This celebration of the Musical Art Quintet’s latest album, Chamber con Alma—“chamber with soul”—promises to be an evening of contemporary string quintet music with spirited improvisations and cross-cultural influences. The program includes original compositions by bandleader/bassist Sascha Jacobsen, important works by icons such as Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Tito Puente, and the world premiere […]
The word “garufa” means boisterous and festive merriment, and this Argentine/Swiss/American trio stays true to its name by playing classic and contemporary tango music. Bandoneon and guitar are rounded out by acoustic bass to create the group’s signature sound, which ranges from tango’s golden era in the 1930s and ‘40s to contemporary electro-tango. Featuring: Guillermo […]
Drawing inspiration from ’70s jazz, funk, and the rhythmic tug of post-Dilla hip-hop, Daniel Riera presents new music for flute, wind controller, and electric ensemble. The multi-instrumentalist is well known for his impressive performances on the wind controller, a digital woodwind delivering earth-shaking bass, acidic melodies, and even chords. Featuring: Daniel Riera - flute, wind […]
Rumba music originated in the Afro-Cuban neighborhoods of Havana and Matanzas as the soundtrack to community, partnered dancing and get-togethers as a means of cultural expression. Its global diaspora means rumba rhythms have found their way into other genres of music such as country, rock, and blues, and continue to impact the genres of today. […]
Composer/bandleader/bassist Seth Ford-Young leads his dream quartet on a mission to integrate the transparent textures of chamber music and the ebullient bounce of Django Reinhardt-style jazz. The group will perform pieces from their newest release, Time Memory Beauty Hope, as well as favorites from their first album, Seth Ford-Young. Featuring: Seth Ford-Young - bass Evan […]
An interdisciplinary residency program supported by the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and San Francisco Arts Commission, 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 […]
Accomplished indie rock and contemporary jazz journeymen Natalie Cressman and Mike Bono return to the Red Poppy to celebrate the release of their first collaborative album, Etchings in Amber, which captures their intimate, vibrant combination of soulful vocals and acoustic guitar. Featuring: Natalie Cressman - vocals, trombone Mike Bono - guitar Raised in an eclectic […]
Bay Area blues singer Tiffany Austin partners up with Spanish flamenco jazz pianist Alex Conde for an evening of blues, jazz, and piano flamenco exploration. Featuring: Tiffany Austin - vocals Alex Conde - piano Tiffany Austin's much-anticipated debut recording, Nothing But Soul, has received a warm reception from audiences and critics alike, including a four-star […]
The Poppy invites you to join the artists and curators behind its current exhibition, Needles in the Camel’s Eye. Acquiring its name from the opening song on Brian Eno’s debut solo album, Needles reflects artists Stephani Martinez and Jessica Tang’s needle-related experimentation with the unexpected in an exhibition laced with lyrical, literary, and rhythmic overtones. […]
Arm Sized Legging gets its signature sound both from its unusual instrumentation–woodwinds (saxophone/oboe/clarinet), cello, bass and drums–and an all-original repertoire. Using both free-form improvisation and traditional song forms as the basis of collective soloing, composer/bandleader Renzi’s music explores textures, colors, and sonorities while adding a contemporary classical touch to the mix with cello. Featuring: Matt […]
Bewitching echoes of tango’s forbidden pleasures and the lament of the solitary blues soul meet in Blue Tango Project, a collaboration between Buenos Aires-born vocalist/guitarist María Volonté and harmonica player Kevin Carrel Footer, a native Californian. Their exploration of the emotional and musical crossroads where tango and the blues embrace celebrates the deep spiritual bond […]
With music that’s equal parts flamenco, reggae, cumbia, Cuban son, and ska, LoCura happily crosses borders to bring back the goods for your soul and your dancing feet. Their Red Poppy show will feature a new lineup, new songs, and remixed classics. Featuring: Featuring: Kata Miletich - vocals Bob Sanders - guitars Melissa Cruz - […]
Music, poetry, and history converge powerfully in LOAN, a collective of artists integrating new-generation, African-American avant-garde poetry and jazz-influenced musical exploration. The quartet, founded by poet Tongo Eisen-Martin and guitarist Peck the Town Crier, aims to give musical shape to the longing for revolution by way of word and chord. Featuring: Tongo Eisen-Martin – poet […]
Anti-trafficking activist Regina Y. Evans headlines the Poppy's November professional development session with a performance and discussion on fighting sex trafficking in the Bay Area. The second-generation Oakland native will perform excerpts of her 52 Letters, a theater piece that looks at the fight against trafficking through the lens of slavery. The play, which won […]
With soaring vocals that tell dramatic tales of love, loss, and redemption, Fátima Santos breathes life into fado, Portugal’s passionate, soul-stirring version of the blues. Her repertoire, a mix of original compositions and traditional songs, showcases her command of Coimbra fado style, an operatic vocal technique seldom practiced by women. Featuring: Fátima Santos - vocals […]
The Red Poppy Art House warmly welcomes the AZA Band–with Arouna Diarra, Biko Casini, and special guest Yacuba Diarra–for an evening of traditional music from Burkina Faso. Inspired by the pulsing melodies and infectious dance grooves of the balafon, Tennessee native Biko traveled to Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso’s second-largest city, to study djembe in 2007. Five […]
Oakland's Redwood Tango Ensemble presents a set of brand new compositions as well as arrangements of contemporary tango favorites. Featuring: Charles Gorczynski - bandoneon Elyse Weakley - piano Anton Estaniel - cello Kendra Vernon - violin Mia Bella D'Augelli - violin Daniel Fabricant - double bass Dedicated to the study and performance of traditional Argentine […]
Mission Stoop Fest (STOOP) is a civil society arts experiment that transpires on the front stoops of local residences, where traditional and contemporary artists perform and where local residents share stories and histories. The front stoop represents a literal threshold between the public and private spheres and is a historic site of spontaneous community interaction […]
An interdisciplinary residency program supported by the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and San Francisco Arts Commission, 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 […]
Rumba music originated in the Afro-Cuban neighborhoods of Havana and Matanzas as the soundtrack to community, partnered dancing and get-togethers as a means of cultural expression. Its global diaspora means rumba rhythms have found their way into other genres of music such as country, rock, and blues, and continue to impact the genres of today. […]
Bay Area trio StringQuake uses unusual instrumentation–electric harp, cello, and percussion–to explore far-flung sounds inspired by Greece, India, Africa, and the Americas. With a penchant for improvisation and unexpected meters, the group boasts a wide-ranging repertoire that runs the gamut from contemplative to vigorous. Featuring: Amelia Romano - electric harp Misha Khalikulov - cello Josh […]
Hard-swinging Bay Area ensemble La Mixta Criolla returns to the Red Poppy with music rooted in the criollo culture of Puerto Rico and the Latin-Caribbean. Performing both originals and funky renditions of classic tunes, the quintet combines a variety of swinging Afro-Caribbean grooves, from plena, bomba, guaracha jíbara, seis, and aguinaldo to merengue, son, cumbia, […]
Two highly acclaimed jazz saxophonists, Patrick Wolff and Grant Stewart, light up the night with dexterous and exhilarating renderings of the classic two-tenor groups. Alongside a vibrant trio of experienced musicians, Wolff and Stewart pay tribute to the time-honored compositions of Charles Mingus, Al Cohn, Freddie Redd, and Duke Ellington, brought to life in a […]
Songstresses Nicole Stromsoe and Amber Gougis co-headline an evening of original material intermingled with old-school classics. Accompanied only by acoustic guitar and double bass, Stromsoe and Gougis aim to captivate audiences with enchanting vocals inspired by jazz, blues, R&B, and folk. Featuring: Nicole Stromsoe - vocals Amber Gougis - vocals Dorian Michael - guitar Ken […]
Producer, composer, electronic musician, and percussionist Charles Xavier performs jazz standards, as well as compositions by his former band, ’70s jazz ensemble SATORI. Join Xavier and his quartet, who specialize in “unconventional music for unconventional minds,” as they touch on jazz, new age and ambient music, and holiday classics. Featuring: Clifford Brown III - trumpet […]
Ready to forget everything you thought you knew about marching bands? Don’t miss the eight-piece Axon Orchestra’s dazzlingly electrified Red Poppy debut, which promises to use urban and rural musical styles of the Balkans and Middle East to take listeners on a post-punk, postmodern sonic journey like no other. Featuring: Miles Jay - buzuk, bass […]
Makrú’s unifying ethos is more than just talk: This pan-cultural five-piece uses Spanish and English lyrics to blend reality and fiction, and their signature mix of rumba flamenca, reggae, cumbia, and ska promises to bring everyone to the dancefloor. Featuring: Jenny Rodriguez - vocals Raúl Vargas - cajón, vocals Haluk Kecelioglu - oud, violin Bob […]
With a setlist that ranges from Bulgarian wedding tunes to hot club jazz, the Alex Hand Band mines the common ground between swing and Eastern European folk dance music–the soundtrack of Western music moving across Balkan borders and being changed by European village music. Featuring: Alex Hand - guitar Kevin Gerzevitz - keys, accordion Gabe […]
In collaboration with FRESH Festival 2017, the Red Poppy Art House is pleased to present FRESH Exchanges, free and by-donation events made to cultivate, cross-pollinate, invigorate, create access, and generate outreach within and outwith the dance, music, and performance communities. Get down, get loose, and get refreshed at the start of FRESH 2017 with Dis·co·theque […]
In collaboration with FRESH Festival 2017, the Red Poppy Art House is pleased to present FRESH Exchanges, free and by-donation events made to cultivate, cross-pollinate, invigorate, create access, and generate outreach within and outwith the dance, music, and performance communities. These interactive exchanges include Experimental Structures on Tuesdays, January 3, 10, 17. Hosted by Abby […]