Times change and trends come and go, but -- like a 1961 Jaguar XK-E -- the classic sounds of the past only appreciate with age. Postmodern Jukebox's Life In The Past Lane Concert Tour is a celebration of the greatest 20th century musical genres, fused with the recognizable hits of our own modern era, for the perfect patina of "vintage" and "modern." As always, we'll be bringing the PMJ Universe to life with a cast full of today's most exciting vocalists, instrumentalists, and tap dancers, to bring you the top-shelf entertainment experience for which PMJ is known. Whether you're a vinyl aficionado or a TikTok fashionista, catch a ride with us for an unforgettable trip through 100 years of timeless music. More info: https://postmodernjukebox.com/faq/

The Mantra of the Friends? “Go put a smile on somebody’s face, go tell somebody they’ve got a place in this world, go tell somebody you wanna be friends with them.” For as much as Sammy Rae & The Friends may be a band, this collective of dreamers and artists considers themselves a family first. Fronted by singer and songwriter Sammy Rae, the group flourishes in any spotlight with a combination of all-for-one and one-for-all camaraderie, palpable chemistry, deft virtuosity, and vocal fireworks. Their sound is a mélange of Sammy’s influences, rooted in classic rock, folk, and funk and sprinkled with soul and jazz. Complete with a rhythm section, two saxophones, keyboards, and plenty of percussion, Sammy Rae & The Friends have delivered their high-energy, spirited and unrestrained shows to sold-out audiences around the US and Europe. Their newest single, “Closer To You,” arrives just as Sammy Rae & The Friends gear up for gigs this summer at SummerStage NYC and Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, with a world tour scheduled for Fall 2023.

After over a decade of relentless touring and recording in all but complete obscurity, the Texas-bred quasi-collective suddenly found itself held up by the press and public as one of the major figures in the jazz world. But as the category names for all five of the band’s Grammy® awards would indicate (Best R&B Performance in 2014, Best Contemporary Instrumental Album in 2016, 2017, 2021, and 2023), Snarky Puppy isn’t exactly a jazz band. It’s not a fusion band, and it’s definitely not a jam band. It’s probably best to take Nate Chinen of the New York Times’ advice, as stated in an online discussion about the group, to “take them for what they are, rather than judge them for what they’re not.” Snarky Puppy is a collective of sorts with as many as 20 members in regular rotation. At its core, the band represents the convergence of both black and white American music culture with various accents from around the world. Japan, Argentina, Canada and the United Kingdom all have representation in the group’s membership. But more than the cultural diversity of the individual players, the defining characteristic of Snarky Puppy’s music is the joy of performing together in the perpetual push to grow creatively. Their latest Grammy® winning album – Empire Central – was released in September 2022. Its sound is big and bold, chill and laid back, rooted in its native culture while reaching outward, forward bound. With 16 new compositions, the group looks fondly at where it’s come from, confident in the polished power from which its members continue to build the unique Snarky Puppy sound. The sound now rises like a skyscraper from a 21st century orchestra comprising three guitarists, four keyboardists, two brass, two reeds, a violinist, multiple percussionists and drummers and the accomplished, yet modest, Michael League keeping it all together with his bass. “Our soundscape has expanded dramatically over the years” says League. “When the band started, we were jazzier, brainy and music oriented. Moving into the Dallas scene we became groovier, more emotional, deeper in a sense. We focused more on communicating a clear message, understandable to a listener without dumbing things down”. “Snarky Puppy has always been a band that prioritizes the sound of music” says League. “On this record the songs ended up being a lot more direct and funkier than those on our previous records. I think it reflects the many moods of the city’s scene”. “Our rule is that it can’t sound like it sounded before” he continues, “the music has to feel like it’s moving somewhere” And moving somewhere it most definitely is. Empire Central shouts from the rooftops how far Snarky Puppy have come since ten friends got together at the University of North Texas in 2004. It also raises the question – where will Snarky Puppy go next? For Snarky Puppy fans, the answer to this question is a very exciting prospect.

With film credits including “Jurassic Park,” “Independence Day,” “The Fly,” “The Big Chill,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” and “Thor: Ragnarok;” theatre performances including “The Pillowman,” “Speed the Plow” and “Domesticated;” and television show “The World According to Jeff Goldblum”, television appearances including “Portlandia” “Inside Amy Schumer” and “Will & Grace,” Jeff Goldblum also plays jazz with his band, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. Whether performing regularly in Los Angeles, or elsewhere, Goldblum will take your questions, ask you trivia questions, and play classic jazz. This performance will feature Goldblum on piano, John Storie on guitar, Alex Frank on bass, Joe Bagg on organ, James King and Scott Gilman on saxophones and Kenny Elliott on drums. Jeff and the band have a new album coming out on March 24, 2023 on Decca Records. This will be the band’s 3rdrecord, all on Decca.

This presentation is a preview workshop for its upcoming Fall premiere. Buffalo Soldiers in the Philippine American War: A Crisis of Conscience deals in an artistic fashion, the dilemma African American soldiers had over the American military's treatment of native Filipinos, which in some ways was historically similar to their treatment by white society in the U.S. John Calloway has been a mainstay in the Bay Area jazz, Latin and world music scene for more than 45 years, performing with and arranging music for with such renowned musicians as John Santos, Marcus Shelby, Israel "Cachao" Lopez. John has also collaborated in multimedia projects in theater, film, and television, including a collaboration with Carlos Baron in "Son de la Mision," scoring music for the HBO film "Hemingway and Gelhorn," and winning an EMMY in 2019 with his composition "No Hay Nada Mas SF" for SFG Productions. He is also the long time director for two preeminent ensemble in the Bay Area, the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble of San Francisco, and the Afro Cuban Ensemble of San Francisco State University.

Spanish virtuoso pianist Alex Conde presents ''jazz and flamenco'', a solo piano concert full of energy and sensitivity. A repertory of original compositions and arrangements of T Monk and B. Powell music in Latin Jazz Clave. Alex Conde's albums "Descarga for Monk" and "Descarga for Bud" have been praised by the international press including positive reviews in Downbeat Magazine and JazzTime among many others. Both albums feature Jeff Chambers on bass and John Santos on percussion. There will be an onstage conversation with the artist following this performance. El virtuoso pianista español Alex Conde presenta un concierto de piano solo de ''jazz y flamenco'' lleno de energía y sensibilidad. Un repertorio de composiciones originales y arreglos de música de T Monk y B. Powell en Latin Jazz Clave. Sus discos "Descarga for Monk" y "Descarga for Bud" han sido valorados por la prensa internacional como Downbeat Magazine o JazzTime entre muchos otros. Álbumes que cuentan con Jeff Chambers en el contrabajo y John Santos en la percusión. Alex Conde is a foremost exponent of piano flamenco and jazz fusion. Born in Spain, he graduated from the Jose Iturbi Conservatory, then at Berklee and in 2016 received his masters in jazz at CUNY, in New York. After spending 15 years in the USA, he has performed in venues such as Blue Note NY, Kimmel Center Philadelphia, San Jose Jazz Festival or Beantown Jazz Festival among many others. Mr Conde has written music for the Oakland Youth Orchestra and Miami Chamber Orchestra among others. A virtuoso pianist with roots in flamenco, latin and jazz music.

Las Almas returning to SFIAF followed by the east coast tour to present contemporary tango music that will open your mind and break your stereotype of "Tango" music. Heyni & Sumi’s program is a reflection of their diverse musical backgrounds, and the tango journey they have taken together. The duo with guest artists Basma Edrees (Violin) & Teresa Tam (Voice) will present a mixture of a few classic tangos, their own compositions, and contemporary tangos that have been specially commissioned for a piano/bandoneon duo, which will be recorded in 2023 -2024. Sumi and Heyni hope to show their audience the diverse richness that tango has to offer. Las Almas regresa a SFIAF seguido de la gira de mid west para presentar música de tango contemporánea que abrirá su mente y romperá su estereotipo de música "Tango". El programa de Sumi & Heyni es un reflejo de sus diversos antecedentes musicales y el viaje de tango que han realizado juntos. El dúo con los artistas invitados Basma Edrees (Violín) y Teresa Tam (Voz) presentará una mezcla de algunos tangos clásicos, composiciones propias y tangos contemporáneos especialmente encargados para un dúo de piano y bandoneón, que serán grabados en 2023 -2024. Sumi y Heyni esperan mostrarle a su audiencia la riqueza diversa que el tango tiene para ofrecer. Las Almas Trio Sumi Lee and Heyni Solera both started their musical lives as classical musicians. Sumi Lee has been playing classical piano since the age of four and obtained her Masters from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Heyni Solera started as a classically trained pianist but is now a bandoneonist and ethnomusicologist. What drew this dynamic duo together was their mutual passion for contemporary tango music. Both Sumi and Heyni studied in some of the most prestigious Argentine tango orchestras schools, such as La Orquesta Escuela de Emilio Balcarce, La Orquesta de Tango de la Una, and the Conservatorio Superior de “Manuel de Falla,” and have studied and performed with leading contemporary tango composers such Ramiro Boero, Victor Lavallen, Pablo Estigarribia, Julian Peralta, Santiago Segret, among others. Artist Biographies Heyni Solera Praised for her “soulful bandoneón” (Washington Classical Review), Heyni Solera is a sought-after bandoneonist in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Over the past year, Solera has launched her career on the international stage with her orchestra and chamber music performances in Argentina and Australia and continues to collaborate with prominent musicians in the tango music scene. She participated in leading tango music festivals in North America, such as the Stowe Tango Music Festival in Stowe, VT, Tango for Musicians at Reed College in Portland, OR, and the Cuarteto Tanguero Workshop in Toronto, Canada. Her desire to deepen her knowledge of the instrument led her to spend 2019 in Buenos Aires, where she continued her studies with renowned Prof. Santiago Segret & Prof. Ramiro Boero. She has performed with the Orquesta de Tango de la UNA, Orquesta Escuela Orlando Goñi, Orquesta de Tango del Conservatorio Superior de Musica Manuel de Falla, and Ensemble de Tango de la UNSAM under the direction of Ariel Pirotti, Julian Peralta, Adrian Enriquez, and Ramiro Gallo, respectively. Upon returning to the United States, she started new projects such as the highly praised IN Series productions of Le Cabaret de Carmen at Source Theatre in Washington, D.C., and at the Baltimore Theatre Project in Baltimore, Maryland, as a member of a tango duo Arco & Aire. She has also worked with Carpe Diem Arts, Quartertonez Music, and as a Tango Sin Fin’s World Ambassador. Her projects include Today’s Tango with Heyni, a mini-series that features today’s contemporary tango musicians throughout the world, and a recording project with Arco & Aire to be presented live in an east coast tour. Also a music scholar, she recently completed her Master of Music degree in Ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland, College Park. https://heynisolera.com/ Sumi Lee Sumi Lee is a classically trained pianist with a master’s degree in music, in piano performance, from the SF Conservatory of Music. She worked with bay area opera companies and schools until she auditioned to grab a life-changing opportunity at “La Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce”, the prestigious tango orchestra school in Argentina. While getting trained in Tango in Buenos Aires, she studied & performed with living maestros and musical directors such as Víctor Lavallén, Jose Colangelo, Osvaldo Piro, Roberto Alvarez, Daniel Binelli, Mauricio Marcelli, Pablo Estigarribia, Cristian Asato, Nicolas Ledesma, and many more. She performed many concerts with the orchestra Including the concert at Teatro General San Martin in Buenos Aires which was sold out and aired live via national radio 2*4 and TV. Since returning to SF in 2019, she has performed numerous concerts in SF - Bay Area, NYC, Philadelphia, Portland, South Korea, and Toronto. Currently, she leads the group “Las Almas” and performs east & west coast such as SF International Arts Festival & Sebastopol Arts. She recorded the “Gobbi Inedíto” album and currently working on a new album for the Bandoneón & Piano duo of new compositions. Lee is a widely respected piano teacher and served as a chair of the board for the San Francisco branch of California’s Music Teachers’ Association for 10 years. http://www.sumilee.com Basma Edrees Basma Edrees is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she received her Master's in Violin Performance and Mannes School of Music where she received her Bachelor's degree. She studied with Joseph Lin, Laurie Smukler, Sally Thomas, and Catherine Van Hoesen. Basma has performed under the batons of many great conductors including Alan Gilbert and Daniel Barenboim. Basma has served as Associate Concert Master of the Oakland Symphony during their 2015-2016 season. Through the music of Astor Piazzolla, Basma was introduced to the world of Argentine Tango music where she encountered some of the most beautiful lyrical melodies she had ever heard. Playing Tango, Basma found a medium where her Western classical training and her Arab musical heritage sentiments could unite. Basma studied Tango violin with Guillermo Rubino, the director of strings at the Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce. www.basmaedreesviolin.com Teresam Tam Teresa Tam grew up playing violin in orchestras and singing in choirs since her childhood in Taiwan. As an undergrad, Teresa made her solo debut with the prestigious American Bach Soloists right here in the Bay Area performing the Magnificat in D Major BWV 243 by J.S. Bach. She has had the honor of performing as a soloist under the direction of conductors Jeffrey Thomas, Joshua Rifkin, and more. After receiving her M.M. in vocal performance from Boston University, she then began collaborating in various duos with jazz guitarists and performed as a featured soloist with jazz bands around the Bay Area. She rediscovered Argentine Tango both as a dancer and vocalist in 2018 and was once again pulled into the mesmerizing world of Tango music. After attending the Tango for Musician program with Tango Sin Fin, she continued to collaborate with Tango musicians and performed all over the SF Bay Area. In 2019, the voice and guitar Duo Telar was born with Argentine tango guitarist, arranger, and musical director Maxi Larrea (www.maxilarrea.com). Together, they weave different genres of music and breathe new life into beautiful familiar melodies with playful harmonies and arrangements. When she is not busy performing, she is empowering others by working as a vocal coach (www.teresatammusic.com) and crafting custom modern portraitures as a photographer for clients worldwide www.teresatamstudio.com

Taking what is known of conventional harp, Amelia surpasses each time. Joined by an all-female cast, Amelia Romano and guests present an innovative program of original works. Included are "Serendipity" inspired by her year living in South Africa in 2010, and "Down Yonder," composed during lockdown. Having recently completed a masters in classical lever harp performance, she includes "The Swan" by Camille Saint-Saens and Piazzolla's "Oblivion" as well as premiering works written and or revised during her masters degree at San Francisco State University. Composer William Grant Still was a man of many firsts -- first African American to compose a symphony performed by a major orchestra, first to conduct an orchestra etc. His most famous work, "Afro-American Symphony," placed jazz and classical melodies side-by-side, something unheard of in the symphonic realm of the 1950's. Composed by Still, the closing number, "Ennanga," is a rare chamber work for quartet, piano and harp. Written for harp, and in celebration of the African harp, Ennanga, honors his roots as a man of color, and celebrates the symphonic instrument he came to adore. Amelia Romano and Guests An eclectic blend of austere serenity and kinetic vibrancy, Amelia Romano takes what is known about conventional harp and surpasses every time. Pulling from her roots in the cultural hotbed of San Francisco, Amelia not only plays music from the repertoire but reprises them and creates originals. Latin American music, jazz and classical are all genres that she touches but her music defines its own path. From her desire to merge folk and classical traditions, Amelia partnered with a classical trumpeter to form the group Luminance. When the pandemic upended the music industry, she returned to school to pursue a classical performance degree in lever harp at San Francisco State University. Amelia is an active soloist in addition to offering workshops and virtual seminars from classical to folk, jazz to Latin. This Fall she will release an album containing audio recordings of all 5 recital programs performed as part of her masters. Her book, "Classical works for Modern Levers," will also be available containing select recital works she adapted for the lever harp. She is equally at home composing classical and Latin American inspired works for solo harp and chamber groups. Artist Biographies Basma Edrees Basma Edrees is a violinist based in the San Francisco Bay area. Basma has served as Associate Concertmaster of the Oakland Symphony, and has performed with the SF Ballet Orchestra, SF Opera Orchestra, Santa Rosa Symphony Orchestra, San Jose Opera and San Jose Chamber Orchestra. Trained in the Western Classical Musical tradition and growing up in Egypt surrounded by a rich Arab musical tradition, Basma specializes in both Western and Arab styles of violin playing. A graduate of The Juilliard School and Mannes School of Music in NY, Basma currently serves on the violin faculty at Santa Clara University. Natalie Raney Cellist, Natalie Raney is recognized for her bold and adventurous playing and has performed chamber music with world-renowned musicians such as Kim Kashkashian, Menahem Pressler, Geoff Nuttall, Bonnie Hampton, Roberto Diaz, Norman Fischer, Ian Swensen, Jodi Levitz, and the Arianna String Quartet. She has performed chamber music around the country in venues such as the Kennedy Center & Bing Hall. A proponent of new music, Natalie seeks to highlight works by women. She currently serves on faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College coaching chamber music and maintains her own private studio in SF. For more information visit www.natalieraneycello.com. Elyse Weakley Elyse Weakley has taken part in a wide array of musical projects including Middle Eastern and Latin music and currently works with the Hurd Ensemble, recently featured at the Kennedy Center, and Redwood Tango Ensemble presenting contemporary tango music. Her recording projects include collaborations with acclaimed rapper MC Squadda B and Grammy award-winning composer Mason Bates. Alexandra Simpson After earning degrees from New England Conservatory, Yale School of Music, and most recently San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Alexandra Simpson has established a multi-faceted career in the San Francisco Bay Area, performing as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. She serves as the Assistant Principal Violist of the California Symphony and regularly appears as a guest Principal with orchestras, most notably with San Antonio Opera and Ballet. Alexandra has collaborated as a soloist with Sacramento's Camellia Symphony Orchestra, the Marin Symphony, San Francisco Conservatory’s New Music Ensemble, and the Classical Music Institute Chamber Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Alexandra travels frequently to festivals to perform, learn, and teach. Alexandra has participated in the Prussia Cove International Musicians’ Seminar, Kneisel Hall, Tanglewood, as well as many others. She has performed with legends such as Bonnie Hampton and Ian Swenson, as well as up and coming talents Jennifer Pike and Geneva Lewis. Most recently, she is a founding member of the new Wave Chamber Collective, which puts on multi-disciplinary performances once a month around the Bay Area.