A riveting artist in the midst of reinventing herself, Eritrean singer-songwriter ASTU left her life as a minister and found her calling in sensuous music. The Oakland-based R&B/soul singer identifies as a queer, gender-expansive artist and her music is a sleek vehicle for expressing her sexuality, identity and life experience. With her candid, often raw […]
A key member of some of the Bay Area’s most exciting improvisational ensembles, pianist/accordionist Rob Reich is known for keeping company with adventurous players eager to explore new sonic territory. Looking to meet the needs of the Bay Area’s thriving swing dance scene, he launched Swings Left, a band that puts its own spin on […]
Launched before the pandemic by bassist Giulio Xavier Cetto and former Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen as an improvisation-laced vehicle for exploring state-of-the-art grooves, Big Trippin has transformed into a collective utilizing some of the region’s most talented artists, including alto saxophonist John Palowitch and pianist Javier Santiago. These vibe masters specialize in getting a […]
Founded in 2018 by Rieko Kotoku, who grew up in Japan’s southwestern Tottori prefecture, and Sawako Ama, who was born and raised in a Buddhist temple in southern Japan, KOHAKU is a singular collaboration steeped in traditional Japanese performing arts such as taiko drumming, kagura (a ritual dance associated with Shinto shrines) and a variety […]
When Aki Kumar moved from Mumbai to the South Bay to work as a Silicon Valley software engineer the blues changed the course of his life, but that doesn’t mean he left his past behind. Smitten with the celebratory African-American idiom, he became a fixture in blues clubs throughout Northern California as a harmonica player […]
As his band’s name suggests, Rafael Bustamante Sarria created La Gente SF as a vehicle to bring a cosmopolitan array of grooves to the people. A longtime Bay Area resident now based in Madrid, the charismatic frontman has honed a dance-inducing Caribbean sound blending cumbia and reggae, salsa, hip hop and reggaeton. La Gente SF’s […]