The 2011 In the Flow festival came to an end at Luna’s Café on Monday night after five days of enjoyable music at different venues. Jazz, rock, electronic, noise, poetry, spoken word, blues and other genres were delivered by talented musicians from May 12 to 16. On a rainy Monday evening, several bands came to share the small stage at Luna’s. The intimate setting provided great entertainment and gave it a delightful jazz club ambiance. In the Flow is the brainchild of Ross Hammond and Byron Blackburn. Performers play smaller venues such as La Raza Galeria Posada, Luna’s, Antiquité Maison Privée, Phono Select Records and the Press Club. Hammond’s grassroots approach is creative and provid

 Music flowed from Beatnik Studios on Sunday during the third annual In the Flow Jazz Festival. Musicians from all over the West Coast played, including Nels Cline. The guitarist from band Wilco played Saturday afternoon. “My friend Byron and I, we came up with doing just a festival of jazz to let local and regional artists play,” said Ross Hammond, the event’s co-founder. The festival started at the True Love Coffeehouse three years ago, and moved to its current location at 2421 17th St. last year. Hammond said the celebration has been growing steadily. “The first year was kind of more Sacramento, then we added some Bay Area stuff, and now there’s a lot of other people from up and down

Small bursts of laughter and sniffles filled a dark room, as more than 200 people watched a slide show commemorating the life of Byron Blackburn Friday night at Beatnik Studio. Blackburn, a local musician and partial-owner of Javalounge, passed away from cancer on Sept. 18 in his Sacramento home. During the memorial, bands such as The Inversions, The Alegria Quartet and Jalapeno Chocolates to name a few showcased their appreciation for Blackburn by performing in his honor. He inspired many people around the community, many of whom attended the memorial, including local painter Mark Fox. “He was such a positive person,” Fox said. “And he influenced me tremendously. He was always at all

On September 18, after more than two years of battling cancer, bassist and music enthusiast Byron Blackburn passed away. To celebrate his life and his impact on the local music and arts community, Beatnik Studios is hosting a memorial Friday, Oct. 16 from 7 p.m. - midnight. The evening will be filled with live music and art. A silent auction will raise money for the Byron Blackburn Memorial Fund. The fund will be used to create a scholarship for a student who plans on attending music school. All of the musicians performing have either played with Blackburn or are friends of his. The Inversions, RACE!!!, Nagual, Norfolk Jacket with Michelle Tsilas, The Alegria Quartet, Fo Shang! and the

The second annual In the Flow jazz festival brought music and art fans out to Broadway's hub with more than 30 bands, poetry readings and live painting. For $20, ticket holders were given wristbands that allowed entrance into all of the weekend's shows, which spanned five different venues along Broadway. For those who weren't wearing wristbands, several free performances were hosted at Records, Java Lounge and Records. The back-to-back schedules at the venues allowed for a constant stream of activity, and if ticket holders didn’t like one performance, they could walk down the street to the next one. The goal of the festival was to "showcase all of the different kinds of jazz you'll find

Sacramento jazz fans, get ready. The second annual In the Flow jazz festival starts Friday and will be invading four venues on downtown's Broadway. Last year's festival was held on the patio of True Love Coffeehouse. This weekend, Beatnik Studios, The Comedy Spot, R5 Records and Java Lounge are opening their doors for three days of live jazz performances. "Sacramento has an incredible jazz scene. We have great players with great, original ideas that span all things jazz and beyond," said Ross Hammond, the main coordinator of the festival. The idea for the festival was dreamt up during a coffee outing with Hammond, jazz musician Byron Blackburn and some of their friends. They wanted to h