Ole! Opa!: Balkan, Turkish & Spanish Songs with Flamenco Dance

This bicoastal quartet–comprised of New York-based singer Jenny Luna and Bay Area residents Bianca Rodriguez (flamenco dance), Morgan Nilsen (clarinet), and Chris Reid (guitar)–promises to bring you a fresh take on music from Turkey, Spain, and the Balkans. Ole! Opa!, formed by Bianca Rodriguez and Jenny Luna, draws from Jenny’s background in Balkan and Turkish singing and Bianca's background in flamenco dance. The group performs songs from several countries, including Turkey, Spain, Romania,...

Two of the Bay Area’s most respected saxophonists, David Boyce and Richard Howell, join drummer Sameer Gupta and bassist David Ewell for this evening-length exploration into musical improvisation. Their music reflects the continuum of jazz from a global orientation, embracing the tones and textures of Africa, India, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. Featuring: David Boyce - saxophone Richard Howell - saxophone David Ewell - bass Sameer Gupta - drumset Learn more: CD Baby EV...

Backed by a guitar/bass/violin trio, acclaimed fado singer Ramana Vieira breathes new life into the works of Portuguese fado icon Amália Rodrigues. Featuring: Ramana Vieira - vocals Brad Bivens - guitar John Clark - bass Ela Polak - violin Ramana Vieira has been described as the “new voice of Portuguese world music.” “Cabo Verde,” the opening track of her 2015 album, Fado da Vida, was nominated as “Best World Music Song” at the 2015 International Portuguese Music Awards, and her versio...

Weaving together banjo, guitar, mandolin, and bouzouki with tender vocal harmonies, nomadic folk duo Fellow Pynins tells enchanted stories both old and new of frolicking through pastures of sheep, dreams of death, and entering the chasms of the human experience. They will be sharing music from their 2016 release, Hunter & the Hunted, as well as new songs from their travels in the British Isles and Ireland. Featuring: Ian Van Ornum - vocals, mandolin, guitar Dani Aubert - vocals, banjo, bouz...

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This all-star lineup of some of the Bay Area’s best female musicians will pay tribute to the history of jazz, from old-time blues, 1930s and ’40s tangos, choros, valse-musettes, and swing to ’50s and ’60s bebop and ending with a special, contemporary approach on traditional jazz favorites. Featuring: Kally Price - vocals Gabi Cavassa - vocals Caroline Chung - upright bass Amina Michele Scott - upright bass Jenelle Roccaforte - upright bass Gaea Schell - piano Elektra Schmidt - piano R...

The Poppy invites you to join the artist and curators behind its first exhibition of 2017, The Audience. On view until April 2nd, this current body of portraits seeks to celebrate an eclectic group of people from history, pop culture, and somewhat forgotten history. Born in the glamorous city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Michelle L. Morby is a multi-media artist who has worked in both analog and digital photography, video, installation, performance, happenings, and now paintings as performance...

Guitarist Will Bernard and clarinetist/vocalist Beth Custer present an evening of original compositions and arrangements exploring blues, jazz, folk, and classical music. Featuring: Will Bernard - guitar Beth Custer - clarinet, vocals Guitarist Will Bernard is a Grammy-nominated bandleader and founding member of all-star Bay Area jazz conglomerate T.J. Kirk, as well as Galactic drummer Stanton Moore’s rollicking trio. Bernard is a virtuosic performer whose bone-deep, groove-heavy playing...

Afro-Caribbean rhythm specialist Javier Navarrette and his mighty vocal/percussion ensemble kick off the Poppy’s first show of 2017 with a musical offering to ancestors and the orishas (Afro-Cuban deities), invoking strength, health, and a community united to face challenges that may lie ahead. Featuring: Javier Navarrette Sergio Duran Katiana Vila Jessie Webber Kevin Repp plus special guests Bay Area-based percussionist/educator Javier Navarrette, who has recorded on three Grammy-no...

Zina Bozzay’s vibrant original arrangements of old Carpathian Basin village songs feature the rich melodies, funky rhythms, and colorful lyrics of traditional Hungarian folk tunes, realized by her genuine singing, the fiery fiddling of Matthew Szemela, and Misha Khalikulov's soulful cello. Featuring: Zina Bozzay - vocals Matthew Szemela - violin Misha Khalikulov - cello Trained by master singers in Hungary, Zina Bozzay has performed at the Táncháztalálkozó, Hungarian Heritage House, and...

Whether playing in loud rock clubs or more intimate spaces, Sueños boasts a remarkably adaptable repertoire that integrates hip-hop beats, gospel harmonies, acoustic bass, bebop-influenced horns, and electronics. The group writes and performs original music, as well as covers by artists such as Roy Hargrove, Christian Scott, Kanye West, and J Dilla. Featuring: Noah Frank - trumpet Eli Strauss - tenor saxophone Manny Berry - keyboard Curtis Aikens - bass Brandon Farmer - drums Learn mo...

San Francisco quartet Tango No. 9 explores the music of tango in all its myriad manifestations. Performing tragic vocal ballads, the habanera rhythms of the dance repertoire, and the tango nuevo of Astor Piazzolla, the group combines violin, piano, trombone, and vocals to capture a large sound that is both romantic and heart-breaking. Featuring: Joshua Raoul Brody - piano Catharine Clune - violin Greg Stephens - trombone Zoltan DiBartolo - vocals Since 1998, all-star Bay Area ensemble ...

Salsa, bossa nova, boleros, and Colombian cumbia meet in the dynamic Latin pop of IndiviDúo, a cross-continental collaboration between San Francisco-born songstress Tiffany Joy and Colombian songsmith Maqui Reyes. Expect an evening of infectious originals and celebrated hits in the duo’s Red Poppy debut. Featuring: Maqui Reyes - vocals, guitar, ukulele Tiffany Joy - guitar, melodica, percussion (Full Lineup TBA) After meeting in Buenos Aires back in 2010, Tiffany Joy and Maqui Reyes set...

With a sound influenced by Django Reinhardt, Edith Piaf, Roma music, jazz, and folk, Beaucoup Chapeaux returns to the Poppy for an evening of originals and reinterpretations of traditional European classics, ready to transport you through time and space. Featuring: Maggie McKaig - accordion, vocals Luke Wilson - tenor guitar, plectrum banjo, vocals Murray Campbell - violin, oboe, English horn, vocals Randy McKean - clarinet, bass clarinet, piccolo, vocals Beaucoup Chapeaux founder and ...

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 Alternative Conservatory on Thursdays, January 5, 12, 19. Hosted by FRESH artists notorious for disarming paradigms and thinking outside the box, Alternative Conservatory is a tim...

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 Crain and José Navarrete, Experimental Structures invite artists working on the edge of their form to speak ...

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[rupt]·co·theque on Monday, January 2. Hosted by FRESH artists notorious for creating unique gatherings, spectacle, noise, and revelry, the P...

Among Peter Whitehead’s many custom-made instruments are the Heart Banjo, made from a baking tin; the Lawn Lyre, made from an old lawnmower and a metal oil pan; and the Spoonharp, made from a five-gallon metal drum, a eucalyptus branch, and kitchen spoons. Whitehead’s Red Poppy debut promises to feature vocals, instruments, and sampling for an evening of richly textured soundscapes, minimalist electronics, and dry English humor. Featuring: Peter Whitehead (special guests TBA) British-bor...

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Nuyorican poet/cultural worker Sandra Garcia Rivera joins the Grammy-winning musicians and educators of Brian Andres’ Afro-Cuban Jazz Cartel for a special performance of original compositions and exciting arrangements of Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican, and U.S. classics. Featuring: Brian Andres - drum set Javier Cabanillas - congas Aaron Germain - bass Christian Tumalan - piano Sandra Garcia Rivera - spoken word Inspired by the Bay Area’s deep Latin jazz heritage, the Afro-Cuban Jazz Ca...

Three days after the first anniversary of David Bowie’s death, 30-woman vocal ensemble Conspiracy of Venus hits the Poppy for an extravaganza of beloved songs by Tom Waits, Björk, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, the Pixies, and the Thin White Duke himself, as well as original compositions by artistic director Joyce Todd McBride. Drawing inspiration from medieval chant, jazz, funk, and new music, Conspiracy of Venus aims to take vocal music into territories not often explored by more traditional ch...

Lavay Smith, best known as the sultry vocalist and bandleader of the acclaimed Red Hot Skillet Lickers, rings in the first weekend of 2017 by bringing an all-star piano/bass/trombone trio to the Poppy for a night of songs made famous by jazz icon Billie Holiday. Featuring: Jules Broussard - saxophone Danny Armstrong - trombone, vocals Chris Siebert - piano Ron Belcher - bass Lavay Smith’s vintage style and sultry vocals–influenced by Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Bessie Smith, Li...

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 and exchange. Occurring during the day on the same bi-monthly dates as sister-project, Mission Arts & Performance Project (MAPP),...

Weaving together Afro-Caribbean beats and fueled by folklore, pop, and gritty East Bay funk, Guarandinga descends on the Poppy for an infectious electronic dance party that promises to help you forget the cold, wet weather. Featuring: Rowan Jimenez - vocals, percussion Jeremy Allen - bass, vocals, cuatro, percussion Kenya Moses - percussion, vocals Chris Carter - guitar Brian Andres - drums Edgar Lavado - vocals, percussion Henry Hung - trumpet/synth Makini Duewa - dance Oakland’s ...

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, and salsa. Featuring: Héctor Lugo - congas, barril, panderos, vocals Ayla Davila - bass, vocals Sandra García Rivera - ...

Ole! Opa!: Balkan, Turkish & Spanish Songs with Flamenco Dance

The Supplicants: Powerful Collective Musical Improvisation

Ramana Vieira: The Essence of Fado

Fellow Pynins: Roots Folk Duo

Citizens Jazz Presents: Bay Area Women in Jazz

“The Audience” Artist Reception

Will Bernard & Beth Custer: Original Melodic Chamber Jazz Duets

Javier Navarrette: Afro-Cuban Tribute to Orishas and Ancestors

Zina Bozzay & Vadalma: Hungarian Songs of Grief & Merriment

Sueños: Contemporary Jazz + Hip-Hop Beats

Tango No. 9: Exploring the World of Tango

IndiviDúo: California & Colombian Pop Duo

Beaucoup Chapeaux: Sounds of an Old-World Café

FRESH Exchanges: Alternative Conservatory ft. Dance Studies Working Group

FRESH Exchanges: Alternative Conservatory ft. Tessa Wills

FRESH Exchanges: Alternative Conservatory ft. Brontez Purnell

FRESH Exchanges: Experimental Structures ft. Amelia Uzategui Bonilla & Hana Erdman

FRESH Exchanges: Experimental Structures ft. Dia Dear & Sebastian Hernandez

FRESH Exchanges: Experimental Structures ft. Chani Bockwinkel & Keisha Turner

FRESH Exchanges: Dis[rupt]·co·theque ft. Vagittarius Rising

Peter Whitehead: Handbuilt Instruments, Heartfelt Vocals

Brian Andres and the Afro-Cuban Jazz Cartel ft. Sandra Garcia Rivera: Latin Jazz Meets Spoken Word

Conspiracy of Venus: 30-Member Female Vocal Ensemble

Lavay Smith: Celebrating the Lady Day Songbook

STOOP: Sounds & Stories of the Mission

Guarandinga: Afro-Venezuelan Pop for the Dancefloor

La Mixta Criolla: Latin-Caribbean Grooves