HellaCappella, the most highly anticipated a cappella concert of the year, will take place Saturday, February 4th, 2012 at 7:30pm at the ARC Pavilion on the UC Davis Campus. Hosted by UC Davis’ amazing, all-female a cappella group, The Spokes, HellaCappella is an exciting collaboration between a cappella groups of all shapes and sizes. Hailing from various northern Californian universities, this year’s dynamic lineup includes show-stopping performances by two-time champions of the International Competition of Collegiate a Cappella, The Men’s Octet from UC Berkeley, Cloud Nine from UC Santa Cruz, NBC’s The Sing Off a cappella competition finalists On the Rocks from University of Oregon, and

Low lights and a sultry combination of magenta, fuchsia and violet lighting provided the ambiance for the evening. A glance around the room showed an audience of seasoned listeners: a mature, diverse crowd of jazz enthusiasts. At center stage, donning a shimmering purple sequin dress and fishnet stockings stood the quartet's leader, Tia Fuller. The Tia Fuller Quartet starred in a four-day run at the UC Davis Mondavi Center Wednesday through Saturday, sponsored by the Capital Public Radio Studio Jazz Series. Fuller emits a raw charisma, sassiness, an uncanny edginess and outright star quality onstage. She picked up her saxophone and began to play her first set. The opener "Decisive Steps,

Tia Fuller and the Fuller Quartet are scheduled to perform at the UC Davis Mondavi Center tonight through Saturday, with daily show times at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $19 to $38. The group’s recent accolades include the chart-topping album “Decisive Steps,” ranked No. 1 and touting the nomination for best jazz album in Jazz Week. Fuller made time in her demanding schedule to speak with The SacPress to give audiences a glimpse into the heart and soul of this jazz sensation. Fuller's passion for music is literally “in her blood” — the gifted saxophonist hails from a family of musicians. She said it is this personal connection that is the source for her inspiration. She is a musician with

2nd Annual 12 Days of Midtown Midtown Sacramento is all dressed up for the holiday season with events and specials that are sure to fill visitors and residents with holiday cheer. Festivities will occur December 1st - December 12th with a variety of activities for all ages. The 2nd Annual event will feature various local businesses throughout the Midtown district. The 12 Days of Midtown kicks off with the Winter Wine & Jazz Mixer featuring the Sacramento Philharmonic on Thursday, December 1st. The full calendar of merry activities includes a Hot Toddy contests at  Santa’s Tavern (The Golden Bear), a gingerbread cookie workshop at artBEAST, Santa’s Workshop at the MARRS Building, multiple

Bob Stanley, Poet Laureate, and the Brubeck Jazz Institute have been refining Saturday, November 19 evening's, performance at California Stage (25th and R streets).  The Wonder Of This Moment, Jazz and Poetry Live featuring James Humphrey's poetry with Bob Stanley, Norma Humphrey and son, Saroyan, Eve West Bessier, Lawrence Dinkins, and Mary Zeppa.  Beginning at 7 p.m., there will be wine and food tastings, a raffle with 17 prizes, the sale of the poet's books.  It will be an intense show with music composed for nearly all the poetry.  Quoting a prominent poet, Bob Stanley, "This is going to be quite an event!"  A donation of $25  for Stanford Home for Children is requested.  Call (916) 24

Throughout his 50 years as a poet, James Humphrey (1939-2006), twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, commited himself to the one thing he could do, write about his challenging babyhood, youth and teen years to teach elementary through college-aged individuals how to overcome their abuse.  It was a rich legacy of works, both words and abstract art, "too rich to leave behind", his widow of 43 years, said.  Fellow poet, Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) wrote: "Humphrey's poems--believe them.  He's lived them.  He knows that pain and suffering bloom like eternal flowers.  He knows that trying is the one thing we have left." A retired librarian from NY, Mrs. Humphrey moved to Sacrame

The Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet will bring their award-winning sound to the Crocker Art Museum on Thursday, Oct. 20. The Quintet will perform select works inspired by the exhibition “Gardens and Grandeur: Porcelains and Paintings by Franz A. Bischoff,” on view through October 23. The concert will take place in the Museum’s Setzer Foundation Auditorium at 7 p.m. The Quintet—comprised of Alec Watson, piano; Rane Roatta, tenor sax; Malachi Whitson, drums; Tree Palmedo, trumpet; and Bill Vonderhaar, bass—is the winner of numerous DownBeat awards, including the 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011 awards for best collegiate jazz group in the country. The group has performed at the Monterey Jazz Festi

  reviewed by Robin Aurelius This shoebox theater is truly impressive for mounting a show as large and boisterous as Cabaret. The results were way beyond my expectations. From where I sat in the third row I could hear every nuance of every conversation, all the whispering anecdotes, and asides, the “sotto voce” solos, and all the dancers' backsides. This is a long, long, show, and I was never bored. Cabaret is really beyond operetta. It is a mini opera, a sardonic satire, and parody of life at the Kit Kat. Every piece of it meshes (and grates) excitingly. Connie Mockenhaupt has put a lot of pizazz in where the show needs it. The set is colorful and provocative, and very efficient for th

  On Saturday September 3, a broad, multi-genre group of area musicians will join together to present a benefit concert for Somalian refugees. “March to the Beat of One Heart” will be held at Antiquite Maison Privee, 2114 P Street in midtown Sacramento. The event runs from 5 pm-11pm and there is $10 minimum donation. The concert, in association with the Midtown Business Association and Swell Productions, will feature ten Sacramento musical acts playing for a common goal of assisting victims of the war and drought-ravaged region. 100% of the proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders, a worldwide humanitarian aid organization, and their efforts in Somalia. Guitarist and concert promoter

Interview by: Judy Raderchak First off tell the readers about yourself. (Your name, what you do where you came from etc.)  My name is Reginald Gage (Reg). I am the middle one of 6 born to Lewis and Elizabeth Gage. I was born and lived in Detroit, MI until I was 14, and then my family moved to Santa Clara, CA. I attended private academy’s all of pre-college life, Catholic Central High, in Detroit, St. Francis High, in Mountain View, CA, but convinced my father to allow me to go to the local high school my last two years of HS because I wanted to finally attend school with neighborhood friends. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend and receive my high school diploma from Emil R. Buc

Cheryl A. Lockett, originally born Cheryl Craig, speaks to Sacramento Press about working in northen California and the jazz scene in Sacramento. When did you begin CaliJazz? CaliJazz started in 2005 although I had been doing similar work since then. The name is actually an acronym for my name with the “I” for Independent Jazz. Your parents were involved in music? Tell us. I’m a proud product of a line of recording musicians called The Merced Blue Notes. The Blue Notes are music of the 50s and 60s, not many 1st generation members are still alive. The band ceased in late 60s, early 70s. Their music was re-released in 2004 by Ace Records from the UK. The music is alive and well. What has

Legendary rock band KISS walked onto stage and rocked the crowd Sunday night at Raley Field at a benefit concert for children sponsored by Hope Foundation. As if emerging from Mount Olympus, each of these rock icons entered the stage: Eric Singer, Catman; Tommy Thayer, Spaceman; Gene Simmons, The Demon and Paul Stanley, Starchild. Opening bands Miles Schon and Big Boss Graffiti set the stage for the magnificent musical journey that was to come. Almost immediately following BBG’s last song, the crowd began chanting, "WE WANT KISS! WE WANT KISS! WE WANT KISS!" Almost instantaneously after taking the stage, Paul Stanley sang out, "You said you wanted the best band, you got it- KISS!" They

(Click on above image for a lerger view) The 38th Annual Sacramento Jazz Festival and Jubilee opened Friday with its traditional parade around the streets of Old Sacramento. This year music will be played at 23 performance sites in Old Sacramento and the Convention Center area. Jubilee attendees can choose from a variety of music in addition to jazz, including blues, zydeco, rhythm & blues, western swing and afro-beat. The Jazz Festival is presented by the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of America's own musical art form. Special events throughout the Memorial Day weekend event include a swing dance contest, salute to war vet

Patrons of the arts had the chance of a lifetime on Wednesday to experience one of the greats, singer Tony Bennett. UC Davis Mondavi Center executive director Don Roth welcomed spectators, who were dressed in their best, and the blue velvet curtain rose as if revealing royalty. The show began with Antonia Bennett, a jazzy redhead who was so vibrant and whose voice was so rich, I can only expect that we will see more of Tony Bennett’s vivacious daughter in the future. Antonia began her set with “You’re a Lucky Guy,” and dedicated it to her father, standing in the wing. Following the short opening set, the four-piece band of piano, guitar, bass and trap set transitioned seamlessly to the m

Charlie Gehlbach hadn’t played his trumpet for 15 years, but after his friend took him to the Sacramento Jazz Festival & Jubilee more than a decade ago, he said he went straight home and picked it up again, inspired. This weekend, Gehlbach and the band he later formed will be playing in the festival for the 11th time. “Getting the chance to play at the festival, I’d always dreamed of that,” said the 78-year-old Auburn resident who began playing the trumpet at age 7 and now leads a band called Dr. Bach and the Jazz Practitioners.  “It’s really neat to have such a fabulous, fabulous festival here,” he said. This weekend marks the 38th year of what started as a bunch of jazz enthusiasts p

From May through September, the Crocker Art Museum’s Thursdays ‘til 9 concert series Playlist heads outdoors to the shady comfort of the E. Kendell Davis Courtyard for a full season of jazz. From Cajun and Brazilian to smooth tunes, this summer’s concerts will offer up the best of the Museum’s former Third Thursday Jazz series and new Playlist music series. Concerts will start at 6 p.m. and tickets are $6 for Museum members and $12 for nonmembers. Tickets are available for purchase online at crockerartmuseum.org, at the Museum Admission Desk, or by calling (916) 808-1182. Alfresco dining and beverage specials will be available throughout the evening, and Museum spotlight talks will be of

A five-day festival filled with music by 40 groups in five Midtown venues is about to engulf the Sacramento scene. The In the Flow Festival, an annual event going from Thursday to May 16, will be bringing out improvisational players of jazz, rock, blues, electronic, poetry/spoken word and visual art. Co-organizer and guitarist Ross Hammond, 33, addressed why it was created. Hammond said it is important to create a music event in Sacramento and bring out the unknown and/or unrecognized talents. “I knew enough people and acts, so we decided to put something cool together,” Hammond said. “It is a celebration of creative music and art. It is the music, art and poetry community just coming

“Beyond Tango,” pianist Pablo Zielger’s 17-song performance, fused the sharp sexiness of tango music with the jaunty improvisation of jazz to create an enlivened and engaging musical experience at the Mondavi Center on Friday. Zielger began performing classical music at age 14 in his hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the 1960s, Zielger’s career made the leap to jazz music. Inspired by both classical and jazz compositions, as well as classic tango rhythms, Zielger formed his Quartet for New Tango in 1990. The Mondavi Center’s 1801-seat Jackson Hall was nearly full for the performance, accommodating all ages of music lovers, from the young family to my left to the college-aged women

It proved to be a most electrifying night of Jazz at Beatnik Studios on Friday Night Featuring Todd Clouser A Love Electric with opening act Alex Jenkins Sound Immersion live in concert.  The night was filled with a flurry of influences from Hendrix, Nirvana,African tribal drums, to 70's acid/fusion jazz with just a touch of contemporary jazz on top. Opening act Alex Jenkins sound immersion began the evening with an amazing bang.  Although the quartet has a distinct 70's Acid/fusion jazz flavor, they also mix in the almost tribal african drums as well as an intricately woven brass sound combined with the bass.  The quartet features;Alex Jenkins - Percussion, Tony Passrell - Soprano & Teno

It’s been almost three years since Slumgum released its self-titled debut album, but the band members are ready and excited to let the public hear how hard they have been working since then. The jazz quartet from Los Angeles will kick off the release of its sophomore album, “Quardboard Flavored Fiber,” with a performance in Sacramento on April 18 at Luna’s Cafe and Juice Bar, 1414 16th St. According to Rory Cowal, Slumgum’s pianist, the band was drawn to Sacramento because of the city’s strong community for jazz and improvised music. The band first played in Sacramento about a year ago during a Second Saturday Art Walk. “Since then, we have been visiting Sacramento more and more and are