Recommendation in San Francisco / San Jose area in August

[mhatta]

Hi,

I stay in San Jose from now till Aug. 28.  I'd like to visit some live shows/interesting venues if possible.  Do you have any recommendation?

Basically I love Jazz (bop, free, experimental, etc), but am interested in any other styles.

Thanks in advance.

[duaneiac]

Well, you are in San Jose in time for the annual (what used to be called the San Jose Jazz Festival, but is now labelled) Summer Fest.  Though, as the name implies, there is less jazz to be found than in years past (the headliners this year are Confunkshun, Lalah Hathaway and Kool & The Gang), there are still some worthwhile performers to be found among the 3 days next weekend.  You can find the schedule here.

The monolith in the Bay Area jazz scene is SFJazz.  Their schedule for this month is here.

You might also check Yoshi's in Oakland.

Piedmont Piano Company has concerts.

The Freight & Salvage in Berkeley.

Edited August 4, 2018 by duaneiac

[lipi]

If you want to hear some New Orleans/Chicago style jazz, Cafe Borrone in Menlo Park (about halfway between San Jose and San Francisco) has a band playing most Friday evenings about 8-10 in the summer. It's led by Clint Baker and the exact personnel varies between weeks. https://www.cafeborrone.com/  Best to call ahead to make sure they're actually playing that Friday. Clint has been playing here for more than 25 years, since he started his own band while still in high school!

For some very good gypsy jazz, Le Jazz Hot/The Hot Club of SF plays most Mondays 7-10 at Mr. Tipple's in SF. http://mrtipplessf.com/live-music/  They used to play regularly at Le Colonial, too (restaurant downstairs, jazz and bar upstairs), but I don't know whether that's still happening. I believe the management got fed up with the dancers that showed up. (Oh, right: Mr. Tipple's will have people dancing, too.)

For a more varied menu of jazz (which isn't my jam, but it sounds like it is yours!), you can check out Savanna Jazz in San Carlos, just a little North (i.e., towards SF) of Menlo Park. http://www.savannajazz.com/ It's a pretty cozy place. They used to be in SF, but moved here about two years ago.

Edited August 4, 2018 by lipi

[duaneiac]

I was remiss not to mention Cafe Stritch in San Jose, where they will be holding their annual Rahsaanathon, featuring Steve Turre, Vincent Herring and James Carter, later this month

[BFrank]

Coming this Wednesday, Aug 8 to The Chapel in SF: Peter Brötzmann / Keiji Haino Duo

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

Grab a stack of cash or a tire iron to beat your way in and head to saratoga on monday for Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss.  Was by far one of the greatest nights of music I ever experienced!!!

[mhatta]

Thank you all for your informative comments!

Sadly Willie Nelson/Alison Krauss is already sold out.  SJ Summar Fest and especially Rahsaanathon@Cafe Stritch are very interesting.  SF venues are also interesting, too.

[BFrank]

For some free neighborhood local jazz and book readings, this is a nice little shop: Bird & Beckett Books

[mhatta]

San Jose Jazz Summer Fest tuned out to be quite a fun!  Saw lots of sets -- especially Makaya McCraven, Delvon LaMarr, and Erik Jekabson stood out.

Rahsaanathon@Cafe Stritch was also very good -- James Carter!

Also, I visited Bird & Beckett Books today.   Unfortunately, I didn't have time for attending tonight's Jazz gig, but they had lots of nice books, including Jazz books.

Anywise, thanks a lot for suggestions!