Jazz at Stanford shopping Center

The San Francisco Jazz Summerfest is in full swing at the stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto every Thursday evening until August 4. This is a great free long running peninsula venue that I have neglected to report on the supports the best of our local musicians.

John Worley takes his turn this Thursday, July 21.

"A brilliant trumpet player" (Mercury News) and a composer, John Worley is a mainstay on the Bay Area jazz scene. A consummate sideman who plays everything from swing, bebop and free jazz to R&B, funk and Afro-Caribbean dance music, Worley has just debuted his first CD, Worlview.



Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers takes the stage next Thursday, July 28.

Stanford Jazz Workshop

The Stanford Jazz Workshop starts today, July 17 with Jazz Camp for ages 12-17. Registration may be closed for these 2 weeks but they are still looking for a few instruments to fill the gaps.

The Adult Jazz Residency starts July 31.

In concert with the Workshop are performances on the Stanford campus every night for the next 3 weeks. And, if things are the same as when I attended, there are jam sessions in the Rathskeller everynight till midnight, at least during the adult week. This is a great opportunity to hear, see, celebrate and participate in jazz on the peninsula.

Cetrella's, Half Moon Bay

Michael O'Neill has Jackie Ryan, Ruth Davies and Jeff Pittson with him at Cetrella's in Half Moon Bay this Saturday, July 16, 2005. Cetrella's is our upscale restaurant here in Half Moon Bay which hosts many of the top bay area jazz artists every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. This is a good opportunity to see and hear Jeff Pittson up close, a pianist with remarkable techinque.

La Pate A Son

Here you will find a another little creative musical plumbing time waster. Push the buttons, move parts around... you will figure it out.

Found on BoingBoing.

Altered Dominant and Dominant 13-flat-9 Chords

One more mention for Anton Schwartz. He is teaching a one day workshop this Sunday, July 17 at the JazzSchool in Berkeley entitled "Altered Dominant and Dominant 13-flat-9 Chords - The How, When & Why of Using Them"
from 11am-2pm.

These two chord provide rich colors that are essential to the palette of intermediate and advanced jazz players. This workshop takes a deep look at the chords and their accompanying scales, examining how each is constructed, *why* they are constructed that way, and how they may be used to maximal effect. Their sounds are contrasted within the context of jazz (e.g. when should one be used rather than the other?), listending to examples of their use. Additional topics include: different types of "outness" and lydian dominant, the "sister" of the altered sound. This workshop is appropriate for students without prior exposure to the subject, as well as students familiar with melodic minor and diminished harmony who wish to deepoen their understanding.
Prerequesite: an understanding of basic theory and the mixolydian scale.

Anton Schwartz

Anton plays a free concert in Gabrielson Park in Sausalito this Friday afternoon/evening, July 16 with Adam Schulman on piano, Tim Bulkley on drums and Joshua Thurston-Milgrom on bass.

Jazz & Blues by the Bay, Fridays from 6:30-8pm through August in Gabrielson Park, by the ferry terminal. Free. Info: 415/289-4152.

Taylor Eigsti

Anton Schwartz will host a loft concert with Taylor Eigsti on piano and Joshua Thurston-Milgrom on bass this Saturday, July 16. This is/was a private concert for the Harvard Club of San Francisco but, as of yesterday, there were a few tickets made available for non members. Order through their web site here. Also see Taylor, July 24 at the Stanford Jazz Festival.

Beast Blender

It's not music but it is improvisation. Create an infinite amount of art using a few animal parts on Beast Blender, a web site by the Minnesota Association of Rouge Taxidermists. You are not limited to creating animals as a tour through the gallery will demonstrate. This is a great place to exercise your creativity!

Spark Studios Closes

Anton Schwartz writes about the recent closing of the Spark recording studios in Emeryville.

One of the great recording studios in the Bay Area turned out its lights yesterday [May 18]. Spark (www.sparkworld.com), located in Emeryville, was a gordeous studio with resonant acoustics and an outrageous 9 foot Yamaha grand. It sold its location to Pixar. The owner, Tony Mills, will continue to do some work - mostly video and post-production, a little audio tracking - out of his home studio in Rockridge. Among the fine albums recorded there was Mark Levine's 2003 grammy-nominated recording "ISLA". I recorded there only once - my 2004 release "Holiday Time" (www.antonjazz.com/cd.html).

Tribe 25 includes Anton Schwartz

Anton Schwartz is listed as one of the 25 People to Know in the San Francisco bay area by Tribe.net, kind of a Craig's List on steroids. Here is Anton's profile on the Tribe web site. View Anton's own web site at antonjazz.com.

See the Anton Schwartz Trio with John Shifflett (bass) and Bud Spangler (drums) July 8, Friday, 7:30-9:45pm at the Agenda Lounge.