’s in Oakland has been at the forefront of this trend, hosting thrilling shows with national artists like Scarface, Rakim and DJ Quik. This summer, local rap icons Richie Rich and Mac Mall both hit the club with a live band for a week of shows to remind you just how skilled and charismatic these two Bay legends are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13903773\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/GettyImages-1166270592.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13903773\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/GettyImages-1166270592.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/GettyImages-1166270592-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/GettyImages-1166270592-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/GettyImages-1166270592-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/GettyImages-1166270592-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mavis Staples in 2019. \u003ccite>(Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://summerfest.sanjosejazz.org/\">San Jose Jazz Summer Fest\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Aug 8–10, 2025\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Downtown San Jose \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not summer in San Jose without this fantastic weekend festival, an annual tradition which takes over downtown San Jose and its scenic César Chávez Plaza. With headliners Mavis Staples, Common, Femi Kuti, Butcher Brown and Bilal — and over 100 artists total — the festival sprawls across nine stages to fill the downtown air with top-notch music and vibes that, sare we say, are immaculate. \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "ayo-brame-oakland-jazz-prodigy-saxophone-yoshis-review",
"title": "An Oakland Jazz Prodigy Celebrates His 18th Birthday With Two Sold-Out Shows",
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"headTitle": "An Oakland Jazz Prodigy Celebrates His 18th Birthday With Two Sold-Out Shows | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975343\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975343\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"A young Black man in a patterned blue shirt plays the tenor saxophone with his eyes closed against a blue curtain background\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1375\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1-1536x1056.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1-1920x1320.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saxophonist Ayo Brame performs at one of two sold-out shows at Yoshi’s in Oakland on his 18th birthday, April 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When it’s your 18th birthday, and it’s time to pick an opening song for your sold-out shows at the hometown jazz club, \u003cem>and\u003c/em> your parents played John Coltrane’s \u003cem>A Love Supreme\u003c/em> while you were being born, the choice is obvious, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In front of a supportive crowd that included fellow musicians, family, schoolmates and fans, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ayobrame.com/\">Ayo Brame\u003c/a> kicked off his set at Yoshi’s this past Friday night with none other than “Acknowledgment,” the opener from \u003cem>A Love Supreme\u003c/em>, a bold landmark of 20th century music. Tenor sax in hand and a lifetime of creative expression ahead of him, Brame put the mouthpiece to his lips, closed his eyes and blew the song’s famous opening arpeggio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It set off a variegated 75-minute set that showcased Brame’s breadth of style, and probably the first-ever instance of the music of New Edition, the Rebirth Brass Band, Fela Kuti, Joe Sample \u003cem>and\u003c/em> Too Short being played back-to-back on the Yoshi’s stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975405\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 988px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975405\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-1_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"988\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-1_qed.jpg 988w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-1_qed-800x1079.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-1_qed-160x216.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-1_qed-768x1036.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 988px) 100vw, 988px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saxophonist Ayo Brame poses for a photo backstage before his shows at Yoshi’s in Oakland on his 18th birthday, April 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This was no surprise for those who know Brame’s upbringing, in particular his parents’ influence. After the day-one Coltrane — a clear guidepost for Brame’s playing — Yomi and Shimika Brame raised him on a steady diet of great Black music, only a fraction of which Brame was able to cover in his set of 12 songs, which included even more personal favorites via medleys and mashups. In Brame’s world, Too Short’s “Blow the Whistle” and Tupac’s “Dear Mama” live side-by-side with Wayne Shorter’s “Yes or No” and Thelonious Monk’s “Ruby, My Dear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the hard work of rehearsing, Brame mentioned another aspect to his practice during a short backstage conversation before the show: “Mental experience,” he called it. “Like, subliminal-like listening. It’s just been on my whole life, jazz music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brame grew up near Lake Merritt and attended Glenview Elementary before being accepted to Oakland School for the Arts (OSA), which boasts among its alumni the singer Kehlani and actress Zendaya. After graduating from OSA this year, he’ll leave the Bay Area in August for his first-choice college, the Mannes School of Music in New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975404\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975404\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ayo Brame’s parents, Yomi Brame and Shimika Brame (L-R), watch their son at Yoshi’s in Oakland on his 18th birthday, April 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But since picking up the saxophone in 2022, he’s already made a huge splash here — and in tours of the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hong Kong and China. He counts among his local mentors Kev Choice (who served as music director and keyboardist for the Yoshi’s shows) and Howard Wiley. As for fans outside the Bay Area, he’s gotten accolades from both Kamasi Washington and former president Bill Clinton, who during a San Francisco tribute to Willie Mays \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/OE5iGnibfa0?feature=shared&t=202\">praised him\u003c/a> as a “a brilliant young saxophonist.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like most teenagers, Brame has other interests, including video games, visual art, sports and photography. But he’s particularly interested in developing his own voice on his horn, “internalizing” songs (he tends to discard sheet music after memorizing it) and getting lost in chord changes during solos so he can, in his words, “build the puzzle pieces back to the flow of the music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One small drawback to his show at Yoshi’s is that the sheer number of songs came at the expense of depth. The audience got a collage of Brame’s interests and influences, alongside a parade of talented collaborators and colleagues who shuffled on and off the stage, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/ian-kelly\">Ian Kelly\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/whatspimpin\">RyanNicole\u003c/a>. Meanwhile, the constant action somewhat overshadowed the passages where Brame was able to open up and truly show his personality as a soloist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975342\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975342\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saxophonist Ayo Brame performs during a sold-out show at Yoshi’s in Oakland on his 18th birthday, April 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’ll be even more important to watch in the coming years as Brame studies in New York and gets exposed to even more of the wider world. As he said backstage, “I think for now, I’ve found my voice. But I’m sure I’ll find even a \u003cem>grander\u003c/em> voice later on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this was a birthday party, after all, where a medley of a Washington D.C. go-go version of Raphael Saadiq’s “Still Ray,” a New Orleans brass band rave-up of “Feel Like Funkin’ It Up” and Nigerian funk legend Fela Kuti’s “Original Sufferhead” brought audience members to their feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the Latin-tinged Kamasi Washington number “Truth” and Brame’s own fusion-tinged composition “Oakland in My Soul,” and at the cajoling of the audience, a run-through of “Happy Birthday” — \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcVZfJO01NI\">both\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/11745186/happy-birthday-song-has-been-set-free\">versions\u003c/a> — fittingly ended the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975341\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975341\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The crowd applauds saxophonist Ayo Brame after his performance at a sold-out show at Yoshi’s in Oakland on April 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As for what’s next for this promising young talent, time can only tell. But while chatting backstage, he offered a small prediction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tupac has a quote,” Brame said, “where he’s like, ‘I’m not saying I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.’ So that’s me. I wanna spark that mind.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975343\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975343\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"A young Black man in a patterned blue shirt plays the tenor saxophone with his eyes closed against a blue curtain background\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1375\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1-1536x1056.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-26-KQED-1-1920x1320.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saxophonist Ayo Brame performs at one of two sold-out shows at Yoshi’s in Oakland on his 18th birthday, April 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When it’s your 18th birthday, and it’s time to pick an opening song for your sold-out shows at the hometown jazz club, \u003cem>and\u003c/em> your parents played John Coltrane’s \u003cem>A Love Supreme\u003c/em> while you were being born, the choice is obvious, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In front of a supportive crowd that included fellow musicians, family, schoolmates and fans, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ayobrame.com/\">Ayo Brame\u003c/a> kicked off his set at Yoshi’s this past Friday night with none other than “Acknowledgment,” the opener from \u003cem>A Love Supreme\u003c/em>, a bold landmark of 20th century music. Tenor sax in hand and a lifetime of creative expression ahead of him, Brame put the mouthpiece to his lips, closed his eyes and blew the song’s famous opening arpeggio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It set off a variegated 75-minute set that showcased Brame’s breadth of style, and probably the first-ever instance of the music of New Edition, the Rebirth Brass Band, Fela Kuti, Joe Sample \u003cem>and\u003c/em> Too Short being played back-to-back on the Yoshi’s stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975405\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 988px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975405\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-1_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"988\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-1_qed.jpg 988w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-1_qed-800x1079.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-1_qed-160x216.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-1_qed-768x1036.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 988px) 100vw, 988px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saxophonist Ayo Brame poses for a photo backstage before his shows at Yoshi’s in Oakland on his 18th birthday, April 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This was no surprise for those who know Brame’s upbringing, in particular his parents’ influence. After the day-one Coltrane — a clear guidepost for Brame’s playing — Yomi and Shimika Brame raised him on a steady diet of great Black music, only a fraction of which Brame was able to cover in his set of 12 songs, which included even more personal favorites via medleys and mashups. In Brame’s world, Too Short’s “Blow the Whistle” and Tupac’s “Dear Mama” live side-by-side with Wayne Shorter’s “Yes or No” and Thelonious Monk’s “Ruby, My Dear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the hard work of rehearsing, Brame mentioned another aspect to his practice during a short backstage conversation before the show: “Mental experience,” he called it. “Like, subliminal-like listening. It’s just been on my whole life, jazz music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brame grew up near Lake Merritt and attended Glenview Elementary before being accepted to Oakland School for the Arts (OSA), which boasts among its alumni the singer Kehlani and actress Zendaya. After graduating from OSA this year, he’ll leave the Bay Area in August for his first-choice college, the Mannes School of Music in New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975404\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975404\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AyoBrame_GC-3_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ayo Brame’s parents, Yomi Brame and Shimika Brame (L-R), watch their son at Yoshi’s in Oakland on his 18th birthday, April 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But since picking up the saxophone in 2022, he’s already made a huge splash here — and in tours of the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hong Kong and China. He counts among his local mentors Kev Choice (who served as music director and keyboardist for the Yoshi’s shows) and Howard Wiley. As for fans outside the Bay Area, he’s gotten accolades from both Kamasi Washington and former president Bill Clinton, who during a San Francisco tribute to Willie Mays \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/OE5iGnibfa0?feature=shared&t=202\">praised him\u003c/a> as a “a brilliant young saxophonist.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like most teenagers, Brame has other interests, including video games, visual art, sports and photography. But he’s particularly interested in developing his own voice on his horn, “internalizing” songs (he tends to discard sheet music after memorizing it) and getting lost in chord changes during solos so he can, in his words, “build the puzzle pieces back to the flow of the music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One small drawback to his show at Yoshi’s is that the sheer number of songs came at the expense of depth. The audience got a collage of Brame’s interests and influences, alongside a parade of talented collaborators and colleagues who shuffled on and off the stage, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/ian-kelly\">Ian Kelly\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/whatspimpin\">RyanNicole\u003c/a>. Meanwhile, the constant action somewhat overshadowed the passages where Brame was able to open up and truly show his personality as a soloist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975342\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975342\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-23-KQED-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saxophonist Ayo Brame performs during a sold-out show at Yoshi’s in Oakland on his 18th birthday, April 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’ll be even more important to watch in the coming years as Brame studies in New York and gets exposed to even more of the wider world. As he said backstage, “I think for now, I’ve found my voice. But I’m sure I’ll find even a \u003cem>grander\u003c/em> voice later on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this was a birthday party, after all, where a medley of a Washington D.C. go-go version of Raphael Saadiq’s “Still Ray,” a New Orleans brass band rave-up of “Feel Like Funkin’ It Up” and Nigerian funk legend Fela Kuti’s “Original Sufferhead” brought audience members to their feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the Latin-tinged Kamasi Washington number “Truth” and Brame’s own fusion-tinged composition “Oakland in My Soul,” and at the cajoling of the audience, a run-through of “Happy Birthday” — \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcVZfJO01NI\">both\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/11745186/happy-birthday-song-has-been-set-free\">versions\u003c/a> — fittingly ended the night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13975341\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13975341\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/20250425_AYOBRAME_GC-16-KQED-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The crowd applauds saxophonist Ayo Brame after his performance at a sold-out show at Yoshi’s in Oakland on April 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As for what’s next for this promising young talent, time can only tell. But while chatting backstage, he offered a small prediction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tupac has a quote,” Brame said, “where he’s like, ‘I’m not saying I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.’ So that’s me. I wanna spark that mind.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/video/the-longest-student-strike-in-history-hz8jbu/\">longest student strike in U.S. history\u003c/a> was held at San Francisco State University, then known as San Francisco State College, from the fall of 1968 to the spring of 1969.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Organized by the Black Student Union (BSU) and the Third World Liberation Front coalition, the strike led to the establishment of the nation’s first College of Ethnic Studies and a more diverse faculty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the movement was concentrated on the Golden Gator’s campus, it was informed by the social movements of the era, and intended to better the living conditions of the communities from which the students came.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/30/1095729592/what-is-may-day-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">International Workers Day\u003c/a> on Thursday, May 1, a free arts showcase titled \u003cem>Somebody ‘Blew Up’ San Francisco State College: THAT WAS NOW, THIS IS THEN (How the Black Student Union & Black Arts Movements Changed Education Forever)\u003c/em> will commemorate and add context to the San Francisco State College student strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13974241\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13974241 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Jimmy-Garret-1967-800x1034.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1034\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Jimmy-Garret-1967-800x1034.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Jimmy-Garret-1967-160x207.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Jimmy-Garret-1967-768x993.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Jimmy-Garret-1967.jpg 936w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An archival photo of Dr. James ‘Jimmy’ Garrett, a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and organizer of the 1968 San Francisco State College Strike. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Dr. James ‘Jimmy’ Garrett)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hosted by \u003ca href=\"https://africana.sfsu.edu/people/faculty/mark-allan-davis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Associate Professor Mark Allan Davis\u003c/a>, the evening will feature a dance performance from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dejhajoy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">De’jha Scott\u003c/a>, a lyrical recital by \u003ca href=\"https://portfolium.com/ChiokeAA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chioke Allen\u003c/a> and music from singer \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/artist/574gC4s2cScOcFfdUDp5mp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Najé Nova\u003c/a>, who will be backed by saxophonist \u003ca href=\"https://meis.sfsu.edu/hafez-modirzadeh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hafez Modirzadeh\u003c/a> & his quintet. Dancer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theslowfashionisto/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nick Brentley\u003c/a> will discuss a controversial performance created by Davis, and the keynote speech will be delivered by \u003ca href=\"https://ueap.sfsu.edu/exco/rev_history_20230915\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dr. James “Jimmy” Garrett\u003c/a>, co-founder of the original BSU and one of the organizers of the 1968-69 student strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a half century later, the issues the students fought for and against haven’t gone away. In fact, they’ve only grown more pressing. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/14/1244690926/podcast-campus-protest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Suppressing protests on college campuses\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dismantling diverse representation in government-funded positions\u003c/a> are currently central concerns of President Trump’s administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davis, who in many ways sees all protests as a form of theatre, imagines the event as not just a walk through history but a stand against the oppression of today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As_P3DueKrY\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An educator who teaches Black literature for the College of Ethnic Studies, Davis has an illuminative past: he was in the original cast of \u003cem>The Lion King\u003c/em> on Broadway and choreographed the music video for Milli Vanilli’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhyzGDPwmYU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Don’t 4-get My Number\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davis is currently at work on a book about the larger societal context and social movements surrounding the 1968 student strike. The May 1 event gives him the opportunity to combine his knowledge of protests and performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been a theater and dance person my whole life,” says Davis, acknowledging that this moment, politically, calls for a great act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='news_12031468']With scholars from across the state expected to attend, Davis says this event will provide Black California State University students dealing \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/about-the-csu/facts-about-the-csu/enrollment/Pages/student-enrollment-demographics.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">low enrollment numbers\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2024/03/13/california-universities-struggle-to-graduate-black-students-cultural-centers-aim-to-help/#:~:text=The%20Cal%20State%20system%20has,out%20after%20their%20freshman%20year.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">low graduation rates\u003c/a> time on stage with the actual creators of the first BSU in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To have this moment with these young Black students today,” says Davis, “and these incredibly amazing people who are in their late 70s and early 80s that were there, that created this discipline, that transformed education… I want this on film.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davis, originally from New York, \u003ca href=\"https://lca.sfsu.edu/archive/mark-allan-davis.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">joined SFSU nearly a decade ago\u003c/a>. During his time on campus, he’s grown to understand that there are “preconceived notions about what San Francisco is,” he says, with a nod to the city’s reputation as a liberal bastion cloaking its latent racism. “Not only as a city, but also what its institutions are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13974242\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13974242 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--800x993.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"993\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--800x993.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--1020x1266.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--160x199.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--768x953.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--1238x1536.jpg 1238w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--1651x2048.jpg 1651w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--1920x2382.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Allan Davis speaking at the ‘Monumental Reckoning’ exhibition in Golden Gate Park in 2024. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Mark Allan Davis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few weeks ago at a conference in San Diego, Davis listened to Dr. James “Jimmy” Garrett’s daughter, \u003ca href=\"https://www.natakigarrett.com/theladder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nataki Garrett\u003c/a>, discuss the student strike as her father had told it to her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On paper,” says Davis, quoting Nataki, “the strike was a demand for the hiring of more faculty of color, to teach students of color about their history and impact on this country and the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nataki went on to explain that \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/about-the-csu/Pages/history.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the California State University system\u003c/a> was “never created to support a global majority student population.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='news_11830384']So Black students had to infiltrate the school system by pressuring school administration and making their presence felt on campus. They also hit the community to recruit other Black folks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of Nataki’s father, Davis says, “He would go to the corners of the city, and ask anyone standing there, ‘do you have a GED or a high school diploma?'” Which was all you needed to enter the CSU at the time, and then he’d offer them a choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can make your money in craps on the corner, or you can make double that at work-study. And the only thing you have to do is take this knowledge that we’re going to give you and drive it back to the people,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an educator, Davis sees his work as a continuum of that. “I know the power that they hold,” says Davis of his students. “For me, the whole point of this is to show \u003cem>them\u003c/em> the power that they have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Somebody ‘Blew Up’ San Francisco State College: THAT WAS NOW, THIS IS THEN (How the Black Student Union & Black Arts Movements Changed Education Forever)’ takes place on Thursday, May 1 at 7 p.m. at San Francisco State University. The free event will be held at Knuth Hall on the SFSU campus (1600 Holloway Ave. San Francisco, CA 94132). \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/video/the-longest-student-strike-in-history-hz8jbu/\">longest student strike in U.S. history\u003c/a> was held at San Francisco State University, then known as San Francisco State College, from the fall of 1968 to the spring of 1969.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Organized by the Black Student Union (BSU) and the Third World Liberation Front coalition, the strike led to the establishment of the nation’s first College of Ethnic Studies and a more diverse faculty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the movement was concentrated on the Golden Gator’s campus, it was informed by the social movements of the era, and intended to better the living conditions of the communities from which the students came.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/30/1095729592/what-is-may-day-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">International Workers Day\u003c/a> on Thursday, May 1, a free arts showcase titled \u003cem>Somebody ‘Blew Up’ San Francisco State College: THAT WAS NOW, THIS IS THEN (How the Black Student Union & Black Arts Movements Changed Education Forever)\u003c/em> will commemorate and add context to the San Francisco State College student strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13974241\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13974241 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Jimmy-Garret-1967-800x1034.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1034\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Jimmy-Garret-1967-800x1034.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Jimmy-Garret-1967-160x207.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Jimmy-Garret-1967-768x993.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Jimmy-Garret-1967.jpg 936w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An archival photo of Dr. James ‘Jimmy’ Garrett, a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and organizer of the 1968 San Francisco State College Strike. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Dr. James ‘Jimmy’ Garrett)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hosted by \u003ca href=\"https://africana.sfsu.edu/people/faculty/mark-allan-davis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Associate Professor Mark Allan Davis\u003c/a>, the evening will feature a dance performance from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dejhajoy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">De’jha Scott\u003c/a>, a lyrical recital by \u003ca href=\"https://portfolium.com/ChiokeAA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chioke Allen\u003c/a> and music from singer \u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/artist/574gC4s2cScOcFfdUDp5mp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Najé Nova\u003c/a>, who will be backed by saxophonist \u003ca href=\"https://meis.sfsu.edu/hafez-modirzadeh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hafez Modirzadeh\u003c/a> & his quintet. Dancer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theslowfashionisto/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nick Brentley\u003c/a> will discuss a controversial performance created by Davis, and the keynote speech will be delivered by \u003ca href=\"https://ueap.sfsu.edu/exco/rev_history_20230915\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dr. James “Jimmy” Garrett\u003c/a>, co-founder of the original BSU and one of the organizers of the 1968-69 student strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a half century later, the issues the students fought for and against haven’t gone away. In fact, they’ve only grown more pressing. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/14/1244690926/podcast-campus-protest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Suppressing protests on college campuses\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dismantling diverse representation in government-funded positions\u003c/a> are currently central concerns of President Trump’s administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davis, who in many ways sees all protests as a form of theatre, imagines the event as not just a walk through history but a stand against the oppression of today.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/As_P3DueKrY'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/As_P3DueKrY'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>An educator who teaches Black literature for the College of Ethnic Studies, Davis has an illuminative past: he was in the original cast of \u003cem>The Lion King\u003c/em> on Broadway and choreographed the music video for Milli Vanilli’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhyzGDPwmYU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Don’t 4-get My Number\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davis is currently at work on a book about the larger societal context and social movements surrounding the 1968 student strike. The May 1 event gives him the opportunity to combine his knowledge of protests and performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been a theater and dance person my whole life,” says Davis, acknowledging that this moment, politically, calls for a great act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>With scholars from across the state expected to attend, Davis says this event will provide Black California State University students dealing \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/about-the-csu/facts-about-the-csu/enrollment/Pages/student-enrollment-demographics.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">low enrollment numbers\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2024/03/13/california-universities-struggle-to-graduate-black-students-cultural-centers-aim-to-help/#:~:text=The%20Cal%20State%20system%20has,out%20after%20their%20freshman%20year.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">low graduation rates\u003c/a> time on stage with the actual creators of the first BSU in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To have this moment with these young Black students today,” says Davis, “and these incredibly amazing people who are in their late 70s and early 80s that were there, that created this discipline, that transformed education… I want this on film.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Davis, originally from New York, \u003ca href=\"https://lca.sfsu.edu/archive/mark-allan-davis.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">joined SFSU nearly a decade ago\u003c/a>. During his time on campus, he’s grown to understand that there are “preconceived notions about what San Francisco is,” he says, with a nod to the city’s reputation as a liberal bastion cloaking its latent racism. “Not only as a city, but also what its institutions are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13974242\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13974242 size-medium\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--800x993.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"993\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--800x993.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--1020x1266.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--160x199.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--768x953.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--1238x1536.jpg 1238w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--1651x2048.jpg 1651w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/Mark-Davis-at-MR-2024-LIVE--1920x2382.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Allan Davis speaking at the ‘Monumental Reckoning’ exhibition in Golden Gate Park in 2024. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Mark Allan Davis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few weeks ago at a conference in San Diego, Davis listened to Dr. James “Jimmy” Garrett’s daughter, \u003ca href=\"https://www.natakigarrett.com/theladder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nataki Garrett\u003c/a>, discuss the student strike as her father had told it to her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On paper,” says Davis, quoting Nataki, “the strike was a demand for the hiring of more faculty of color, to teach students of color about their history and impact on this country and the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nataki went on to explain that \u003ca href=\"https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/about-the-csu/Pages/history.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the California State University system\u003c/a> was “never created to support a global majority student population.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So Black students had to infiltrate the school system by pressuring school administration and making their presence felt on campus. They also hit the community to recruit other Black folks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of Nataki’s father, Davis says, “He would go to the corners of the city, and ask anyone standing there, ‘do you have a GED or a high school diploma?'” Which was all you needed to enter the CSU at the time, and then he’d offer them a choice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can make your money in craps on the corner, or you can make double that at work-study. And the only thing you have to do is take this knowledge that we’re going to give you and drive it back to the people,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an educator, Davis sees his work as a continuum of that. “I know the power that they hold,” says Davis of his students. “For me, the whole point of this is to show \u003cem>them\u003c/em> the power that they have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Somebody ‘Blew Up’ San Francisco State College: THAT WAS NOW, THIS IS THEN (How the Black Student Union & Black Arts Movements Changed Education Forever)’ takes place on Thursday, May 1 at 7 p.m. at San Francisco State University. The free event will be held at Knuth Hall on the SFSU campus (1600 Holloway Ave. San Francisco, CA 94132). \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>In the latter half of the 1980s, the mightiest improvisers in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/jazz\">jazz\u003c/a> took the stage just about every Monday night at Santa Cruz’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kuumbwajazz.org/\">Kuumbwa Jazz Center\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a budding jazz aficionado like myself, those shows at the pioneering nonprofit venue weren’t just an education. From my first interview disaster to covering a pivotal moment in international relations, the very seeds of my journalistic career were sown at Kuumbwa, a groundbreaking venue which celebrates its 50th anniversary in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973660\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1873px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1873\" height=\"1266\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973660\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction.jpg 1873w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction-800x541.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction-1020x689.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction-1536x1038.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1873px) 100vw, 1873px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A construction crew takes a break on an unfinished stage before the 1975 opening of Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Kuumbwa Jazz Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It was baptism by bebop and far beyond. One night, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/sun-ra\">Sun Ra\u003c/a>’s bedazzled Arkestra promenaded up the aisles chanting “We travel the spaceways / From planet to planet,” led by the stratospheric pealing of alto saxophonist Marshall Allen, it became clear that jazz was a multiverse encompassing not only the far-flung African diaspora but several adjacent galaxies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/spark/kuumbwa-jazz-center/\">Watch a video segment of KQED’s ‘Spark’ about the Kuumbwa Jazz Center here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Becoming a Jazz Destination\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>First founded in 1975, Kuumbwa had by 1977 settled into its downtown space at 320 Cedar Street. Tim Jackson, a surfer and flutist first drawn to Santa Cruz by the waves, was the only co-founder left by the time I started volunteering to write Kuumbwa calendar copy in exchange for free tickets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turning Santa Cruz’s relatively remote location into an asset, Jackson established a viable nonprofit model for a jazz venue, with a cadre of dedicated volunteers and an avid audience supportive of his catholic programing. More than a dozen jazz venues around the country have since followed in Kuumbwa’s nonprofit footsteps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973654\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1361\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973654\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace-800x544.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace-1020x694.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace-768x523.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace-1536x1045.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace-1920x1307.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jazz piano great Horace Silver performing at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, with saxophonist Ralph Moore and trumpeter Brian Lynch. \u003ccite>(Will Wallace)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mondays were off-nights for artists heading south from the Bay Area down to Los Angeles, or in the reverse direction to play Keystone Korner, Kimball’s or Oakland’s Koncepts Cultural Gallery (what’s with all the K’s?). Kuumbwa quickly became a de rigueur stop for a broad swath of jazz’s elite, from swing era survivors, bebop legends and soul jazz preachers to avant garde avatars, Latin jazz heroes, neo-swing revivalists and hard-bopping young lions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jackson didn’t necessarily love every idiom, but he felt a responsibility to showcase the artists defining the contemporary scene. That commitment continued for decades. Jackson recently announced that he’ll move into an advisory role at Kuumbwa, while his son Bennett Jackson takes on programming duties as creative director and Chanel Enriquez becomes executive director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973658\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1428\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973658\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975-800x571.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975-1020x728.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975-768x548.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975-1536x1097.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975-1920x1371.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kuumbwa Jazz Center founder Tim Jackson in 1975, preparing for the opening in Santa Cruz. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Kuumbwa Jazz Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Unforgettable Nights of Music\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jackson’s semi-retirement (he \u003ca href=\"https://montereyjazz.org/news/press-releases/tim-jackson-monterey-jazz-festivals-artistic-director-steps-down/\">stepped down from his long-running role as the artistic director of the Monterey Jazz Festival\u003c/a> last year), plus the milestone of the club’s 50th anniversary, sparks a flood of memories. I can close my eyes, and the music from decades ago is more vivid than shows I saw last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eddie Palmieri’s septet, which combined Latin percussion with jazz horns, opening up vast new Afro-Caribbean vistas as he treated the piano like 88 tuned drums. Shirley Horn’s singular combination of strength and tenderness, her harmonic wizardry at the piano and her time-stopping ballads. The Art Ensemble of Chicago’s pageantry and playfulness, with Lester Bowie’s slashing trumpet lines and Malachi Favor’s elemental bass. Max Roach paying tribute to Count Basie drummer Papa Jo Jones, using only two sticks and a hi-hat cymbal. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13522444']The thing was, as a wannabe hippie who grew up with posters of the Who, the Beatles and the Grateful Dead on my bedroom wall, I didn’t expect to be up close and personal with musicians whose albums I had in regular rotation. At Kuumbwa, you could chat with artists after a show, or even approach one for an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although, as I learned, that might not always be a good idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973657\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973657\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dog, a door and a dream: the beginnings of Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz. \u003ccite>(Will Wallace)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tony Williams, the drum prodigy who helped revolutionize trumpet legend Miles Davis’ music in the mid-1960s at the age of 17, was a famously prickly character. Looking for quotes for a story about Kuumbwa’s 15th anniversary for the UC Santa Cruz weekly \u003cem>City On a Hill\u003c/em>, I introduced myself to him at a pre-concert event with my notepad, and without waiting, asked what he liked about playing the venue. I can still see his look of dismay as he backed away, murmuring “no press, no press.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was an inauspicious start for a career in culture reporting. But I survived the withering dismissal, and by 1989, I’d started writing features and reviews for the \u003cem>Santa Cruz Sentinel\u003c/em>. On the night that Nelson Mandela was released from prison in February 1990, Gil-Scott Heron was playing Kuumbwa. The mood was beyond ecstatic. As I was able to recount in my \u003cem>Sentinel\u003c/em> review, when he launched into “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IarTdVuNZeQ\">Johannesburg\u003c/a>,” the structure barely survived the blast of energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973659\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Volunteers at Santa Cruz’s Kuumbwa Jazz Center gather for a group photo, date unknown. \u003ccite>(Will Wallace)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A Special Celebration\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Most of the artists who changed the course of my life as an undergrad are gone now. But as Kuumbwa celebrates its 50th anniversary in the coming months, the venue remains an essential part of the region’s musical ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kuumbwa’s Spirit of ’75 Series marks the milestone by presenting local artists with longstanding ties to the venue, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kuumbwajazz.org/calendar/spirit-of-75-series-ken-okada-group-feat-yoyoka/\">San Jose bassist Ken Okada\u003c/a>, whose Japanese jazz fusion combo performs April 3 with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926065/yoyoka-soma-drummer-oakland\">teenage drum phenomenon Yoyoka\u003c/a>. (Tickets are priced at $19.75 in honor of the year Kuumbwa was founded.) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On May 2, the exhibition “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kuumbwajazz.org/calendar/first-friday-celebrating-creativity-50th-anniversary-exhibit-premiere-conversation/\">Celebrating Creativity\u003c/a>” opens with posters, photos, and historical ephemera from Kuumbwa’s archives spanning five decades. Part of Santa Cruz’s First Fridays, the event includes a conversation about Kuumbwa’s history and role in the region with Tim Jackson and Bay Area vocalist and historian Kim Nalley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a lot of ground to cover, and now the venue is in the next generation’s hands. May it continue to reverberate for another 50 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Details about Kuumbwa’s ongoing 50th anniversary celebration can be found at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kuumbwajazz.org/\">the club’s site\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the latter half of the 1980s, the mightiest improvisers in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/jazz\">jazz\u003c/a> took the stage just about every Monday night at Santa Cruz’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kuumbwajazz.org/\">Kuumbwa Jazz Center\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a budding jazz aficionado like myself, those shows at the pioneering nonprofit venue weren’t just an education. From my first interview disaster to covering a pivotal moment in international relations, the very seeds of my journalistic career were sown at Kuumbwa, a groundbreaking venue which celebrates its 50th anniversary in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973660\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1873px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1873\" height=\"1266\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973660\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction.jpg 1873w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction-800x541.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction-1020x689.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction-768x519.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Kuumbwa.Construction-1536x1038.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1873px) 100vw, 1873px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A construction crew takes a break on an unfinished stage before the 1975 opening of Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Kuumbwa Jazz Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It was baptism by bebop and far beyond. One night, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/sun-ra\">Sun Ra\u003c/a>’s bedazzled Arkestra promenaded up the aisles chanting “We travel the spaceways / From planet to planet,” led by the stratospheric pealing of alto saxophonist Marshall Allen, it became clear that jazz was a multiverse encompassing not only the far-flung African diaspora but several adjacent galaxies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/spark/kuumbwa-jazz-center/\">Watch a video segment of KQED’s ‘Spark’ about the Kuumbwa Jazz Center here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Becoming a Jazz Destination\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>First founded in 1975, Kuumbwa had by 1977 settled into its downtown space at 320 Cedar Street. Tim Jackson, a surfer and flutist first drawn to Santa Cruz by the waves, was the only co-founder left by the time I started volunteering to write Kuumbwa calendar copy in exchange for free tickets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turning Santa Cruz’s relatively remote location into an asset, Jackson established a viable nonprofit model for a jazz venue, with a cadre of dedicated volunteers and an avid audience supportive of his catholic programing. More than a dozen jazz venues around the country have since followed in Kuumbwa’s nonprofit footsteps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973654\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1361\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973654\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace-800x544.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace-1020x694.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace-768x523.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace-1536x1045.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Horace-Silver-with-Ralph-Moore-Brian-Lynch-Will-Wallace-1920x1307.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jazz piano great Horace Silver performing at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, with saxophonist Ralph Moore and trumpeter Brian Lynch. \u003ccite>(Will Wallace)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mondays were off-nights for artists heading south from the Bay Area down to Los Angeles, or in the reverse direction to play Keystone Korner, Kimball’s or Oakland’s Koncepts Cultural Gallery (what’s with all the K’s?). Kuumbwa quickly became a de rigueur stop for a broad swath of jazz’s elite, from swing era survivors, bebop legends and soul jazz preachers to avant garde avatars, Latin jazz heroes, neo-swing revivalists and hard-bopping young lions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jackson didn’t necessarily love every idiom, but he felt a responsibility to showcase the artists defining the contemporary scene. That commitment continued for decades. Jackson recently announced that he’ll move into an advisory role at Kuumbwa, while his son Bennett Jackson takes on programming duties as creative director and Chanel Enriquez becomes executive director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973658\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1428\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973658\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975-800x571.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975-1020x728.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975-768x548.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975-1536x1097.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Tim-Jackson-1975-1920x1371.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kuumbwa Jazz Center founder Tim Jackson in 1975, preparing for the opening in Santa Cruz. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Kuumbwa Jazz Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Unforgettable Nights of Music\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jackson’s semi-retirement (he \u003ca href=\"https://montereyjazz.org/news/press-releases/tim-jackson-monterey-jazz-festivals-artistic-director-steps-down/\">stepped down from his long-running role as the artistic director of the Monterey Jazz Festival\u003c/a> last year), plus the milestone of the club’s 50th anniversary, sparks a flood of memories. I can close my eyes, and the music from decades ago is more vivid than shows I saw last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eddie Palmieri’s septet, which combined Latin percussion with jazz horns, opening up vast new Afro-Caribbean vistas as he treated the piano like 88 tuned drums. Shirley Horn’s singular combination of strength and tenderness, her harmonic wizardry at the piano and her time-stopping ballads. The Art Ensemble of Chicago’s pageantry and playfulness, with Lester Bowie’s slashing trumpet lines and Malachi Favor’s elemental bass. Max Roach paying tribute to Count Basie drummer Papa Jo Jones, using only two sticks and a hi-hat cymbal. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The thing was, as a wannabe hippie who grew up with posters of the Who, the Beatles and the Grateful Dead on my bedroom wall, I didn’t expect to be up close and personal with musicians whose albums I had in regular rotation. At Kuumbwa, you could chat with artists after a show, or even approach one for an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although, as I learned, that might not always be a good idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973657\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973657\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/KJC-Will-Wallace-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dog, a door and a dream: the beginnings of Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz. \u003ccite>(Will Wallace)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tony Williams, the drum prodigy who helped revolutionize trumpet legend Miles Davis’ music in the mid-1960s at the age of 17, was a famously prickly character. Looking for quotes for a story about Kuumbwa’s 15th anniversary for the UC Santa Cruz weekly \u003cem>City On a Hill\u003c/em>, I introduced myself to him at a pre-concert event with my notepad, and without waiting, asked what he liked about playing the venue. I can still see his look of dismay as he backed away, murmuring “no press, no press.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was an inauspicious start for a career in culture reporting. But I survived the withering dismissal, and by 1989, I’d started writing features and reviews for the \u003cem>Santa Cruz Sentinel\u003c/em>. On the night that Nelson Mandela was released from prison in February 1990, Gil-Scott Heron was playing Kuumbwa. The mood was beyond ecstatic. As I was able to recount in my \u003cem>Sentinel\u003c/em> review, when he launched into “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IarTdVuNZeQ\">Johannesburg\u003c/a>,” the structure barely survived the blast of energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13973659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13973659\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/03/Volunteers-Will-Wallace-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Volunteers at Santa Cruz’s Kuumbwa Jazz Center gather for a group photo, date unknown. \u003ccite>(Will Wallace)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A Special Celebration\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Most of the artists who changed the course of my life as an undergrad are gone now. But as Kuumbwa celebrates its 50th anniversary in the coming months, the venue remains an essential part of the region’s musical ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kuumbwa’s Spirit of ’75 Series marks the milestone by presenting local artists with longstanding ties to the venue, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kuumbwajazz.org/calendar/spirit-of-75-series-ken-okada-group-feat-yoyoka/\">San Jose bassist Ken Okada\u003c/a>, whose Japanese jazz fusion combo performs April 3 with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13926065/yoyoka-soma-drummer-oakland\">teenage drum phenomenon Yoyoka\u003c/a>. (Tickets are priced at $19.75 in honor of the year Kuumbwa was founded.) \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On May 2, the exhibition “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kuumbwajazz.org/calendar/first-friday-celebrating-creativity-50th-anniversary-exhibit-premiere-conversation/\">Celebrating Creativity\u003c/a>” opens with posters, photos, and historical ephemera from Kuumbwa’s archives spanning five decades. Part of Santa Cruz’s First Fridays, the event includes a conversation about Kuumbwa’s history and role in the region with Tim Jackson and Bay Area vocalist and historian Kim Nalley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a lot of ground to cover, and now the venue is in the next generation’s hands. May it continue to reverberate for another 50 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Details about Kuumbwa’s ongoing 50th anniversary celebration can be found at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kuumbwajazz.org/\">the club’s site\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The city of San Francisco has reached a tentative settlement in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13848442/fillmore-heritage-center-attracts-another-lawsuit\">a 2018 lawsuit against the developer of the Fillmore Heritage Center\u003c/a>, the complex at 1330 Fillmore Street which once housed an iteration of the jazz nightclub Yoshi’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city had sought to recover $5.5 million that was borrowed by Heritage Center developer Michael Johnson. The \u003ca href=\"https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/GAO_032025_250179.pdf\">proposed settlement [PDF]\u003c/a> requires Johnson to pay just $100,000, a fraction of the original loan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13848442']The settlement, negotiated by the City Attorney’s office of David Chiu, would also bar Johnson from doing business with the city of San Francisco for five years. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the settlement on Thursday, March 20.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe the proposed settlement is the best outcome for the city,” said Jen Kwart, spokesperson for the City Attorney’s office, “and we are pleased the defendants and their affiliated businesses have agreed not to do business with the city for five years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10297719\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10297719\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/Yoshis.jpg\" alt=\"view inside music venue with stage and balcony seating\" width=\"800\" height=\"492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/Yoshis.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/Yoshis-400x246.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yoshi’s, the Fillmore Heritage Center’s anchor tenant, closed in 2014. \u003ccite>(Yoshi's SF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The city had hoped the Heritage Center would revive the Fillmore neighborhood, once known as the “Harlem of the West” for its bustling corridor of Black-owned jazz clubs, restaurants and businesses. (\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11825401/how-urban-renewal-decimated-the-fillmore-district-and-took-jazz-with-it\">The neighborhood was decimated and its population was displaced by San Francisco’s Redevelopment Agency\u003c/a>, led by director Justin Herman, in the 1960s.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Heritage Center, a 50,000-square-foot space which has sat unoccupied since 2019, has over the past decade become a visible symbol of mismanagement and neglect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='news_11825401']Johnson and his partners in the Fillmore Heritage Center declared bankruptcy in 2014. He soon afterward pursued a new development near Lake Merritt involving land owned by the city of Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson, who countersued the city in 2018 for breach of contract, had additionally owed $4.8 million in loans from the Redevelopment Agency. That debt, like many others in the wake of the dissolution of California’s redevelopment agencies in 2011, was written off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Johnson also owed smaller debts. In 2015, the jazz musician Christian McBride contacted KQED about a $9,300 check from Johnson that had bounced after his residency at The Addition, the Heritage Center’s short-lived reincarnation of Yoshi’s. Days after an inquiry from KQED to Johnson about the bounced check, McBride was suddenly paid the full amount.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The city of San Francisco has reached a tentative settlement in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13848442/fillmore-heritage-center-attracts-another-lawsuit\">a 2018 lawsuit against the developer of the Fillmore Heritage Center\u003c/a>, the complex at 1330 Fillmore Street which once housed an iteration of the jazz nightclub Yoshi’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city had sought to recover $5.5 million that was borrowed by Heritage Center developer Michael Johnson. The \u003ca href=\"https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/GAO_032025_250179.pdf\">proposed settlement [PDF]\u003c/a> requires Johnson to pay just $100,000, a fraction of the original loan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The settlement, negotiated by the City Attorney’s office of David Chiu, would also bar Johnson from doing business with the city of San Francisco for five years. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the settlement on Thursday, March 20.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe the proposed settlement is the best outcome for the city,” said Jen Kwart, spokesperson for the City Attorney’s office, “and we are pleased the defendants and their affiliated businesses have agreed not to do business with the city for five years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10297719\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10297719\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/Yoshis.jpg\" alt=\"view inside music venue with stage and balcony seating\" width=\"800\" height=\"492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/Yoshis.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/01/Yoshis-400x246.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yoshi’s, the Fillmore Heritage Center’s anchor tenant, closed in 2014. \u003ccite>(Yoshi's SF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The city had hoped the Heritage Center would revive the Fillmore neighborhood, once known as the “Harlem of the West” for its bustling corridor of Black-owned jazz clubs, restaurants and businesses. (\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11825401/how-urban-renewal-decimated-the-fillmore-district-and-took-jazz-with-it\">The neighborhood was decimated and its population was displaced by San Francisco’s Redevelopment Agency\u003c/a>, led by director Justin Herman, in the 1960s.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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},
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},
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"order": 8
},
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},
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},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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},
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"order": 1
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"order": 9
},
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
},
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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