Jazz Buzz - Retrospectives On Pre-Covid-19 Live Jazz Concerts

   The Venezuelan Music Project on stage at Yoshi's S. F. California April 17, 2011: Photo courtesy of Carolina Abolio. Venezuelan music thoroughly embodies and expresses the diverse cultures of the country. This diversity of music genres is woven into the musical fabric through  African, Folkloric indigenous, Spanish and Caribbean influences. As a result, Venezuelan music is energetic, vibrant, emotional and deeply rhythmic.  This kaleidoscopic array of musical colors was sumptuously ' set down'  at Yoshi's San Francisco Jazz Club on the evening of April 17, 2011 by Jackeline Rago  leading the Venezuelan Music Project.    The Venezuelan Music Project: Photo courtesy of Debra Zeller. The band is centered in the San Francisco Bay Area, and for this concert the players came from several different places: Caracas and Maracaibo Venezuela; Puerto Rico; Oakland and San Francisco. But th...

I heard him at a jazz music club named, The Keystone Korner (since closed), in a section of San Francisco known as North Beach. It was a Saturday night in the early 80's, and Dexter had not long returned to the United States from an extended self-imposed exile in Europe. The Keystone Korner was not a very fancy venue for listening to jazz music, but in a strange way, it seemed to have the right feeling and atmosphere. It was unpretentious, the seats were hard and arranged in rows, as in a church. Famous Jazz musicians making the San Francisco scene, would often perform there late on Friday and Saturday nights after their regular gigs, to support the struggling club, and keep it operating. This Saturday night Dexter was paying his dues. The crowd in the Keystone was not a large one, but most of the seats were filled . Those present were still and quiet, much like a church congregation solemnly awaiting a visiting preacher whose reputation had preceded him. They had come to bear witn...

You've almost lost the house; one of your kids has joined a gang; you just learned that your 16 yr old daughter is on drugs and pregnant; you haven't been sleeping because you're worried stiff about being laid off from your job... and you're thinking about dying ! Well before you do anything rash. Dig this! Life can really play the fool sometimes, there's no exception to this rule. So forget about giving up or crying and don't waste time calling Oprah, Ghost Busters or Dr. Phil. I'll tell you who to call. Call the tried and true Jazz Music Special Forces. I can just hear you now... jazz music special what? How can jazz music help me with this nightmare I can't seem to wake up from? Trust me, this jazz music is special because of the players in the band. That's why they're called Jazz music Special Forces . They have the talent and tools to vanquish 'the blues'. Please allow me introduce you to some of the top soldiers: There's ...

Alex is a true jazz lover who lives in a real cool place called Chico . Chico is in Northern California. It is home to the famous or infamous (however you want to look at it) Chico State University ; one of the top party universities in the world. I'm serious, and if you doubt me, ask any Playboy Magazine reader. But later for party schools..... Let's get to know Alex. He is a really cool dude. He started to listen to jazz music at about 5 years old and took to it like a duck to a pond filled with water. He especially digs Dexter Gordon , or as he calls him...' my man Dexter'. His favorite tunes by Mr. Gordon are; " Cheesecake ", " It's You or No One "," Clear the Dex " and " Tanya ". I remember the first time I played one of Dexter Gordon CDs with these music songs on it for Alex, he listened to them a couple of times and then to my amazement, I heard him singing Gordon's saxophone solos almost note for note... this at...