Award winning artist – Fared Shafinury – unearths and explores the world of classical Persian music. From a small sleepy beach town along the Gulf of Mexico, Shafinury’s musical sense crosses barriers with mutual cultural ease. His compositions thus move against the current, by retracing the arc from West to East. This is what makes the sound of Fared Shafinury and his Austin-based band, Tehranosaurus, stand out from his contemporaries.

Fared Shafinury: setar, vocals

Krikor Andonian on Electronics

Jason Ditzian on Clarinet,

Jason McKenzie on Tabla/Drumset

Roberto Paolo Riggio on Violin,

Michael Shiono on stand up Bass and

Kamran Thunder on Ney

“In his hands, the setar, an Eastern cousin of the guitar, and Fared’s virtuoso specialty, yearns not for a departure from Iranian form nor the emulation of Western genres, but arrival at the point where binaries and boundaries bleed and blend until they dissolve completely. ” -PBS Tehran Bureau

www.FaredShafinury.com

http://soundcloud.com/fared-shafinury/barafshan

http://soundcloud.com/fared-shafinury/skies-within-your-eyes

$12-$20 admission.  Doors at 7:30 pm.  Show at 8:00 pm.

LULACRUZA is an electronic folk duo operating at the junction of the hypermodern and the ancient. Their music weaves together hypnotic female singing, South American instruments, found sound objects, field recordings and electronic manipulation. Lulacruza is made up of Alejandra Ortiz (Colombia) and Luis Maurette (Argentina). Alejandra is an extraordinary songbird and plays the Colombian cuatro, shruti box, tar and kalimba, while Luis Maurette complements with electronic processing and sequencing, as well as percussion, charango and Amazonian flutes.

Band Members:
Luis Maurette
Alejandra Ortiz

“For Luis Maurette and Alejandra Ortiz, music is a test of the human spirit, of nature, and of ephemeral concepts of reality. Through live drumming and digitally altered hooks, the group manages to create a
sound that challenges what we expect from contemporary music.” – SF Bay Guardian

“Now that the novelty phase of Electrolatino fusion has passed and most of the faux-ethnic, cut-and-paste Snoozedelica can safely be moved to the recycle bin, a new generation of artists is finding newer,
subtler ways of merging traditional Latin American songwriting with subtly electronic production.” Phillip Sherburne – Earplug

http://communikey.us/esperando/esperando.cc/LULACRUZA_EPK/LULACRUZA%20STAGE%20PLOT%202012.jpg

http://communikey.us/esperando/esperando.cc/LULACRUZA_EPK/LULACRUZA_INPUT_LIST.pdf

lulacruza.com
music.lulacruza.com
facebook.com/lulacruza
twitter.com/lulacruza

$12 – $20 admission.  Doors at 7:30 pm.  Show at 8:00 pm.

Agapi Mou, quite simply, is a group of four musicians drawn together by their common love of Greek traditional music. They chose the name “Agapi Mou” (meaning “my love” in Greek) to symbolize the love they feel for the music and the passion with which they play it. Formed three years ago, in Berkeley, CA, and led by the young half-Japanese duo of Aya Davidson and Gregory Masaki Jenkins, the group assembles many decades worth of experience in Greek musical genres (odd, yes, but true).

Using violin, voice, clarinet, Greek lute (laouto), and percussion, the group takes you on a listening tour of the surprisingly diverse regional styles found in Greek music. Stops on the itinerary include the islands of Crete, Rhodes, Amorgos, Ikaria, Mytillini, as well as the mainland regions of Thrace, Macedonia, Epirus, and the Peloponnese. And lastly, because love and songs respect no boundaries, don’t be surprised by a cross-border stopover in Albania, Turkey, or perhaps Armenia.

Aya Davidson – violin, vocals
Greg Jenkins – clarinet, vocals
Alan Davidson – laouto
Sean Tergis – percussion

http://agapimoumusic.com
http://agapimou.bandcamp.com
http://www.youtube.com/ayagreg

Doors at 7:30pm / Show at 8:00pm. Cash only.

Internationally renowned saxophonist/composer/educator Dayna Stephens, is a force to watch out for. A fluid, vigorous soloist with a warm, soulful sound, Dayna has also proven himself a master of composition and arrangement, a highly acclaimed band leader and an “in-demand” side-man for some of Jazz’s contemporary masters, such as Kenny Barron, Idris Mohammed, Taylor Eigsti. His debut album “The Timeless Now”, released on “Contagious Music” in 2007, features Jazz legends John Scofield, Taylor Eigsti, Ben Street, Eric Harland and Nick Vayenas. The record was immediately embraced by the Jazz community and resulted in heavy radio airplay across the US. It received warm reviews from a number of magazines, including a four-star review in the Nov 2007 issue of Downbeat, and climbed to #11 on the Billboard Jazz charts, #9 on “JazzWeek” and NPR top-10 Jazz Jewels of 2007.

In recent years, he has appeared with numerous established musicians and other rising stars, including Terrance Blanchard, Geoffrey Keezer, Albert “Tootie” Heath, Matt Wilson, Oliver Lake, Roy Hargrove, Carlos Santana, Stephon Harris, Stevie Wonder, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Peter Apfelbaum, OZOmatli, Patrice Rushen, Tom Harrell, Reuben Rogers, Gregory Hutchinson, Gretchen Parlato, Josh Roseman, Ray Drummond, Winard Harper, Bobby Short, Bruce Barth, and others.

Dayna Stephens: saxophone
Jeff Marrs: drums
Jeff Denson: bass

“A Saxophone Star Ready to Go Nova” – Jerry Karp, ( SF Chronicle, SFweekly, JazzWest.com & DownBeat Magazine)

“Tenorist Stephens emerges as an artist full of composure and imagination” –  Downbeat Magazine

http://www.daynasound.com/

$12 – $15 admission.  Doors at 6:30 pm.  Show at 7:00 pm.

Described by the New York Times as ‘An Imaginative Artist’, Chilean musical sensation, Viviana Guzman, pools from her Latin roots, and performs an array of music spanning from Classical, Traditional World music and original compositions. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Viviana began her musical training at the age of 5 and performed 5 times in Carnegie Hall as the 1st prize winner of the Artists International Competition.  She has subsequently played in 119 countries including Scotland, Spain, South Africa, Thailand, Iceland, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Bali, Japan, China, etc. and on all 7 continents!  ”A Musical Virtuoso” (Noticias del Mundo).  Viviana joins forces with German bassist and composer Kai Eckhardt who has worked extensively with guitar pioneer John Mclaughlin and Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu.  For almost 3 decades Kai has appeared all over the world accompanying a broad range of top artists in Jazz and World-music.

Viviana Guzman: flute
Kai Eckhardt: bass
Osam Ezzeldin: piano
Alan Hall: drums

Viviana Guzman Group featuring Kai Eckhardt (bass), Osam Ezzeldin (piano), Alan Hall (drums)

“An Imaginative Artist” - New York Times

“A Musical Virtuoso” – Noticias del Mundo

http://www.VivianaGuzman.com
http://www.KaiZone.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN8Q5dibc38

$15-$20 admission.  Doors at 7:30 pm.  Show at 8:00 pm.