People of all ages are invited to enter the world of jazz during the kick off pre-festival event at Midtown Village Cafe on Friday at 8 p.m. for Sacramento's fifth annual In the Flow Festival. The preview show will give audiences a taste of the types of music they can expect when attending the In the Flow Festival, which will be held May 9 to the 14th. "(The preview show is) not only for the media, but for fans to wet their appetite. We have local and Oakland based bands coming in to get people excited. It's also an opportunity to meet and greet folks who are coming to some or all of the festival," Publicist Mindy Giles said. A $6 cover charge per person at the door will give fans and m

   Last summer, I went on a road trip of epic proportions. I traveled 22,000 miles over the course of 139 days, hitting 36 states along the way.  During my trip, I went to a variety of music festivals, including some of the monsters, such as All Points West, Lollapalooza, Gathering of the Vibes and Phish 8.      My favorite of them all, though, was probably a smaller one called Camp Bisco, in Mariaville, N.Y.  Camp Bisco is put on by The Disco Biscuits, and though I really enjoyed the headliners, what set the festival apart was the smaller acts playing throughout the day and late into the night.    That weekend was my first exposure to many acts that I now love:  Dr. Dog, Brother's Pas

Oliver Lake is a renaissance man in the truest sense of the word. His singular alto saxophone playing has been heard in a myriad of settings, from the groundbreaking World Saxophone Quartet to performing with rapper Mos Def. He’s arranged music for Lou Reed and Björk, composing for the Brooklyn Philharmonic and regularly collaborates with various musicians, poets and dancers around the world. In 1967, Lake helped establish the Black Artists Group in his native St. Louis, Mo., an organization formed to create a sense of community and to set an artistic and business example for young musicians, writers and other artists that still resonates to this day, especially in Lake’s own Passin’ Thr