Japanese taiko drumming is an art form that combines the power and coordination of martial arts with the grace and synchronization of a corps de ballet. A multicultural and intergenerational group of LGBTQ+ people and allies committed to building community and visibility through taiko drumming, Oakland-based Queer Taiko celebrates the music’s protean power to transform […]
Possessing a sumptuous voice and supple sense of rhythm, Santa Cruz-reared, Brooklyn-based Eva Salina is a groundbreaking interpreter of Balkan Romani songs. Mentored by some of the greatest living Balkan musicians, she’s attained a deeply informed and passionately felt repertoire of Romani tunes and vintage Balkan pop songs. She earned international acclaim with 2016’s ravishing […]
Indian-American percussionist and composer Rohan Krishnamurthy has staked out fertile soil where ancient Carnatic musical forms flow into the improvisational fields of jazz. A disciple of the legendary Indian percussion maestro Sri. Guruvayur Dorai, with whom he studied in Chennai, India, Krishnamurthy has developed a hybrid kit that encompasses a jazz/funk drum set and the […]
Reflecting the experimental nature of the Bay Area music scene, Nomad Session is an unprecedented ensemble that brings together a dazzlingly diverse array of instruments. The octet includes members of every woodwind and brass family, with flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone and tuba. It’s the first time this instrumentation has been employed […]
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Oakland’s María José Montijo is a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who knows that music is a potent force for full-spectrum healing. Steeped in the percussion-driven Afro-Puerto Rican tradition known as bomba, she presents her new musical project that blends Caribbean and Latin American electronic landscapes with bomba and folk […]
The incendiary violinist and composer Tom Rigney joins forces with some of the finest musicians on the San Francisco roots music scene in Tom Rigney and Flambeau, a band known for turning unassuming gigs into ecstatic celebrations. Featuring pianist Caroline Dahl, bassist Sam Rocha, drummer Brent Rampone and veteran guitarist Anthony Paule, Flambeau specializes in […]