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Hot House Swing Band
The Fillmore Jazz Era

From the mid-1940s through the late 1950s, The Fillmore was known as the Harlem of the West, a vibrant cultural treasure that was one of the worlds leading centers for jazz music and jazz culture.

Jazz was popular in the Fillmore as early as 1930, and as the black population of San Francisco grew tenfold between 1940 and 1950, more than two dozen nightclubs with live music dotted Fillmore Street.

The nightspots and afterhours clubs of the era, such as Bop City, Plantation Club, Elsies Breakfast Nook, Havana Club, Jacks Tavern of Sutter Street, the Long Bar, the New Orleans Swing Club, the Blue Mirror and the Booker T. Washington Hotel, to name a few, put the neighborhood on the map.

In those years, Fillmores jazz clubs played host to the countrys leading jazz greats, including Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Dexter Gordon, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. Among the clubs, Jimbos Bob City gained famed nationwide for its all-night jams in the back of Jimbo Edwards waffle shop.

It was there, according to many, that Louis Armstrong went to check out Charlie Parker, the only known time these two musicians were under the same roof at the same time.

When national greats played in the Fillmore, local jazz legends who lived in and around the Fillmore often sat in, names like Saunders King, Vernon Alley, Frank Jackson, John Handy, Allen Smith, Eddie Duran, and Al Obidinski. Many of these living legends continue to play in the region and the Jazz Heritage Center plans to feature these jazz greats in its programs, including special concerts and youth programs.

San Francisco Jazz & Blues Club Dates August 2009

Amsterdam Live!
featuring Shiny Toy Guns

Thur. Aug 6th 8pm-12am
Ruby Skye
420 Mason St, (near Geary) San Francisco, CA
(415) 693-0777
http://www.rubyskye.com/
Amstel sponsored event featuring great music & free beer!

Amstel Light invites you and a guest to experience Amsterdam Live! A unique nightclub experience fusing art, live music, dance and DJs in true Amsterdam style. Enjoy complimentary Amstel Light
Performances by DJ Eric Cubeechee and Shiny Toy Guns.
RSVP: [email protected]
Invitation is good for you and 1 guest
21+ only. Must have valid ID to enter.
You must RSVP by email to attend this event
RSVP on http://going.com does not get you in.

DJ Dan & Donald Glaude
Mission Rock Cafe
2nd Sunday—August
Sun 8/9 (12PM)
817 Terry Francois Boulevard San Francisco, CA

AL MOLINA QUINTET PLAYS HORACE SILVER
with ROB ROTH AND CHARLIE McCARTHY

Every Tue, 7PM to 10PM
No cover Recession Buster: Free with Tuesdays
August 4th, 11th, 18th & 25th
7 Mile House
2800 Bayshore Blvd. (at Geneva Ave.)
Brisbane, CA
(415) 467-2343

17th Annual Burlingame Art and Jazz Festival
Sat Aug 8th—Sun Aug 9th 10AM׬PM
Downtown Burlingame
http://www.burlingamechamber.org/
The City of Burlingame once again invites the community in getting jazzed up to celebrate one of the Bay Areas best kept secrets when it comes to the art and music scene.

2nd Annual SF Filipino American Jazz Festival
Sat Aug 8th 5PM
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum
Celebrate an exciting weekend of Pinay/Pinoy Jazz as the SF Filipino American Jazz Festival presents an extraodinary lineup of artists at its 2nd annual concert.
http://www.sfpinoyjazz.com

San Jose Jazz Festival
Presented by AT&T
Friday, August 7th, 5:30 PM—Sunday, August 9th, 8:00 PM
Downtown San Jose
http://www.jazzfest.sanjosejazz.org/
From R&B, Jazz, Blues, Salsa—there's a little something for everyone.
1,000 musicians & 10 stages. $15


Dave Brubeck Quartet at the Fox Theatre
San Jose Jazz Series
Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009 | 2pm
Fox Theatre
2215 Broadway, Redwood City, CA
$37—$67
Pianist and composer Dave Brubeck is one the truly legendary figures of jazz. With the release of the platinum-selling album Time Out in 1959 (including the hits “Take Five" and “Blue Rondo la Turk"), the Dave Brubeck Quartet was catapulted to international fame.

San Francisco Performances
Neighborhoods: Nob Hill, Union Square
500 Sutter Street Suite 710 (between Mason St & Powell St)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 398-6449
www.performances.org/
SF Performances is the scene for those looking for a more interesting and intimate classical music experience than the “see and be seen" atmosphere at the more popular symphony and opera concerts. They bring in top-tier talent with varied programs—the Alexander String Quartet doing the Shostakovich string quartet cycle, Ian Bostridge singing Schubert, and a bevy of other chamber delights. Most concerts are at Herbst, a really nice venue. I've found great seats both out on the main floor and up in the balcony—it's hard to go wrong. Highly recommended. This is an easy organization to support.

SFJAZZ
Neighborhood: Financial District
Three Embarcadero Center
Lobby Level, San Francisco, CA
(415) 398-5655
www.sfjazz.org/index.asp
SFJAZZ presents a wealth of year-round programs, including the internationally acclaimed San Francisco Jazz Festival, the SFJAZZ Spring Season and numerous community outreach and education programs.

Founded in 1983 under the name of Jazz in the City, the organization adopted its new identity as SFJAZZ in late 1999, in recognition of its expansion from seasonal music presenter to year-round arts institution.

All SFJAZZ programs reflect a spirit of artistic exploration, embracing the full breadth of jazz and its related musics; emphasize thematic programming, with tributes to jazz masters and celebrations of particular musical instruments, trends or styles; and strive to instill enthusiasm for jazz among wider audiences.

Hot House Swing Band
Friday Aug 7th
The Olympic Club
Skyline Boulevard San Francisco CA
(415)404-4300
http://www.hothouseswingband.com/
The Olympic Club located in San Francisco off Interstate 280, exit John Daly Boulevard/Westlake District, near Lake Merced. The entrance is on Skyline Boulevard overlooking the Pacific Ocean.


Hot House Swing Band is a swing group that performs classic jazz. They bring to the listener the sounds of the Prohibition Years and beyond; Big Band, Dixieland, Swing, Blues, Ballads, Latin and Jazz Standards—music from the heart of the 20th century.

This San Francisco based ensemble features Bill Dekuiper—Guitar and Vocals; Phil Richardson—Violin and Vocals; Jack Schaeffer—Saxes, Clarinet and Strumbola; Jim Gammon—Trumpet and Flugelhorn; Blake Richardson—Bass; Bob Belanski- Drums; Elizabeth Hersey—Vocals and Slinkey.

Songstress Elizabeth's vocal style recalls Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole and Lee Wiley. The group's vocal harmonies bring to mind the Mills Brothers, Boswell Sisters, Andrew's Sisters, Ink Spots and the rarely heard Cats and the Fiddle. In the wise words of the Mills Brothers—Swing is the Thing!

Wayne Wallace Trombonist
Jazz Mondays on Main
Mon, 6PM
Main St. & Broadway St. Redwood City, CA
Wallace has been well-known in the jazz and R&B/funk spheres of the Bay Area for decades, not solely for performing music, but also for his talents as a composer, arranger, musical director and teacher.

The Blue Vipers
Sophia's Thai Kitchen
Thu Aug 6th 11PM
Sophia's Thai Kitchen, FREE!
129 E Street Suite E, Davis, CA
(530) 758.4333
Website: sophiasthaikitchen.com
Eastern Star Ballroom
Fri Aug 7th 9PM
Eastern Star Ballroom $7
2719 K Street, Sacramento, CA
The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn are an early jazz, swing, and blues band, composed of acoustic guitar/vocals, upright bass, homemade washboard percussion, trumpet and saxophone. Their repertoire of witty songs from 1920's and 30's is augmented by original tunes with moving yet often bawdy lyrics and catchy 4 part vocal harmony.

SALOONS

The Saloon
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
1232 Grant Avenue (between Broadway St & Fresno St)
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 989-7666
WOW... That's all I can say. I have never seen a straight up put up or shut up kinda place like this. This place is old school blues bar. Tobbacco Road has nothing on this place. The crazy thing is that the musicians are freggin good. Unpretentious. Unapologetic. What it reeks of is authenticity. Anyone reviewing this place who gives it five stars is a good person to go out on the town with.

Dogpatch Saloon
Neighborhoods: Dogpatch, Potrero Hill
2496 3rd St (between 20th St & 22nd St)
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 643-8592
The Sunday afternoon jazz jam with Vince Lateano and Andrew Speight is as good as it gets in SF/San Jose. Excellent music and great food for a $5 cover. A good crowd, older, wiser, appreciative and relaxed. They have many fine musicians from the area come and sit in with them, singers, too. This should be on the top of any Sunday list for jazz music in a good bar. Great staff, cool owner, cold Anchor on tap, fabulous chili. Put some money in the jar when it comes 'round. One of the best neighborhood bars in SF.

The Rrazz Room
Neighborhoods: Civic Center/Tenderloin, Union Square
Hotel Nikko San Francisco
222 Mason St San Francisco, CA
(866) 468-3399
www.therrazzroom.com
Contrary to popular hipster opinion, not all great art comes from suburban alienation. Nor is it always dreary. Sometimes, great art takes the form of a fabulous pianist explaining the history of 1930s theatre while singing Ira Gershwin lyrics at the top of his lungs. (I'm thinking of Mark Nadler, who performed here Sunday.) Yes, for some urban-sophisticate entertainment, come on over to this tourist-district hotel's club. The music is a blend of personal narrative, sweet singing, noir-era style and jazz. It's called cabaret music, and isn't just for smart gay men and New Yorkers any more.

Boom Boom Room
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights
1601 Fillmore St (at Geary Blvd)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 673-8000
www.boomboomblues.com
Another cute, cozy little live music venue. Inside it's built railroad-style, with booths along one wall, the bar along the other, and the stage at the far end. I love the dim lighting (which adds to the vibe of cool funkiness), and the miniature dance floor in front of the stage is classic.

Jazz Mafia
San Francisco, CA
(415) 637-3865
www.jazzmafia.com/
What Paypal Mafia is for Internet start-ups, and the Mafia Mafia is for New Jersey garbage collection, the Jazz Mafia is for our local jazz scene. You can't touch them. Jazz Mafia is a collective of musicians, bands, and events, all under the suble orchestration of local prodigy Adam Thies, who is often in the background somewhere playing bass, trombone, or some other instrument.

Biscuits & Blues Presents

Rod Piazza

Sat Aug 9th 8PM
Biscuits & Blues
401 Mason Street San Francisco, CA
(415) 292-2583
Website: http://www.biscuitsandblues.com
$22
The blues of Rod and Honey Piazza is universal. Sure, we call it Chicago blues.

Jason Ricci
Thu Aug 6th 8PM
Biscuits & Blues, $16
Blues, Rock, Funk, Jazz Fusion, Eastern, Punk, Carnival, Psychedelic, Performance Art and more

Watermelon Slim
Sun Aug 9th 8PM
Biscuits & Blues $16
Born in Boston, Mass., and raised in North Carolina, Bill “Watermelon Slim" Homans has taken his blues all over the USA, Europe, and Southeast Asia . During a career spanning over 30 years, Watermelon Slim has played with the late Henry Sunflower Vestine of Canned Heat, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, the late John Lee Hooker , and in France with Champion Jack Dupree . A fter winning 2 Blues Music Awards (BMA) in 2008 for Best Blues Album of the Year and Best Band of the Year, Slim and The Workers received 4 more BMA nominations in 2009. Thats a total of 17 nominations since 2004!

Eric Sardinas
Mon Aug 10th 8PM
Biscuits & Blues, $20
It was exposure to the likes of gospel, Motwon and R&B that eventually caused Eric to seek out the emotionally charged acoustics sounds of the Deep South. His unique sound and honest delivery are breathing life back into the lungs of a stale industry on the verge of collapse. Sardinas is both a welcome reminder of the finest unfiltered music from an era bygone, as well as, a glimpse into a future realm of infinite sonic liberty. He's a courageous trailblazer who's constant repudiating routine limits and challenging all genre inherent boundaries with his wild innovations.

Savoy Brown
Tue Aug 11th 8PM
Biscuits & Blues, $20
Legendary! One of the earliest of British blues bands, Savoy Brown (with founder guitarist and longtime member Kim Simmonds at the helm) helped launch the UK blues/rock movement that paved the way for such acts as Led Zeppelin. The music of SAVOY BROWN has never really got that far away from the blues," Simmonds says. “Today, I can still do a show that does straight traditional blues along with rock hits like “Tell Mama" and it all seems to fit. Everything that I have done with the band has had a blues stand point to it."

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