Photographs and audio samples from the debut of the Jazz Mafia Symphony No. 2 “Emperor Norton Suite” (along with other selections) live at the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco on June 26, 2011.
What an incredible free outdoor show this was! What’s not to like about so many talented local musicians coming together on such a beautiful day at such a fantastic venue? This is why I live in San Francisco, good times all around!
The last time Roy Ayers was in town, he stood on a smallish stage alongside his band of brothers in musical arms, filling the room with the energy and sound of double the troops that were camped out underneath the lights. At Central Park SummerStage, these imaginary figures were realized as actual people, about 30 or so comprising San Francisco’s Jazz Mafia Symphony, which had been commissioned to augment Ayers’ classics in celebration of his 70th birthday last year. From the position at back left on the ground’s green astro turf, the Brooklyn native was a tiny blip amongst the mass of people—full percussion, brass, string and vocal sections—but as always, he raged away, this time with a pair of red-headed vibraphone mallets.
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If a philharmonic orchestra married a big band and kept its street rap mistress in the attic, you’d have something approaching the Jazz Mafia sound. And one hell of a dysfunctional family dynamic. Playing Stern Grove this weekend, Jazz Mafia's electric blend of funk, soul, and brass will continue to defy genre with all its funky brass heart.
Best known for its hip-hop symphony Brass, Bows, and Beats, the Mission-based music collective is premiering a new piece, Emperor Norton Symphony No. 2. An eccentrically excellent fusion of sound in honor of the eccentrically excellent San Franciscan who claimed imperial sovereignty in 1859 and lived out the rest of his life being humored by local bartenders who accepted his currency, drawn with what we assume was the 19th century's answer to the crayon. Jazz Mafia will perform with guest star Chali 2na (who’s also shared the stage with Ozomatli and Jurassic 5).
California producer Amp Live teamed up with Bay Area collective Jazz Mafia to craft appropriately eerie remixes of "Yonkers", "Radicals", and "Goblin" from the much-discussed Tyler, the Creatorsolo full-length.
After many hours of work putting this together, I’m very excited to release this stellar nine-minute multimedia piece of the always amazing Realistic Orchestra performing their killin’ track SR 75 live at the Coda Lounge in San Francisco’s Mission District on February 9, 2010.
Read MoreCall Adam Theis crazy. Tell him he’s a wild-eyed dreamer, a mad man heading for a Greek-scale financial meltdown. The trombonist has heard it all before, but as the composer and driving force behind the Jazz Mafia’s epic “Brass, Bows and Beats’’ Theis is laughing last.
Read MoreYou know the rest: Stevie Wonder got up and sang two songs with the Jazz Mafia at a tiny little club in the Mission District. I mean, after Stevie Wonder sits in with your band, what else is there? Does Theis ever need to play another show in his life? “It kinda feels like that, actually,” he jokes.
Read MoreThese clips were from the second night of a sold out three-night run at Yoshi’s, which was the group’s first time playing the piece live since its world premiere at the Palace of Fine Arts earlier this Spring.
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SF Jazz showcased the premiere of Adam Theis’ Brass, Bows & Beats: A Hip Hop Symphony at the Palace of Fine Arts on Saturday, April 18, 2009. Supported by a generous “Emerging Composer” grant from the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the composition featured more than 40 of the Jazz Mafia’s incredible jazz, funk, classical, and hip hop musicians.
It was a truly remarkable event, my hat goes off to everyone involved! I was quite simply blown away by it all, and I was grateful to have been given such intimate access to document the day in photos. If you’d like to read a more detailed review of how entirely awesome it was, make sure to stop by Kirk Hamilton’s Blog for a fittingly excellent writeup.
Musicians
Adam Theis, Rita Thies, Evan Francis, Alex Budman, Sheldon Brown, Kasey Knudsen, Matt Nelson, Doug Rowan, Dave Scott, Neil Levonious, Mike Olmos, Joel Ryan, Joel Behrman, Danny Grewen, Jeanne Geiger, Jaime Dubberly, Allison Sawyer, Mads Tolling, Anthony Blea, Dina Macabee, Celia Harris, Kathy Marshall, Graeme Jennings, Elizabeth Prior, Charith Premawardana, Darcy Rindt, Jess Ivry, Robin Reynolds, Sam Bass, Jon Monahan, Matt Berkeley, Colin Hogan, Geroge Ban-Weiss, Tommy Folen, Eric Garland, Joe Bagale, Pat Korte, Matt Lucas, Aspect McCarthy, Karyn Paige, Chris McGee, Dublin, Seneca, Gedeon, and Lyrics Born. I’m sure I missed someone, sorry, but I wrote everyone I could possibly remember!
