Articles by Harry S. Pariser
Eliza Gilkyson at The Freight and Salvage
by Harry S. Pariser
Eliza Gilkyson Freight and Salvage Berkeley, CA August 24, 2025 First to take the stage on this Sunday evening at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, California was a pooch: Nina Gerber's dog Maggie, an adopted rescue dog from Mexico. Gerber, leash in hand, followed to her rear. Gerber, a Sebastapol, California-based guitarist, first came to attention as singer-songwriter Kate Wolf 's accompanist. Maria Muldaur once called Gerber, who plays a mean slide guitar, “the ...
Continue ReadingMary Gauthier at The Freight and Salvage
by Harry S. Pariser
Mary Gauthier The Freight and Salvage Berkeley, California June 12, 2025 “A song can change a heart by creating empathy. A changed heart has the power to change a mind. And when a mind changes, a person changes. When people change, the world changes. One song, one heart, one mind, one person at a time. Songs can bring us a deeper understanding of each other and ourselves and open the heart to love.“ --Mary Gauthier, ...
Continue ReadingSan Francisco Jazz Festival 2025
by Harry S. Pariser
San Francisco Jazz Festival SFJAZZ San Francisco, CA June 13-15, 2025 For decades now, SFJAZZ has held the San Francisco Jazz Festival as a series of concerts spread over weeks. The festivities gained a permanent home when the new building opened in January 2013. This year, new Executive Artistic Director Terence Blanchard decided to try something to create a distinctive experience. So, for three days, Friday through Sunday, three venues (the large Miner Auditorium, the ...
Continue ReadingKronos Festival 2025 at SFJAZZ Center
by Harry S. Pariser
Kronos Quartet Kronos Festival 2025 SFJAZZ Center San Francisco, CA April 25-27, 2025 In August of 1973, Seattle-based violinist David Harrington listened to composer George Crumb's?Black Angels for the first time on a radio program, This initial encounter with an amplified string quartet inspired him to found Kronos Quartet. Following a move to San Francisco, Kronos struggled to gain traction before being offered a two-year residency at Mills College in Oakland. ...
Continue ReadingJohn Santos Sextet at Brava Theater
by Harry S. Pariser
John Santos Sextet Brava Theater San Francisco, CA May 2, 2025 The San Francisco Bay area is home to a small but thriving salsa and Latin jazz scene. Many of them got together on a Friday night at the Brava Theater in the Mission District to perform together with John Santos, a local musical stalwart. Santos is an internationally respected percussionist who is also an authoritative musicologist who has taught classes on Latin ...
Continue ReadingSeun Kuti and Egypt 80 at the Great American Music Hall
by Harry S. Pariser
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA April 12, 2025 Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria was a singular experience for Afrobeat star Seun Kuti. For Kuti, now 42, came of age in the Kalakuta Republic, the freewheeling commune presided over by his dad Fela Kuti, who was a force of nature --innovating the Afrobeat style, singing and composing songs, playing sax and keyboards, along with being a political and ...
Continue ReadingSona Jobarteh at the Herbst Theater
by Harry S. Pariser
Sona Jobarteh Herbst Theater 2025 SFJAZZ Season San Francisco, CAApril 4, 2025 Sona Jobarteh is quite a busy woman. In addition to leading her own band and creating her own albums, she frequently makes guest appearances on recordings, speaks as an activist before the United Nations, lectures at universities, and has organized the impressive Gambia Academy which provides education about the country's?culture, traditions and history in addition to the standard curriculum. Her ...
Continue ReadingKodo at Zellerbach Hall
by Harry S. Pariser
Kodō Zellerbach Hall Warabe: 2025 One Earth North America Tour Berkeley, CA January 25, 2025 Which musical ensemble has performed some four thousand times, spent a third of each year overseas and another third touring around Japan before returning to their home base on the island that gave birth to them, to train and rehearse? The answer is Kodō. Generally regarded as a Japanese taiko drum ensemble, Kodō is much more complex ...
Continue ReadingMeshell Ndegeocello at SFJAZZ Center
by Harry S. Pariser
Meshell Ndegeocello No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin SFJAZZ Center San Francisco, CA January 17, 2025 The works and courageous career of writer and novelist James Baldwin (August 2, 1924--December 1, 1987) had an immense impact on many people. One of them is bassist and songwriter/composer Meshell Ndegeocello, who first composed some of the tunes on her latest CD, No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin around a decade ago. ...
Continue ReadingSun Ra Arkestra at Great American Music Hall
by Harry S. Pariser
Sun Ra Arkestra Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA November 22, 23, 24, 2024 The Great American Music Hall has long served as an anchor of San Francisco's music scene. As jazz bookings here are infrequent, it was great news when the venue welcomed back the Sun Ra Arkestra for another three-night residency. Founded some seventy years ago, the Arkestra's jubilance, terrific musicianship and infectious showmanship have earned it a loyal following. The Arkestra's ...
Continue Reading
Buy Now
