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Guitar Fest 2010 f/t Guitarists Terrence Brewer, Hristo Vitchev, and Rick Vandivier

James — Sun, 02 May 2010 16:17:15 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTH BAY LIVE PRESENTS GUITAR FEST 2010 FEATURING MULTI-AWARD WINNING GUITARIST TERRENCE BREWER ALONG WITH GUITARISTS HRISTO VITCHEV, AND RICK VANDIVIER ON FRIDAY, MAY 14, 2010, 7:30PM, $15 AT THE THEATER ON SAN PEDRO SQUARE, 29 NORTH SAN PEDRO STREET, SAN JOSE CA

(Alameda, CA, April 29, 2010) – South Bay Live, one of San Jose’s thriving live music production companies, will present 3 of the San Francisco Bay area’s most versatile and talented guitarists, Terrence Brewer, Hristo Vitchev, and Rick Vandivier, on Friday, May 14, 2010 at 7:30pm for Guitar Fest 2010. Guitar Fest 2010 will take place at The Theater on San Pedro Square located at 29 N. San Pedro Road. Event cost is $15 with tickets available at www.BrownPaperTickets.com or at the door the night of the show. Filling out the house band for Guitar Fest 2010 are veteran Bay area musicians bassist Dan Robbins and drummer Paul Van Wageningen. The Theater on San Pedro Square: 29 N. San Pedro Street, San Jose, CA, 408.979.0231, www.tabardtheatre.org. South Bay Live: http://cjpublicrelations.com

Terrence Brewer

Along with media and radio chart success (Brewer’s latest album ‘Groovin Wes’ reached #9 on the JazzWeek national radio charts in April 2009), Jazz guitarist Terrence Brewer spent 2009 performing to sold-out crowds at the 52nd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, the world famous Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, and SFJAZZ’s HotPlate Concert Series. Brewer also had the pleasure opening for vocalist/pianist Diana Krall during her N. California run at Mountain Winery. Other noted performances include Dr. Anthony Brown, Pete Escovedo, Dave Ellis, and guitar legend Calvin Keyes.

Groovin’ Wes (2009, Strong Brew Music), a Wes Montgomery tribute project and the fourth album from Jazz guitarist Terrence Brewer, debuted March 2nd on the JazzWeek national radio chart at #18 and quickly began to climb, settling into the Top 10 a few weeks later. Brewer’s music is getting attention throughout the states, receiving reviews in JazzTimes and Billboard while Brewer has been honored with awards including the SF Weekly Music Award for ‘Best Jazz Artist’, Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce ‘Artist of the Year’ and the Bay Area Blues Society ‘Best Jazz Group’ award.
www.TerrenceBrewer.com

Hristo Vitchev

Hristo Vitchev is a modern jazz guitarist and composer from Sofia, Bulgaria. Now residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, Hristo leads his modern jazz quartet which features the Latin Grammy-nominated pianist Weber Iago, drummer extraordinaire Joe De Rose, and virtuoso bassist Dan Robbins. Hristo has toured nationally and internationally with a wide variety of formations and has also performed guitar clinics in Europe and Japan. He has written more than 200 original compositions, many articles on jazz improvisation, and a book on chordal theory and construction entitled Between the Voicings: A New Approach to Chord Building for Guitarists. The Hristo Vitchev Quartet’s 2009 debut album, Song for Messambria (First Orbit Sounds Music) quickly received outstanding reviews by the international jazz community and was selected as one of the six best jazz albums of 2009 by ejazz news. The record presents a unique blend of ECM-style modern jazz, classical, and Brazilian tone textures, and showcases the completely unique and masterful interpretation of the jazz idiom by each one of its members.
www.HristoVitchev.com

Rick Vandivier

Rick Vandivier is a guitarist who has found inspiration in influences that stretch from Andres Segovia to Pat Metheny to Jimi Hendrix. His performances are daring, soulful, and evocative. In a recent concert review, Jean Bartlett (Pacifica Tribune) wrote: “the amazing guitar licks provided by Vandivier cultivated a whole new threshold of wow… Vandivier opened the show with a piece which galloped the triumphant poetry of Madrid while caressing the edges of Segovia, Feliciano and Montoya. Extraordinary musicianship with plenty of sweets…” Rick has been performing and recording in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1979. In addition to his extensive work with vocalist Nate Pruitt in Primary Colors, Rick has been active in numerous other projects as a guitarist and composer, including leading his own ensemble which has recently attracted a new level of attention and popularity.
www.RickVandivier.com

Terrence Brewer Productions/Strong Brew Music
Winner – SF Weekly “Best Jazz Artist” Award
Winner – Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce “Artist of the Year” Award
Winner – Bay Area Blues Society “Best Jazz Group” Award
www.terrencebrewer.com
www.strongbrewmusic.com
www.myspace.com/terrencebrewer
www.Twitter.com/TerrenceBrewer
www.FaceBook.com/Terrence.Brewer
Media Contact:

Cat Brewer (Director of Marketing/PR)
Cat@TerrenceBrewer.com
510.755.2821

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Photo of Terrence Brewer by James Knox

Junius Courtney Big Band on 2/27 and 2/28

James — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:19:10 +0000

We’ve got a double-header coming up on SAT Feb 27 (Berkeley) and SUN Feb 28 (SF). We hope you can make it!

Here are the details:
Calling All Dancers!

SATURDAY NIGHT FEBRUARY 27 8:00 pm
The NEW Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse
2020 Addison Street between Milvia and Shattuck, downtown Berkeley

A CONCERT AND DANCE!
The dance floor will be open for business when the Junius Courtney Big Band with Denise Perrier hits the bandstand for their first appearance at the New Freight! Plenty of comfy concert seating will be available, too. The band is in powerhouse mode, propelled by sold-out shows at Yoshi’s.

The Freight’s brand-new location has a great dance floor, ample seating and terrific acoustics, while retaining a hint of the funky allure from its beloved former location. The snacks are top-notch and the staff is friendly. This will be a swingin’ night to top off February and prolong those Valentine’s tendencies.

Tix: $18.50 advance; $19.50 at the door; $1.00 senior discount. All ages welcome. Call: 510-644-2020. www.freightandsalvage.org

Easy parking at the Allston Garage (Allston between Milvia and Shattuck), the Center Street Garage, (Center between Milvia and Shattuck) and other locations, including the street.
______________________________________________________________
Sunday Afternoon Jazz High Tea!
SUNDAY AFTERNOON FEBRUARY 28 3:00 pm
DENISE PERRIER and the JUNIUS COURTNEY BIG BAND at
The RRAZZ ROOM of the Hotel Nikko, San Francisco
222 Mason Street at O’Farrell, SF

Denise Perrier fronts the bill and the band at the up-scale and glamorous RRAZZ ROOM in The City. There will be plenty of swinging surprises at this afternoon of Jazz High Tea. Denise Perrier’s burnished contralto, thirty-year international singing career, and unstoppable charm infuse this hot jazz session with authentic soul.

Don’t miss this opportunity to check out Denise Perrier with the Junius Courtney Big Band: the experience of an exciting full jazz sound in a comfortably intimate setting — Jazz @ the Rrazz. For tickets ($30) and information:: (866) 468-3399; (415) 394-1189; www.therrazzroom.com Info: www.juniuscourtneybigband.com www.deniseperrier.com Validated parking at the adjacent Mason-O’Farrell Garage.

P.S. Please become a FAN of the Junius Courtney Big Band on FACEBOOK.

Photo Credit: James Knox

Parlor Jazz Series presents An Evening with Napa Valley Jazz All-Stars and Special Guests on 1/31

James — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:15:19 +0000

The NAPA VALLEY JAZZ SOCIETY
Parlor Jazz Series Presents

An Evening With
NAPA VALLEY JAZZ ALL-STARS
and SPECIAL GUESTS
Chris Amberger – Kent Cohea – Mimi Fox –Wesla Whitfield – Mike Greensill – Mary Jenson – Noel Jewkes – Denise Perrier – Alan U’Ren – Larry Vuckovich – Benny Barth – Wesla Whitfield – Herb Gibson (more to follow)

Sunday, January 31 – 4:00pm
At Silo’s Jazz Club
530 Main St. , Napa

Admission: NVJS Members: FREE
Non-Members: $20/person

For RESERVATIONS and MEMBERSHIP and to pay with Credit Card
call (707) 224-JAZZ
Or send your reservation request and check to:
Napa Valley Jazz Society
P,O, Box 6080
Napa , CA 94581

Membership details available at www.NapaValleyJazzSociety.org

Goodbye Anna’s Jazz Island for now…

James — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:44:08 +0000

Friends,

I am writing to tell you that Anna’s Jazz Island at 2120 Allston Way is now closed. We hope to move soon to a new location. I am sorry that I could not write this sooner. The agreement with my new landlord to buy out my lease was only completed a few days ago and I needed a few days to organize my thoughts…

THANK YOU.

Thank you to you, the musicians, who have shared your gifts with us. You have been generous, wildly creative, fun, smart, good to all of us and to each other. There is nobody more wonderful than you, our local musical treasures. You poets too! Everyone, support them. Go hear them, yes, even on rainy nights. Musicians need us. And we need musicians too!

Thank you to you, the wonderful staff here. We have been friends and family. I hear over and over what I already know – you are wonderful, fun, smart, good hearted and musical. There would be no Island without you.

Thank you to you folks who have come in, who have enjoyed and supported the music. I have tried to make a place where jazz is comfortable, where there is no green room, no proscenium, no far away stage, no anonymous staff. I wanted a place where the musicians and those who come by to enjoy the music share an experience. So you are not just audience, but all part of the coming together of the music community. Thank you for being part of that.

I have been blessed by having my name on the door in Berkeley these past ten years, first on University Avenue and now on Allston Way – and even before that, on Shattuck Avenue in North Oakland! I have tried my best to do my part in bringing jazz to our community. Thousands of musicians have shared their gifts here on this Island and I am blessed to be part of that.

WHAT HAPPENED HERE?

This change has all been very sudden, just a few weeks in the making…

After happily being on University Avenue for more than five years, we moved to Allston Way, a venue twice as large with a stage big enough for a grand piano. And such wonderful acoustics! The Use Permit for the two bottom floors specifies an Arts Center and requires only cultural use. A theater was promised next door. It was to be a thrilling move for jazz and jazz lovers. I designed the Island and paid for the build out of the space.

Unfortunately, we encountered a string of broken promises on the part of the developer, and a pro-development majority on the city council, which refused to enforce the commitment to the arts. The developer rented out the theater next door to private parties. Some of you have personally experienced these rowdy and disruptive events, with armed guards at the entrance, with hundreds of young adults in the street, where the block was entirely blocked off by police cars and the “parties” closed by dozens of police officers, and where jazz lovers could not get in or out of the club. Many evenings, it has been profoundly difficult for us to present music. (For more details, Google “Gaia Building Party Police” for news articles.) For some time now, we have considered other locations.

Which leads to the present moment. The new owner wished to terminate our lease and made an offer we couldn’t refuse. We are now looking for a new space and a new partner, somebody who loves jazz, to participate in opening a new venue. We have palm trees, ten years of goodwill in the jazz community, a huge e-mail list, and a loyal audience looking for a new musical home. We know the musicians are ready to play! We shall see what life brings…

GOODBYE FOR NOW…

Have joyful new year full of music…

If you need to contact us, please e-mail

AnnasJazzIsland@earthlink.net

In Jazz We Trust!

With love,

Anna

Friends of Golden Gate Library Present Jazz on Sundays Series

James — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:28:20 +0000

This Sunday, guitarist Calvin Keys and his trio will perform at 3pm at Golden Gate Library, 5606 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland, California. This concert is part of the Friends of Golden Gate Library 19th Annual Jazz on Sundays Summer Concert Series which runs through August 30.

Concerts are held every Sunday at 3pm (doors open at 2:30pm), followed by a History of Jazz lecture with jazz legend Randy Moore, and an open jam session. All concerts are held at the Golden Gate Library with the exception of the August 23 concert, featuring the Junius Courtney Big Band (shown above.) This concert at Temescal Creek Park located on 47th Street between Adeline and San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville.

Admission is free and donations are welcome.

Upcoming concerts:

July 26, 2009
Calvin Keys Trio

August 2, 2009
John Handy and Special Guest

August 9, 2009
Bay Area Blues Society Caravan of All Stars

August 16, 2009
Howard Wiley

August 23, 2009
Julius Courtney Big Band (Temescal Creek Park)

August 30, 2009
Rhonda Benin & Quartet

Photo Credit: James Knox

Jazz at Pearl’s Remains Open for Business

James — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:51:20 +0000

From Kim Nalley at Jazz at Pearl’s:

May.1.2008

Greetings,

Thanks for the many phone calls and emails of support that we have received in the past month with concern for Jazz at Pearls. I am pleased to announce that on April 23 we received an 11th hour reprieve and will remain open. We have accepted an offer from some local jazz aficionados that love Jazz at Pearls as much as I do and want to keep the club open, with the same terrific jazz and all the old familiar faces on staff, on the stage and in the audience, including myself. As soon as we go through the normal process of transfer of ownership we will announce the names of the new owners. In the meantime please enjoy a wonderful month of world class jazz that I put together at the last minute with the help and patience of many musicians. I hope you can spread the word that Jazz at Pearls is alive and well.