420 First Street East Sonoma, CA 95476 phone 707.996.4466

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3

 Pianist John Mackay Trio w/ Sam Bevan on Bass and Alan Uren on Drums

Jazz pianist, composer, organist John Mackay wrote his first song at 3 years old, and began piano studies at age 6. He began his professional career at age 18, playing the Hammond B-3 organ in a number of venues, including television and radio. He studied composition and arranging throughout the 70's with various well-known teachers in Toronto, (where he grew up), but fundamentally considers himself a self-taught musician, through years of listening and playing experience. He has worked with some of Canada's finest jazz musicians, including Peter Appleyard, Don Thompson, Marty Morell, Michael Stewart and many others, while simultaneously working some "commercial gigs" with various artists, including Roger Whittaker and Jim Carey. John moved to the U.S. in the 80's and spent a couple of years gigging around New York, before settling in Boston for a number of years. While there, he worked with, amongst others, Cab Calloway and Leon Marion.

John now makes his home in the Los Angeles area, where he leads an active musical life, performing, composing and teaching. He has released a number of recordings in the past few years, mostly original compositions, including jazz and sacred vocal music.

 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10

Guitarist Brian Nova

with drummer Fritz Kasten and Chris Amberger, bass

http://www.briannova.com/

Guitarist Brian Nova returns to Sonoma!  Brian Nova is one of the few Jazz artists in the world who has studied and toured with the two titans of Jazz guitar, Herb Ellis and Joe Pass. Brian has spent many years on the road, with these great men and others, developing and mastering his own unique Jazz guitar and vocal style.

But he feels one of his greater accomplishments has been the preservation and expansion of the Seattle Jazz Scene. From 1990-1996, Brian headed up the Jazz Program at Seattle University as the Director of Jazz and Guitar Studies, guiding the younger generation to understand and love Jazz as he does. He has also kept many of the local Seattle Jazz musicians busy through being a central player for booking great Jazz in the Northwest, as well as producing workshops in the area. He has also established eleven new venues which all offer live Jazz today. Brian has released four CD's and has appeared on many others as a guest artist. Through this busy schedule he still finds time to conduct clinics, give lessons, and is one of the most sought-after studio musicians in the Northwest. 

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

Guitarist Lloyd Gregory

When you think of that certain style of classic jazz guitar that is smooth, soulful, melodic, flowing and immediately likeable, you think of names like Wes Montgomery, Barney Kessel, George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Earl Klugh and Larry Carlton.  Lloyd Gregory has taken his place on that list of illustrious jazz guitarists.  On his fourth album, Free Fallin, Lloyd Gregory tips his hat to those who influenced him while carving out his own distinctive style that also includes hints of his R&B roots.

Winner of several Bay Area Top Star Awards and the Bay Area Blues Society Jazz Artist of the Year, Lloyd Gregory entertains audiences with his wealth of Jazz, blues, popular favorites and standards.

“Music is comprised of traditions, even when mixed with innovations,” Lloyd Gregory says, “so, of course, every musician is building upon sounds that came before.  I admire and respect those jazz guitarists and I learned a lot from them.  But my influences also include early soul innovators like Curtis Mayfield, many of the guitarists in the various Motown artists’ bands, and Ike Turner.  Going even further, I have been inspired by rock’n’rollers from Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley through Hendrix to Eddie Van Halen.  And on the other end of the spectrum I have been influenced by acoustic players who bridged between jazz, Latin and classical like Django Reinhardt, Bola Sete, Andres Segovia and Manitas de Playta.  Even so, I never sat down and simply learned other guitarists’ solos off their albums.  Instead, I studied and absorbed their styles in a more general sense.”

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

Vocalist Rhonda Benin Trio

Rhonda Benin – vocals, Tammy Hall – piano, and Robert Rhodes - drums

With a voice described as sweet, sultry, like caramel sweetened with honey, vocalist Rhonda Benin is enjoying a full and versatile musical career. The Los Angeles native began her career as a member of the Los Angeles based jazz trio “Sound of Soul”. The group received citywide recognition after winning the prestigious Hollywood Bowl, “Battle of the Bands”. Rhonda continued part time session singing, working as a teachers aide, while earning her degree and a teaching credential.

In 1989 after working one weekend with singer Maria Mauldar in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area, Rhonda packed up and moved to The Bay where she branched into theatre with ACT’s production of GOSPEL AT COLONUS and, The Oakland Ensemble Theatre’s MLK WE ARE THE DREAM. She also collaborated with South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela on Dimensions Dance Theatre’s production of PEOPLE OF THE ZOZO’S.

Rhonda is a founding member of Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir (CHC), an internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble performing African American roots music. The group has toured over 23 countries. In 1997 CHC was nominated for a GRAMMY for their CD, "Shakin a Tail Feather" with bluesmen Taj Mahal and Eric Bibb. In 2001, the group released The California Music Awards nominated "Say Yo Business", featuring Wilson Pickett, Richie Havens and Odetta. Rhonda also appears on the group’s recordings, "Good Time, A Good Time", "Hippity Hop" and "Front Porch Music". Rhonda has shared the stage with noted musical artists including Patti Austin, Janis Ian, The Holmes Brothers, Jackson Brown, Sweet Honey In The Rock, and international superstars, Baba Maal, James Keelaghan, Habib Koite, and Rokia Traore´

In 1995 Rhonda formed her own band called Soulful Strut. “My band has been described as a jazz band drenched in soul with a solid helping of the blues.” Recorded live at Emeryville’s Expressions New Media School, Rhonda’s first solo CD, “A Matter of the Heart”, is a classic mix of jazz, blues, and soul. Along with Rhonda’s stunning vocals, “A Matter of the Heart”, showcases Bay Area musicians, Charles McNeal, Tammy Hall, Ron Belcher, Darrell Green, Cedricke Dennis and Joey Truso. “A Matter of the Heart”, written by Benin, features a classic vocal/bass duet with veteran musician, composer and music “guru” Harley White.

In addition Rhonda is a sought after vocalist and can also be heard on recordings by Mickey Hart, Carlos Santana, Maria Mauldar, Holly Near, and Eric Bibb. Radio and television credits include, Live Aide, Real Sex, Safeway and the California Lottery. Rhonda's 2009 summer dates include SF Jazz, Yoshi's, Sonoma Jazz and Healdsburg Summer Concerts.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1

 Mad and Eddie Duran

http://madneddieduran.com/

“Palpable emotional and musical chemistry... a warm, glowing core, whether the tunes are straight-ahead standards or Afro-Cuban and Brazilian, Eddie boasts complete choral and melody-line virtuosity, and Mad, especially on tenor, elegantly reflects the influence of Stan Getz.”
      — Derk Richardson,
      San Francisco Bay Guardian
 
“Mad & Eddie Duran have been delighting audiences for more than a decade. Their extraordinary musical rapport brings a clarity, an ease, an incomparable sense of play to each note. They reinvent familiar tunes, create distinctive originals, transform swing into samba and ballads into haunting sonic journeys.”
      — Elaine Cohen-Downbeat Magazine
 
“Their taste in songs is reflected in attentive and swinging performances... And whether Eddie is soloing or comping, he is playing at the top of his game.”
      — 20th Century Guitar Magazine 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8

Vocalist Jonathan Poretz

With Lee Bloom on piano and Jeff Neighbor on bass.

Some say he was born with a microphone in his hand. That would explain why Jonathan Poretz is so comfortable performing his brand of great American jazz standards to audiences large and small. Whether appearing in an intimate club or a large outdoor venue, Jonathan brings an electric energy to any stage he’s on, a talent he’s been cultivating since his early teens, when he sang professionally in bands that featured jazz greats including Charlie Shavers, Chuck Wayne and Joe Puma in his home town of New York City.

Blending the swinging vocal stylings of Sinatra, Torme, Bennett and Darin, Jonathan is equally comfortable performing with a trio or a 17-piece big band, putting his own unique stamp on every song he sings and every story he tells through the great American standard songbook.

Jonathan has been appearing as Frank Sinatra in the “Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean (The Rat Pack)” in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boston and Memphis. He also appears regularly at various Bay Area venues, including LJ’s Martini Club, Jazz @ Shanghai 1930 and The Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay.

He is also a regular vocalist with the Harold Jones Boss Men big band, led by legendary drummer Harold Jones, the beat behind Count Basie in the ‘70s and Sarah Vaughan in the ‘80s, and currently on tour with Tony Bennett. Past appearances with the Boss Men included performances at the Russian River and Calistoga Jazz Festivals in the fall of 2004.

Jonathan can also be heard as the featured vocalist for the Starduster Orchestra big band and the Joe Agro Sextet, performing swinging standards at public venues, such as the Sausalito Arts Fair, the Caledonia Street Fair and Jazz and Blues by the Bay in Sausalito as well as various private events in the Bay Area.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15

Pianist Eric Muhler 

Bay Area Jazz has a New Sound!

Eric Muhler and his San Francisco Bay Area based trio have been making new friends, new jazz fans,

and lasting impressions everywhere they appear. Eric’s fourth CD on Slow Turn Records, Something

New, is selling well in the USA and Japan and getting excellent reviews from his peers and jazz

critics as well as the music lovers who have heard and bought it. Eric’s original compositions and

playing virtuosity manage that most delicate and difficult of all balancing acts. It is serious music;

intense, driving, complex, and multi-layered, yet  accessible to a wide and varied audience.

“ As a musician, Muhler has a very open harmonic sense, impressionist with lots of chromatic runs, but tinted with blue notes. At times his work is reminiscent of Jarrett in his rhythmic sense, with a wilder chromatic palette...

Muhler is up to the beauty of the instrument he is playing.” — Phillip McNally, Cadence Magazine

“Inventive and Swingin’!” — Eddie Marshall, Drum Great & Living Jazz Treasure of San Francisco

“ Muhler’s Spring Song was filled with all the hope and colors of that season.” — Bay Guardian

“ Pianist Muhler roams the keyboard demonstrating remarkable technique.” — Phil Elwood, SF Examiner

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22

Guitarist Will Sellenraad with Sonoma’s Bassist Andrew Emer

Will Sellenraad Guitar with  Andrew Emer on bass and Greg Wyser -Pratt drums

Hailed as a “hidden gem,” guitarist/composer Will Sellenraad has earned a fast growing reputation of being at the forefront of a new generation of jazz musicians. Known for his brilliant improvisations and his compelling, emotive compositions, this New York City native melds the various styles, phrasings and concepts of the jazz idiom with the raw elements of soul, rock and funk, to create a singular sound that is nothing short of inspiring.

“ . . . you will definitely be hearing more from Will Sellenraad” – Kenny Barron

The son of prominent New York artists, Johan and Ellen Sellenraad (who named their son after Willem de Kooning and Piet Mondrian), was destined towards music at an early age. Raised and immersed in the City's downtown art and music culture, Sellenraad was able to focus all his energies and talent toward the guitar. After being awarded numerous scholarships, Sellenraad graduated from the New School University Jazz Program, where he studied under many jazz giants including John Abercrombie, Garry Dial, Jim Hall and Reggie Workman.

In the mid-1990's, the guitarist landed the house gig at Visiones, one of New York's finest jazz clubs. Over several years of performances at the club Sellenraad developed a great musical kinship with fellow native New Yorker, drummer Eric McPherson and first-call bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa. This great musical rapport led to the 1998 recording of his critically acclaimed debut album, Streams, which features a special appearance by Blue Note recording artist James Hurt.

“This disc was my introduction to Will Sellenraad; it would be nice to hear a lot more from him." – JazzTimes (on Star Hustler)

In 2002, Mr. Sellenraad recorded Star Hustler with his band Root Down, featuring Brian Charette on organ and Darren Beckett, of Ambulance Ltd., on drums. This album, which embraces the spirit of the great organ trios of the 1960s, creates compositions that legendary drummer Victor Lewis has hailed as “fresh… and taken with spontaneity.” Incorporating elements of soul jazz through to the Meters, Soulive and beyond, Star Hustler is truly music for all audiences.

A recipient of several grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, Sellenraad is a mainstay on the music scene in and around New York City, regularly appearing at storied jazz venues such as The 55 Bar, Smalls, The Blue Note, Birdland, the former Bradley's, The Iridium, the former Sweet Basil and many others. As a band leader, he has also performed at the Panasonic Village and JVC Jazz Festivals in New York and the Discover Jazz Festival in Burlington, Vermont.

“ . . . sophisticated harmonic thinking and a modern approach…As a guitarist, Sellenraad has an abundance of technique . . . there is an absence of grandstanding, and one always hears music first.” – Jazz Improv Magazine

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29

Vocalist Dana Land – Halloween Bash with Costume contest

"Dana's voice sounds somewhere between Ella's and Doris Day's--sweet but very jazzy and sexy. Her rhythm is impeccable, and her ability to command an orchestra--by really hearing and respecting them--is wonderful. What Land has as a singer is total professionalism, perfect pitch and pizzazz."

Ron Singer - The Sonoma Valley Sun

Dana has the pleasure of being supported by some of the finest musicians in the Bay Area as she interprets and puts her own sense of style into the compositions from many of the greats including Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Nat King Cole, Dave Frishberg, Chick Corea, Mose Allison, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles and Harold Arlen, to name just a few.

In addition to her jazz career, Dana also produces 'Kids Perform for Kids' Sake', a

variety show put on by the talented youth of Sonoma for the benefit of local children in need. Dana is also the director of Sonoma's Teen Jam Jazz Camp-'08,'09,'10. She is a board member of The Sonoma Valley Jazz Society, which supports and promotes jazz by producing free concerts for the public, and is also on the board of the Education sub-committee for Sonoma Jazz Plus. Currently, Dana's band, Sonoma Jazz Five, is taking their engaging jazz assemblies into Bay Area schools with the purpose of educating and inspiring the youth with one of America's most important art forms. Her next album is under way...collaboration with a number of terrific musicians including Larry Vuckovich, Akira Tana, John Wiitala, Chris Amberger, Jonathan Alford, John Hoy, The Honolulu Jazz Quartet and Trumpeter Scotty Barnhart.

 THE PLAZA BISTRO

Situated in an 1859 landmark building with a long colorful history,  the Plaza Bistro offers a relaxing bistro style ambience, delectable wine country cuisine, including daily specials, fine wines and an indisputable social atmosphere.

What could be finer on a Friday evening than live jazz "On The Plaza"?  

The Plaza Bistro offers relaxed atmosphere, a complete dinner menu if you so desire and a full bar for your favorite adult beverage.

The SVJS had teamed up with the folks at The Plaza Bistro to present live jazz Friday evenings, 7 to 10 pm.

 No cover  

 Join us at The Plaza Bistro for the best live entertainment in town: America's one true art form, JAZZ!

Why not join the SVJS and support live jazz in Sonoma?