Bay Area on Fire This Weekend

Alfredo Rodríguez, Henry Cole and Ricky Rodríguez held court at Kuumbwa tonight. In addition to being world-class virtuosos on an individual level these three have insanely great chemistry at a level seldom heard in jazz. You can hear them in the intimate atmosphere of SF Jazz's front room every night, Thursday through Sunday.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Mayito Rivera returns to the Bay Area (at Cócomo on Saturday night) with a great band including ex-Paulito drummer Mauricio Herrera.

Click "Continue Reading" for more of Tom Ehrlich's photos from Kuumbwa.

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Monday, 21 April 2014, 07:07 PM

Two monster jazz pianists from Cuba will be in the Bay Area in the next two weeks:

Alfredo Rodríguez at Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz this Wednesday.

Jorge Luis Pacheco playing the famous Fazioli grand at Piedmont Piano Store in Oakland (where we held the Melón clinic from a few years back) on Saturday May 3rd.

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Friday, 18 April 2014, 10:04 AM

After setting up Timba Bass Corner and NYC Bulletin, bassist/writer Ian Stewart set out on a six-month cruise ship gig. He returns this week and has already submitted a review of Rafael Rosa's new CD, Portrait.

Meanwhile, I'm up to 442 pages, over 600 audio files, and almost done with the longest book of the Beyond Salsa series: Beyond Salsa Bass, Vol. 3 - Salsa, Songo and The Roots of Latin Jazz. While it has several hundred bass tumbaos, this is primarily a history book, covering the 1950-1990 period from three points of view: Puerto Rico, New York, and Cuba. More info coming. [Kevin Moore]

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Tuesday, 15 April 2014, 09:47 AM

Tom Ehrlich's 2007 Gallery - LP Percussion Bio Page - Wikipedia Bio

photo by Tom Ehrlich - Yerba Buena Gardens - 2007

We've lost one of the all-time greats. Master percussionist Armando Peraza played with Machito, Pérez Prado, Cal Tjader, Tito Puente, George Shearing, Carlos Santana and many others during his 89 years. He lived in the Bay Area for the last 40 years and in addition to being a genius, he was a wonderful guy who offered support and inspiration to everyone around him. He'll be sorely missed.