Clarinetist Ben Goldberg, guitarist Ila Cantor, and drummer/percussionist Hamir Atwal present an evening of improvisations at the Red Poppy.Ben Goldberg established himself as one of the most inventive and vibrant clarinetists in jazz and improvised music in 1992 with his group New Klezmer Trio. Through his many bands and compositional projects, Goldberg has been noted for his exploration into polyphony and collective improvising. He was named #1 Rising Star Clarinetist in the Downbeat Criti...
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Pianist/composer Danny Green and his trio return to the Red Poppy to showcase their melodically charged blend of jazz, Brazilian, Latin, and classical sounds. As a rising force on the national jazz scene, Green distinguishes himself with a beautifully articulated touch and deep affinity for Brazilian music.Featuring:
Danny Green - piano
Justin Grinnell - bass
Julien Cantelm - drumsSouthern California native Danny Green has garnered a reputation in the jazz community as an emerging ar...
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On their debut, self-titled album, Opaluna, Colombian vocalist Susana Pineda and Bay Area guitarist Luis Salcedo present a fresh approach to contemporary jazz and Latin music, exploring every facet of their instruments while incorporating electronic techniques to create new textures and effects. The duo, joined at the Red Poppy by bassist Jeff Denson and drummer Zach Mondlick, melds their disparate backgrounds through a soulful intermingling of cultures, rhythms, and traditions.
Featuring:
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Patagonian singer/songwriters Fémina make a stop at the Red Poppy as a part of their first-ever tour of the United States. Commingling rap and funk with Latin genres such as cumbia, candombe, rumba, and bolero, the popular trio boasts a theatrical and potent sound that unites melodic harmonies with poetic hip-hop.Featuring:
Sofia “Toti” Trucco - vocals, guitar, ronroco
Clara "Wewi" Trucco - vocals, percussion
Clara Miglioli - vocals, guitarHailing from the small mountain town of San M...
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Synthesizing elements of jazz, flamenco, tango, and Latin American music, Trio Caminos is a new acoustic ensemble led by Venezuelan guitarist Carlos Caminos. After moving to the Bay Area, Caminos connected with bassist Sascha Jacobsen and percussionist Sage Baggott to create original compositions and play music by composers such as Astor Piazzolla and Michel Camilo. Together, Trio Caminos boasts a rich, diverse repertoire that marries Latin American music to Afro-Caribbean, Spanish, and joropo b...
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The six-piece pickPocket Ensemble returns to the Red Poppy to celebrate the release of the new album, Pepper Greenwald Presents Lounge Music for Spies. The pickPockets will play selections from the album, transporting listeners into the world of international espionage via European café music. The evening will also include remixes from the record and a set of original pickPocket tunes.Featuring:
Rick Corrigan - accordion
Yates Brown - guitar
Chloe Allen - violin
Matthew Souther - trumpet...
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With a deep musical connection they’ve nurtured since middle school, the bicoastal trio known as CHIVES specializes in a contemporary jazz sound. Sometimes playing inside themes and sometimes soaring far beyond, saxophonist/clarinetist Steven Lugerner accompanies bassist Matthew Wohl and drummer Max Jaffe in a performance that is both elastic and buoyant. Come see this trio of native San Franciscans play a special hometown show at the Red Poppy to celebrate the release of their latest album, Yea...
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Crossover Collaborative Residencies provides a framework to support the exploration of collaborative processes between artists in dance and music disciplines. Pairing six choreographer/dancers and six composer/musicians, the program follows a four-stage development from preliminary artists gatherings and orientation workshops, to early-stage “raw” presentations of works-in-progress, a middle-stage free community-engaged presentation, and a final performance/presentation.With support from the...
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The Red Poppy Art House presents a monthly Rio-style pagode de mesa featuring a revolving cast of the finest players in the Bay Area. Pagode, meaning “party,” is the small group subgenre of samba that is played in samba schools, bars, cafes and backyards of Rio de Janeiro. From cavaquinho and guitar, to vocals and percussion, the musical style includes a lively mixture of songs with active audience participation.Admission: Free, donations accepted for musicians ($5-10). Event at 1:00pm. ...
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Gautam Tejas Ganeshan’s performances reflect his love and deep knowledge of Carnatic music. His elaborate structures, extensive improvisations, and utmost sincerity distinguish him as one of the great practitioners of the form. Performed with chamber ensembles, Ganeshan’s music prioritizes authenticity over ethnicity and immediacy over nostalgia. His concerts offer listeners a rare peek into the complex song forms of a rich oral tradition.Founder and director of the Sangati Center, a non-pro...
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Fresh off the release of his debut album, Shadowbox, accordionist, pianist, and composer Rob Reich and his quintet return to the Red Poppy. Mixing improvisational romps with refined and melodic ensemble arrangements, Rob’s idiosyncratic accordion style mixes doses of wry humor and elements of spontaneous revelation that help propel the instrument’s modern renaissance.Rob Reich (photo by Eddy Joaquim) grew up in Long Island, New York, and began studying piano at the age of three. After gradua...
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Using a modern and fluid approach to improvisation, oud player Dimitris Mahlis and frame drummer Chris Wabich explore Greek, Persian, and Indian sounds that date back to antiquity. Described by Digital Jazz News as “eclectic, organic, and unplugged in the truest sense of the word,” Wahid’s newest release, Inside Silence, synthesizes their cross-cultural music into a distinctive jazz idiom.Featuring:
Dimitris Mahlis - oud
Chris Wabich - tuned frame drums
Admission: $10-20. ...
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Bay Area-based Brazilian guitarist Ricardo Peixoto returns to the Red Poppy alongside Rio de Janeiro-based guitarists Rogério Souza and Edinho Gerber (Duo Violão Brasil). Performing original compositions, as well as a traditional repertoire from composers like Pixinguinha, Baden Powell, and Tom Jobim, the trio will spend the evening exploring the many styles of 20th-century Brazilian music.Featuring:
Ricardo Peixoto, Rogerio Souza, Edinho Gerber - guitar
Guitarist/composer Ricardo ...
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Broun Fellinis present an evening of postmodern Afro-futurist jazz featuring improvisations and compositions that span their 25-year existence. Their sound, informed by the legacy of black American music, pays homage to the creative women and men who gave us this vast library of music. From field hollers to blues, jazz, funk, hip-hop, and the experimental, Broun Fellinis are part of an ongoing aesthetic cosmic continuum that the Art Ensemble of Chicago coined “Great Black Music from the Ancient ...
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Taking its name from the Southern California foothills, jazz pianist Richard Sears’ Altadena is a five-part suite that features drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath in a mostly free-form musical context, blurring the line between soloist and accompanist.Featuring:
Steven Lugerner - alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Patrick Wolff - tenor saxophone
Richard Sears - piano, compositions
Garret Lang - bass
Tootie Heath - drumsBrooklyn-based pianist Richard Sears has performed with some of the grea...
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Marcus Shelby presents Discussion 6 of Beyond the Blues: Ending the Prison Industrial Complex on Wednesday, September 21, 2016. Composer Marcus Shelby and special guests continue these interactive discussions at the Red Poppy Art House on issues about mass incarceration and combating the prison industrial complex. With a focus on dealing with police violence in our communities, this meeting will feature executive director of AFRO SOLO, poet, and activist Thomas Simpson and his presentation, "Gui...
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Steph Johnson brings her trio to the Red Poppy to celebrate the release of her new album, Music is Art, produced by Grammy Award-winner Kamau Kenyatta. Steph’s rich, fervent vocals and soothing guitar will be accompanied by double bassist Rob Thorsen and drummer Fernando Gomez for an evening of compassionate soul jazz.Featuring:
Steph Johnson - vocals, guitar
Rob Thorsen - bass
Fernando Gomez - drumsSan Diego-based Steph Johnson is a self-taught musician whose distinctive style of voc...
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Ridgeway Arts presents vocalist and composer Tammy Scheffer as a featured artist in their National/International program, which brings high-profile artists from around the globe to the Bay Area. The Brooklyn-based Scheffer joins double bassist and vocalist Jeff Denson and special guests for a night of contemporary jazz at the Red Poppy.Featuring:
Tammy Scheffer - vocals
Jeff Denson - double bass, vocals
Special guests TBATammy Scheffer has been a creative voice in NYC’s jazz circle fo...
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Ya Layl presents “Mostly Middle Eastern,” a program of Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, and other music performed by Sarah Michael, Peter Maund, and Suellen Primost. Special guest Niko Bakulich joins the trio for an eclectic evening of lively dance numbers, modal improvisations, American standards, and medieval pilgrim songs.Featuring:
Sarah Michael - kanun (Arabic zither)
Suellen Primost - cello
Peter Maund - percussion
Niko Bakulich - bass
Kanun player Sarah Michael has been studyin...
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Join Ampersan in a sonic journey through the landscapes of Mexico and Latin America. Their music brings together the feelings of peasant songs, son, and psychedelica with rock, rap, and electronica.Featuring:
Zindu Cano - jarana, acoustic guitar, vocals
Kevin García - punteador, electric guitar, vocalsSince its inception in 2007, Ampersan has rooted their sound in the traditional acoustic music of Mexico, with forays into contemporary classical music and experimentation. The duo’s comp...
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Mamadou and Vanessa perform original, poignant music from Mali. Their sound, influenced by West African rhythms and southern American blues, features the traditional 14-stringed kamele ngoni (hunter's harp) and the karinye, a traditional percussion instrument.Master kamele ngoni player Mamadou Sidibe is from the Wassoulou region of Mali, West Africa. He has toured with Malian greats Oumou Sangaré and Coumba Sidibé throughout Europe and Africa. Vanessa Sidibe, from New York, is an accomplish...
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Internationally recognized chanteuse Lavay Smith and her world-class band come to the Red Poppy to pay tribute to the great Duke Ellington. Performing popular favorites, as well as obscure gems, Lavay and her band evoke an authentic feeling of classic blues and jazz.
Featuring:
Lavay Smith - vocals
Jules Broussard - alto and tenor sax
Danny Armstrong - trombone, vocals
Chris Siebert - piano
Ron Belcher - bassLavay Smith is the vocalist and bandleader of the San Francisco-based Red ...
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Master percussionist Faisal Zedan returns to the Red Poppy Art House alongside multi-instrumentalist Gari Hegedus for an evening of music rooted in Turkish, Arab, and Greek traditions. Displaying a dynamic approach to rhythm and melody, the duo enthusiastically rejuvenates classic styles of Middle Eastern drumming.Featuring:
Gari Hegedus - Turkish and Arabic ouds, saz
Faisal Zedan - derbakki, riqq, and frame drumsBorn in Lebanon and raised in Syria, Faisal Zedan grew up impassioned wit...
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The Red Poppy Art House presents a monthly Rio-style pagode de mesa featuring a revolving cast of the finest players in the Bay Area. Pagode, meaning “party,” is the small group subgenre of samba that is played in samba schools, bars, cafes and backyards of Rio de Janeiro. From cavaquinho and guitar, to vocals and percussion, the musical style includes a lively mixture of songs with active audience participation.Admission: Free, donations accepted for musicians ($5-10). Event at 1:00pm. ...
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In celebration of a one-night reunion show at the Red Poppy, local band Taraf de Locos performs traditional folk and contemporary tunes rooted in the Balkans, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Spain, Mexico, and Colombia. The evening will mark the group’s first performance together since the end of their last tour in 2015.Featuring:
Tano Brock - saxophone, guitar, bata, vocals
Miguel Leon - cajon, bata, guira, congas, pandeiro, vocals
Mireya Leon - bass
Cecilia Peña-Govea - trumpet, guira, vo...
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The exhibit Surface: Rodney Ewing & Joyce Nojima brings together works on paper by the two Bay Area artists. Ewing and Nojima have created work offering a transmutation of tactile and visual experience across the surface of the paper. This pairing allows for exploration of the various ways in which this familiar material is treated and how the marks made upon the surface may evoke diverse readings and interpretations. The curators, Modesto Covarrubias and Monica Lundy, present these works in the...
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Bay Area-based double bassist/composer/vocalist Jeff Denson performs a CD release show with his quartet at the Red Poppy Art House for his fifth album, Concentric Circles. Steeped in the jazz tradition, Denson’s music features uncommon instrumentation and a highly individual juxtaposition of composed and improvised material.Featuring:
Jeff Denson - double bass, vocals
Paul Hanson - bassoon
Dan Zemelman - piano
Alan Hall - drum setJeff Denson has balanced a full career as an acclaimed...
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Hailing from Veracruz, México, Los Vega brings the tradition of son jarocho music and dance to the Red Poppy. The genre is rich in narrative and performed with traditional instruments such as the jarana, requinto, and the percussive rhythm of zapateado dancing. Los Vega hopes to preserve the rich history of this music and promote the culture of southern Veracruz with notable songs such as Las Poblanas, El Celoso, Zapateado, Balaju, Cascabel and the original Bamba.
Featuring:
Fredi Vega - ja...
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