Bringing together original compositions and creative covers of music from the Great American Songbook and the Beatles, Berklee College of Music faculty members Jason Anick and Jason Yeager’s "jazz without borders" approach to music-making features adventurous improvisations and a commitment to melody and group interplay. At their first Red Poppy show together, expect to hear songs from their recently released album, United, on Greg Osby's Inner Circle Music.
FEATURING:
Jason Anick - vi...
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The Poppy is proud to welcome back New Orleans native Michelle Jacques, who has solidified her rep as Oakland's "Queen of New Orleans Music" by stirring jazz, funk, soul, Creole, Cajun, gospel, Caribbean, African, Zydeco, rock, and Mardi Gras Indian chants into a musical gumbo that leaves audiences wanting more.
FEATURING:
Michelle Jacques - vocals
Rhonda Crane - vocals
Bryan Dyer - vocals, horn
Donna Viscuso - woodwinds
Eric Swinderman - guitar
Kevin Scott - bass
Michaelle Goerl...
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Pianist Myra Melford, bassist Lisa Mezzacappa, and saxophonists Angela Morris and Steve Adams perform original compositions and spontaneous improvisations. Ranging from melodic free jazz to energetic sonic explorations, they bring their unique chemistry to the West Coast for the first time this fall.
Featuring:
Myra Melford - piano
Angela Morris - tenor saxophone
Lisa Mezzacappa - bass
Steve Adams - saxophones
Pianist, composer, and Guggenheim fellow Myra Melford is a singular voice in...
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Acclaimed jazz vocalist Kellye Gray–renowned for her powerful voice, four-octave range, and 1990 Top 20 hit, Standards in Gray–comes to the Poppy to celebrate the release of a new album, Rendering.
Featuring:
TBA
Texas native Kellye Gray has recorded seven albums as a leader, performed nationally and internationally at world-class venues and festivals, and shared the stage with many top names in jazz and blues. A songwriter since the age of 17 and a self-taught guitarist, Gray has produc...
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Through a creative approach on some of their favorite songs from the past 40 years, Jenna & the Charmers delight in their dreamy, swinging, and sometimes rocking explorations of the songs that influenced them. Their Red Poppy debut will feature their own original compositions, as well as songs by Joni Mitchell, Squeeze, Elvis Costello, Jon Brion, the Beatles, the Finn Brothers, and others.
Featuring:
Jenna Mammina - vocals
Steve Bissinger - guitar
Ryan Lukas - bass
Jeremy Steinkoler - dru...
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Chicago-born singer/songwriter/composer Subhi's music showcases a blend of her Indian roots, pop, the jazz culture of her hometown, and everything in-between. At her first Red Poppy performance, she’ll be presenting selections from her debut album, Shaitaan Dil (“Naughty Heart”), written during her travels between Mumbai and Chicago, as well as the Indian jazz album she’s currently producing.
Featuring:
TBA
Subhi’s songs have been featured on NPR (WBEZ), WLUW 88.7 FM (Radio One Chicag...
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Joined by New York vocalist Diana Mangano, four Bay Area musical treasures convene for one night to present the music of Beth Custer and David James, and to explore spontaneous improvisations. Custer's growling bass clarinet meets James's versatile guitar, on a bed of grooves by Amendola and Glasgow.
Featuring:
Beth Custer - clarinets
David James - guitar
Scott Amendola - drums
Jordan Glasgow - keyboards
Diana Mangano - vocals
Beth Custer is an Emmy Award-winning composer, performer, ...
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Violinist/composer Colm Ó Riain and some stellar musical friends mix the soul of his native Ireland with rhythms and melodies from all over the world — jazz, blues, Roma, India, Cuba, Brazil, and more — while exploring new frontiers of sound, all with a developed sense of humor.
Featuring:
Colm Ó Riain - violin, vocals
Joe Kyle, Jr. - bass
Geoff van Lienden - guitar
Kate Brubeck - vocals
An accomplished and fiery improviser in many genres, a global musician, and a composer for film an...
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Los Angeles trio Homenaje invites special guest vocalist (and Red Poppy all-star) Dina Zarif to the stage for an evening that incorporates heavy influences of Cuban and African music along with jazz, classical, and folk. Expect to hear selections from Homenaje's new album, La Mariposa y el Mentiroso ("The Butterfly and the Liar"), which tells the story of a spirit’s journey through life, complete with joy and sadness.
Featuring:
Will Brahm - guitar
Chris Wabich - percussion
Ross Schodek - ...
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Brooklyn Raga Massive, headed by percussionist Sameer Gupta, brings together a diverse roster of artists who specialize in modern jazz, Indian classical music, and a full spectrum of other genres. At their only Poppy show in 2017, this New York-based collective will present exciting new works and concepts while featuring several special guests.
Featuring:
Jay Gandhi - bansuri
Arun Ramamurthy - violin
Neel Murgai - sitar
Michael Gam - bass
Sameer Gupta - drums
Special guests - TBA
Bro...
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Eight years of classical training at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, as well as extensive jazz studies with some of the leading teachers in the Bay Area, have given Texas-born flutist Gerald Beckett a firm command of both his instrument and the jazz idiom. His quintet makes its Red Poppy debut with selections from Beckett’s latest release, Oblivion.
Featuring:
Gerald Beckett - flute
Ruben Salcido - alto saxophone
Steve McQuarry - piano
Ollie Dudek - bass
Greg German - drums
Lear...
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Rooted in India's rich traditional musical culture and enveloped in an artful weave of jazz, rock, and funk, Wahh World Fusion Band plays original music that features contemporary music with Indian and Eastern Influences, including dynamic vocal percussion and Indian raga elements.
Featuring:
Shankh Lahiri - vocals, tabla
Peter Mongaya - guitar
Rajib Karmakar - sitar
Michael Washington - drums
Michael Gam - bass
Learn more: Website | Facebook | YouTube
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Drawing from her multi-ethnic French/Chinese/American upbringing, chanteuse/songwriter Jessica Fichot returns for a night of chanson, 1940s Shanghai jazz, and international folk. Her accordion, toy piano, and multilingual vocals will be accompanied by a fiery trio of clarinet/saxophone, upright bass, and guitar.
Featuring:
Jessica Fichot - vocals, accordion, toy piano
Adrien Prévost - guitar
Mike Bjella - clarinet, saxophone
Ippei Ichimaru - upright bass
LA-based chanteuse/songwriter J...
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San Francisco-based bandleader, record producer, concert performer, studio musician, and music educator Terrence Brewer brings his Acoustic Jazz Project to the Poppy for a night of unplugged jazz. Expect to hear selections from his 10 acclaimed albums in a special acoustic setting.
Featuring:
TBA
Award-winning guitarist Terrence Brewer, a 2016 inductee into the Pittsburg Arts and Entertainment Hall of Fame, runs his own record label, Strong Brew Music, and has performed on dozens of other...
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The Red Poppy is proud to welcome back our original resident artists, VidyA, who will present an evening of their characteristically seamless blend of Carnatic and jazz music with saxophone, bass, and drums. Having approached this music deeply for years together, the separate idioms dissolve as the group dwells and expresses in the essence itself. At this, their first show in years, expect material from the ensemble’s latest album, In the Source, as well as old favorites and new works.
Featur...
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Playing his Red Poppy debut just days before leaving for college, Joshua Tazman will be presenting two fresh new works. The first piece is the premiere of "After After Lorca: The Spicer Songs," a searing and whimsical collection of musical settings to Jack Spicer poems for voice, violin, viola, and cello. Tazman will also be performing "The Leaving Suite," a modern jazz song cycle contemplating coming of age and letting go of childhood.
Featuring:
Joshua Tazman - vocals, piano
Solomon Alber...
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World travelers Nathan Rivera and Jessie Andra Smith bring their signature blend of jazzy folk and blues to the Poppy for an evening of resonator guitars, accordion, and well-honed vocal harmonies.
Featuring:
Nathan Rivera - resonator guitar, accordion, clarinet, beatbox, vocals
Jessie Andra Smith - resonator guitar, vocals
Trevor Mulvey - upright bass
Learn more: Website
EVENT DETAILS
Time: Doors 6:30PM / Show 7:00PM
Admission: $15-20 sliding scale
Tickets will no...
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A native New Yorker of Indian origin fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and French, acclaimed composer/jazz vocalist Kavita Shah incorporates her ethnographic research on Brazilian, West African, and Indian musical traditions into her original repertoire. At her first Red Poppy show since 2014, expect to hear songs from her discography, as well as selections from her upcoming album of duets with bassist François Moutin.
Featuring:
Kavita Shah - vocals
Julian Shore - piano
François Moutin - bas...
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Southern California pianist and composer Danny Green, renowned for his beautifully articulated touch and melodically charged sensibility, arrives at the Poppy with bassist Justin Grinnell and drummer Julien Cantelm for a night of Green's latest works, as well as music from their critically acclaimed 2016 release, Altered Narratives.
Featuring:
Danny Green - piano
Justin Grinnell - bass
Julien Cantelm - drums
Learn more: Website | Facebook
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On the heels of a celebrated new album, acclaimed saxophonist/composer Michael Zilber brings in some of his favorite musicians (and some of the Bay's very best) for an evening of modern acoustic jazz steeped in the tradition of John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter but firmly in the present, too.
Featuring:
Michael Zilber - saxophones
Peter Horvath - piano
Peter Barshay - bass
Jason Lewis - drums
Bay Area-based saxophonist and composer Michael Zilber has been described by NEA Jazz Master Dav...
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Bay Area favorite Lavay Smith returns to the Poppy for a musical road trip that celebrates America's cities, states, and regions. Expect favorites like “Basin Street Blues,” “Bourbon Street Parade,” “Goin’ To Chicago Blues,” “Kansas City,” “St. Louis Blues,” and “Take The ‘A’ Train.”
Featuring:
Lavay Smith - vocals
Jules Broussard - tenor and alto saxophones
Danny Armstrong - trombone
Ron Belcher - bass
Chris Siebert - piano
Learn more: Website
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Vocalist Audrey Shimkas, heavily influenced by Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, and contemporaries such as Mary Stallings, Kenny Washington, and Madeline Eastman, brings her ensemble to the Poppy for a night of American and Brazilian jazz standards, as well as contemporary material by Blood, Sweat & Tears, Prince, Lorde, and Billy Childs.
Featuring:
Audrey Shimkas - vocals
Jason Martineau - piano
Peter Barshay - bass
Kelly Park - drums
Learn more: Website | Facebook
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New York-based singer, composer, and violinist Rini comes to the Poppy with her cadre of international musicians, who draw inspiration from Indian classical music, electronica, art rock, and jazz, presenting groovy, pulsing music.
Featuring:
Rini - vocals, violin, electronics
Aleif Hamdan - guitar
Achal Murthy - bass
Yogev Gabay - drums
Íñigo Galdeano Lasheras - saxophone, ewi
Harini “Rini” Raghavan has recorded and performed with Grammy-winning composer A.R. Rahman, headlined festi...
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Due to unforeseen circumstances, this event has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience.
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The Red Poppy is proud to present an evening of works by four masterful composer/improvisers, each of whom has developed original concepts towards creative music, informed through a lifetime of exploration and reaching beyond an array of musical traditions.
Featuring:
Hafez Modirzadeh - saxophones
Mark Dresser - bass
Diane Moser - piano
Vijay Anderson - drums
Mark Dresser is a Grammy-nominated, internationally renowned bass player, improviser, composer, and interdisciplinary collabor...
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Vocalist/composer Molly Holm, with her all-star jazz trio, makes her Red Poppy debut exploring the multicultural crossroads of improvised music through original compositions, straight-ahead and modal jazz tunes, and traditional folk songs. Molly's music, often intertwined with the elements of North Indian raga, experimental vocals, or playful free-form improvisation, also reveals the rhythmic and note-bending influences inherited from the music of the African diaspora.
Featuring:
Frank Marti...
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David James (Afrofunk Experience, Beth Custer Ensemble) brings his rhythm-horns-and-strings sextet back to the Poppy for an evening of stylistic border-crossing. This performance will feature songs from the acclaimed album Billionaire Blues, as well as new compositions and arrangements.
Featuring:
David James - guitar, voice
Beth Custer - clarinets
Alan Williams - trombone
Ela Polak - viola
Lisa Mezzacappa - bass
John Hanes - drums
GPS (Good People, Son) is a jazz-meets-chamber rock ...
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Bandleader Adam Theis and this five-piece ensemble will present a night of new original compositions and arrangements, as well as tributes to artists who have influenced them. Expect a wide dynamic range, rock and EDM rhythms, plus melodies, harmony, and phrasing more common to chamber, jazz, and music from around the world – and a hint of New Orleans second line that occasionally surfaces for a wild horn romp.
Featuring:
Max Miller-Loran - trumpet/piano
Charlie Gurke - baritone sax
Adam...
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Multistyle violinist and champion fiddler Mari Black comes to the Poppy with a spirited musical adventure featuring dance music from around the globe: Celtic, American, and Canadian fiddling, jazz, tango, klezmer, folk, original works, and more.
Featuring:
TBA
Mari Black’s energetic playing, engaging stage presence, and commitment to bringing people together through music have made her a favorite with audiences across the country and around the world. Equally at home in a wide variety of ...
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Singer/songwriter Alicyn Yaffee makes her Red Poppy debut with an evening of indie-pop sensibilities, punk, jazz guitar, and soulful vocals. Her trio includes Santana bassist/musical director Benny Rietveld, who produced her debut album, Someone Else, which features Cindy Blackman, Ronnie Foster, and Rietveld.
Featuring:
Alicyn Yaffee - guitar, vocals
Hamir Atwal - drums
Jeff Cressman - trombone
Learn more: Website | Facebook | SoundCloud | YouTube
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