san francisco
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Pearl's Pasand's lounge (do these places still exist??)
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No, they don't. And Kimball's East (mercifully) either no longer exists or is no longer a Jazz club. That management long ago muffed their Jazzclub credentials, very badly....
Dirk, PM me and let me know what days you would be here, and what horns you'd wanna try. Even if you ain't gonna buy, just wanna goof around on 'em, I invite you to stop in; but contact me first so I can have some up and runnin' completely. (Website below, although it only lists about 40% of my stock). We can also talk good places to eat, walk, and hang.....
As far as Jazz clubs and venues, the headliner clubs are Yoshi's (San Francisco and Oakland). They have a website so you can see who's playing.
If you wanna sit in on an open jam sorta thing...in SF check out Madrone Lounge on Divisadero & Fell St., Sunday nights. Wil Bernard on the B3 with a really GOOD rhythm section is the anchor band and some good players drop in and out. It's the best open jam currently.
Also on Sunday at the Dogpatch Saloon, across town. That one's pretty good too, although it can vary in quality.
Club Deluxe in the Haight-Ashbury also supposedly has one, but I have never been so cannot confirm.
Rassela's, a few doors down from Yoshis SF, also supposedly has a jam, although again, I cannot confirm that.
http://sanfranciscojazzfromanewbie.blogspot.com/2010/05/jazz-jam-sessions-and-open-mics-in-san.html
Also do a search for the SF Jazz Festival. It's a weird beast. Used to be it really WAS a festival, taking place w/i a 2-week period each year. Now (sorta like the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon) it is seemingly neverending...oftentimes hobbling along with groups which can hardly be considered Jazz (Bulgarian Vocal Octet, anyone ?), but sometimes having a great slipped in there somewhere. It's a bit anti-climactic when a Festival is stretched thin all year around...I'd imagine some promoters just purchased the name a long time ago......but there are listings and there are performances....
Other shops with horns would be Best Music in Oakland (new and vintage), Union Music in SF (not a great shop, but nice guys and they have a fair amt. of horns which are overpriced and most are kinda crappy asian new ones, but some vintage in there, too), and maybe Saxology in Berkeley (actually a tech and mouthpiece refacer, but he always has some horns up and running for sale).
It is funny, like many things in SF, its reputation actually exceeds its reality. Good Jazz is spread out, not centralized and you gotta have someone point you right or you can waste a lotta time....and the same for good music shops and clubs of any musical kind. This place isn't a mecca for art and music anymore; and it has always gone to bed early, even on weekends...so, several other cities in the u.s. have long ago taken that mantle.
....it is, however, a cool and interesting place to visit.... and it's arguably the prettiest city this country has to offer (it won't be hot out, however).
Dirk, PM me and let me know what days you would be here, and what horns you'd wanna try. Even if you ain't gonna buy, just wanna goof around on 'em, I invite you to stop in; but contact me first so I can have some up and runnin' completely. (Website below, although it only lists about 40% of my stock). We can also talk good places to eat, walk, and hang.....
As far as Jazz clubs and venues, the headliner clubs are Yoshi's (San Francisco and Oakland). They have a website so you can see who's playing.
If you wanna sit in on an open jam sorta thing...in SF check out Madrone Lounge on Divisadero & Fell St., Sunday nights. Wil Bernard on the B3 with a really GOOD rhythm section is the anchor band and some good players drop in and out. It's the best open jam currently.
Also on Sunday at the Dogpatch Saloon, across town. That one's pretty good too, although it can vary in quality.
Club Deluxe in the Haight-Ashbury also supposedly has one, but I have never been so cannot confirm.
Rassela's, a few doors down from Yoshis SF, also supposedly has a jam, although again, I cannot confirm that.
http://sanfranciscojazzfromanewbie.blogspot.com/2010/05/jazz-jam-sessions-and-open-mics-in-san.html
Also do a search for the SF Jazz Festival. It's a weird beast. Used to be it really WAS a festival, taking place w/i a 2-week period each year. Now (sorta like the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon) it is seemingly neverending...oftentimes hobbling along with groups which can hardly be considered Jazz (Bulgarian Vocal Octet, anyone ?), but sometimes having a great slipped in there somewhere. It's a bit anti-climactic when a Festival is stretched thin all year around...I'd imagine some promoters just purchased the name a long time ago......but there are listings and there are performances....
Other shops with horns would be Best Music in Oakland (new and vintage), Union Music in SF (not a great shop, but nice guys and they have a fair amt. of horns which are overpriced and most are kinda crappy asian new ones, but some vintage in there, too), and maybe Saxology in Berkeley (actually a tech and mouthpiece refacer, but he always has some horns up and running for sale).
It is funny, like many things in SF, its reputation actually exceeds its reality. Good Jazz is spread out, not centralized and you gotta have someone point you right or you can waste a lotta time....and the same for good music shops and clubs of any musical kind. This place isn't a mecca for art and music anymore; and it has always gone to bed early, even on weekends...so, several other cities in the u.s. have long ago taken that mantle.
....it is, however, a cool and interesting place to visit.... and it's arguably the prettiest city this country has to offer (it won't be hot out, however).
Hi,
Thanks all for your response. I'm not looking to buy any horns when I'm there, I'm acually off to the east coast to learn how to make flute headjoints & have a few days to rest on the way over. As a tech I am keen to meet some other techs and checkout their workshops or shops & as a player am keen to check out some venue's & players.....
Thanks all for your response. I'm not looking to buy any horns when I'm there, I'm acually off to the east coast to learn how to make flute headjoints & have a few days to rest on the way over. As a tech I am keen to meet some other techs and checkout their workshops or shops & as a player am keen to check out some venue's & players.....
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Dirk,
Here are a couple of calendars of jazz happenings:
jazzwest.com
http://kcsm.org/datebook/index.php
SFJazz also has a series going on. John Santos plays on the 4th - sure to please.
Sounds like a great trip!
Tom
Here are a couple of calendars of jazz happenings:
jazzwest.com
http://kcsm.org/datebook/index.php
SFJazz also has a series going on. John Santos plays on the 4th - sure to please.
Sounds like a great trip!
Tom
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2,617 Posts
Then definitely check out Eric Drake at Saxology/Saxcraft in Berkeley (on University, within walking distance of Berkeley BART). His shop is right there behind the counter, and he has a bunch of refaced and vintage mouthpieces. His specialty is metalwork, including custom engraving (and he did a great job on dent removal for me).
JayeSF definitely has the cool selection of vintage horns, and is in SF in a good neighborhood for exploring (Inner Sunset - lots of restaurants, near Golden Gate Park, DeYoung Museum, etc.) John Santos is very good, and has Melecio Magdaluyo on sax and John Calloway on flute, but I see him playing on the 2nd, not the 4th.
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OK, FINE...nice meeting you, too.
:mrgreen:
Hehe....so you want tech shops, not horn shops.....different thang altogether around here, because there's only one Instrument Shop which has a good in-house sax tech in the immediate SF Area (that'd be Best Music...and they still keep him locked in the brick basement all day long !).
All other techs are that...techs....with their own tech shop; some with a few horns for sale, some not.
Eric is worth a visit as Artstove mentions...just because a) he's in Berkeley and you should spend a couple hours in Berkeley if you can get over there easily and b) he is a pretty reknowned mouthpiece maker/refacer and c) he's an interesting guy.
If in SF, go visit Lee Kramka at Lee's Saxworx. It's out in the avenues, almost to the ocean...but fair to say he's sorta the Guru of the area (I don't use him any longer...way too expensive and slow...but again, if you are visiting, it's worth a stop-by).
My go-to guys (Anthony and Gabe, noted in the dealer directory section) are out of the immediate tri-city area (SF/Oakland/Berkeley) and require a car to get to......
:mrgreen:
Hehe....so you want tech shops, not horn shops.....different thang altogether around here, because there's only one Instrument Shop which has a good in-house sax tech in the immediate SF Area (that'd be Best Music...and they still keep him locked in the brick basement all day long !).
All other techs are that...techs....with their own tech shop; some with a few horns for sale, some not.
Eric is worth a visit as Artstove mentions...just because a) he's in Berkeley and you should spend a couple hours in Berkeley if you can get over there easily and b) he is a pretty reknowned mouthpiece maker/refacer and c) he's an interesting guy.
If in SF, go visit Lee Kramka at Lee's Saxworx. It's out in the avenues, almost to the ocean...but fair to say he's sorta the Guru of the area (I don't use him any longer...way too expensive and slow...but again, if you are visiting, it's worth a stop-by).
My go-to guys (Anthony and Gabe, noted in the dealer directory section) are out of the immediate tri-city area (SF/Oakland/Berkeley) and require a car to get to......
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Google the Jazz Mafia guys. They are very nice and great players. They usually will let people have a shot on a tune if you introduce yourself. http://www.jazzmafia.com/ These guys are really nice and I miss jamming with them.
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Getting to Gabe doesn't require a car. Get on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) head to Fremont. Get off and walk about four blocks. Gabe's days tend to be Wednesday through Saturday. But he teaches a class during one of those days (public school music class as I recall), so check in with him at Allegro Music http://www.allegromusic.net before you show up. The BART ride is about 45 minuets long one way 8 or 10 bucks round trip from sf as I recall.
If you do... let me know I might catch up with you there.
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Good point, Fremont. It's not that bad of a BART ride from SF. I didn't realize the station was so close to the shop. It must be near City Hall, then ?
The cool thing about Gabe, besides the fact that he's good...is that his shop is the best tooled one I have ever seen. It's got decades and decades of repair tooling because the music store would basically buy stuff at the request of whoever their shop tech was. When the tech moved on, the tools remained. Gabe has said he has a slew of his own tools at home, but rarely finds the need to bring them in just because everything's already there.
So it is by far the best appointed workshop around here....
If you DO have a car, definitely pop in on Anthony Bigham as well, in Marin (over GG Bridge).
http://anthonyswoodwindcorner.com/
That basically covers the entire list of reputable Bay Area techs.....Tony, Gabe, Lee, Eric, and Best.....
The cool thing about Gabe, besides the fact that he's good...is that his shop is the best tooled one I have ever seen. It's got decades and decades of repair tooling because the music store would basically buy stuff at the request of whoever their shop tech was. When the tech moved on, the tools remained. Gabe has said he has a slew of his own tools at home, but rarely finds the need to bring them in just because everything's already there.
So it is by far the best appointed workshop around here....
If you DO have a car, definitely pop in on Anthony Bigham as well, in Marin (over GG Bridge).
http://anthonyswoodwindcorner.com/
That basically covers the entire list of reputable Bay Area techs.....Tony, Gabe, Lee, Eric, and Best.....
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holy saxophones! I just found this thread and was about to write lots but I see others already have. It's almost Too Much Info. But check local calendars, like http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/, Yoshi's calendar at http://www.yoshis.com/, SFJazzFest at http://www.sfjazz.org/concerts/2011/spring/index.php
Yoshi's SF seems to have a lot of funk in the first couple weeks of April (De La Soul, Larry Graham) but I just noticed Maceo Parker is there April 15-16. Yoshi's Oakland has Stanley Clarke, then En Vogue on the first 2 weekends in April. Check weeknights at both clubs for more jazzy artists.
SFJazzFest has Irma Thomas on March 27 - I might do that - John Santos on April 2 and Madeleine Peyroux on April 8. Later in the month they have Dr. Lonnie Smith & Barbara Dennerlein trio - that would be a gas for us organ jazz enthusiasts, later dates have Ellis Marsalis, Randy Newman, Buddy Guy. (They use the term Jazz Fest broadly.)
Yoshi's SF seems to have a lot of funk in the first couple weeks of April (De La Soul, Larry Graham) but I just noticed Maceo Parker is there April 15-16. Yoshi's Oakland has Stanley Clarke, then En Vogue on the first 2 weekends in April. Check weeknights at both clubs for more jazzy artists.
SFJazzFest has Irma Thomas on March 27 - I might do that - John Santos on April 2 and Madeleine Peyroux on April 8. Later in the month they have Dr. Lonnie Smith & Barbara Dennerlein trio - that would be a gas for us organ jazz enthusiasts, later dates have Ellis Marsalis, Randy Newman, Buddy Guy. (They use the term Jazz Fest broadly.)
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when I was in SF for a coupla weeks...i happened by a gig of a veteran alto player..he must be in his 70s now... I walked in the door,he took the horn out of his mouth(in the middle of his solo) and said,"hey man,wanna sit in"....
I felt like i was lookin at Arnie Lawrence.....for the rest of the night EVERYTHING he did reminded me of Arnie!!!
I remember seeing his records at the shops....
for the life of me,I cant remember his name.......... ring a bell anybody???
I felt like i was lookin at Arnie Lawrence.....for the rest of the night EVERYTHING he did reminded me of Arnie!!!
I remember seeing his records at the shops....
for the life of me,I cant remember his name.......... ring a bell anybody???
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