Another great week of live in the Bay Area. Here are some suggestion for this week..

Monday May 14th

Amnesia Bar 853 Valencia St, San Francisco 9:00 PM-11:30 PM Showtime enjoy great traditional bluegrass with The Bow Ties Highly recommended!! N/C

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight St, San Francisco 9:30 PM-12:30 AM Showtime. Mike Olmos Presents The Sessions. Mike is a such a great trumpet player. He leads his all star Sessions for a great night of jazz.. N/C

Make-Out Room 3225 22nd St, San Francisco 9:30 PM-2:00 AM Showtime Bump City Soul .. DJ CYNDI presents a night of soul r&b and heavy inner city grooves from 1968-1974. Lots of Fun.. N/C

Tuesday May 15th

The Fillmore 1805 Geary Blvd, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime Bay Area music legends Sammy Hagar and Bob Weir are joining forces for the fifth annual “Acoustic-4-A-Cure”, benefit concert on May 15 at The Fillmore in San Francisco. Acoustic-4-A-Cure V will be a special 76th birthday celebration for blues icon Taj Mahal, with artists including Joe Satriani, Chad Smith, Michael Anthony, Kevin Cronin, Eddie Money and Vic Johnsonalready confirmed to perform. The 2018 concert blends veterans and newcomers to the event, with Bob Weir stepping in to co-host the concert which benefits The Pediatric Cancer Program at UCSF’s Benioff Children’s Hospital. $150 Cover Charge..   

Ashkenaz 1317 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley 8:30 PM Showtime.. Tom Rigney and Flambeau is the Bay Areas preeminent cajun & zydeco band. This is such a fun band. Highly recommended!! $15 Cover Charge

Bar Fluxus 18 Harlan Pl, San Francisco 9:00 PM-1:30 AM Showtime Vibrason.. I saw this band recently. They are another great band out of the Bay Area. Very reminiscent of some of the Cal Tjader bands. $10 Cover Charge

Verdi Club 2424 Mariposa St, San Francisco 9:00 PM Showtime.. Swing Fever brings an authenticity that fans love and treats Swing Era music as a living breathing form, with fresh excitement, new arrangements, and unusual instrumentation to their huge 1700+ song repertoire. Jazz-blues vocalist, and longtime musical collaborator Denise Perrier sings with the band tonight! Highly Recommended!! $10 Cover Charge.

Wednesday May 16th

Biscuits and Blues 401 Mason St, San Francisco 7:30 PM & 9:30 PM Bay City Blues featuring Chris Cain is a weekly showcase of world class Blues music and superb instrumental talent. This event is a celebration of the Blues in all its forms and an adventure into the depth of a national genre. Hosted by the nationally recognized Chris Cain & his All-Star cast of Musicians, every week they invite a new special guest to accompany them on stage and present new, upcoming, & old talent from the blues world! Bay City Blues is our tribute and exploration into the Blues genre, it is a special event in which we all get to help, share, & “Preserve the Blues.” Highly recommended!! $20 Cover Charge

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight St, San Francisco 6:00 PM-9:00 PM Showtime Lulu & The Rent Party.. One of my favorite bay Area bands. They play an eclectic selection of jazz, latin, and pop tunes. They are really fun. Highly recommended!! N/C

Le Colonial 20 Cosmo Pl, San Francisco 8:00 PM-11:00 PM Showtime. Cosmo Alleycats is one of my favorite Bay Are jazz ensembles. The Alleycats are so good and so much fun and one of the better jazz bands in the Bay Area. Highly recommended. N/C

Cafe Du Nord 2174 Market St, San Francisco 7:30 Showtime Red Wanting Blue has spent the last twenty years establishing themselves as one of the indie world’s most enduring and self-sufficient acts operating largely outside the confines of the traditional music industry. Their new album, ‘The Wanting’, draws on many of the group’s traditional strengths with indelible melodies and infectious hooks. Highly recommended..$15 Cover Charge

Feinstein’s at the Nikko 222 Mason St, San Francisco 7:00 PM Showtime. Michael Feinstein, the ambassador of the Great American Songbook, returns to San Francisco to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Feinstein’s at the Nikko with a selection of beloved standards as well as some contemporary surprises. Highly recommended!! $64-$105 Cover Charge.

The Freight & Salvage 2020 Addison St, Berkeley 8:00 PM Showtime.. DjangoSphere combines the compositions of two of the most eccentric and original composers of the 20th century, Django Reinhardt and Thelonious Monk. This concert will be a release party for a new DjangoSphere CD recorded with the great jazz guitarist, Howard Alden. While Alden will not appear at this concert, his chair will be ably covered by Western Swing Hall of Fame guitarist, Mark Holzinger. The group is rounded out by veteran bassist Don Bennett, and drummer Rory Judge. Highly recommended!!! $24 Cover Charge.

Yoshis 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM Showtimes.. Larry Carlton built his career as a studio musician participating in thousands of recording sessions, recorded on hundreds of albums in many genres including pop, jazz pop, rock, rhythm and blues, soul and country. Carlton’s studio credits from the 1970s and early ’80s include musicians and groups like Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson, Sammy Davis Jr., Herb Alpert, Quincy Jones, Bobby Bland, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and literally dozens of others. Among his more notable projects as a session guitarist were Joni Mitchell’s critically acclaimed Court and Spark album and Donald Fagen’s Nightfly album. Highly recommended!!! $39-$75 Cover Charge.

Thursday May 17th

SF Jazz 201 Franklin St, San Francisco 8:30 Showtime.. Berkeley-based drummer, composer and bandleader Scott Amendola showcases his longstanding partnership with Bay Area Hammond B-3 organ star Wil Blades for an evening of greasy grooves and head-spinning musical telepathy, joined for this exclusive run by Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker and Brazilian percussion genius Cyro Babtiste. Highly recommended!!!! $25 Cover Charge..

Cigar Bar & Grill 850 Montgomery St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime The French American Quartet is another great Bay Area Jazz ensemble led by master guitarist Steve Froberg. Playing a mix of Django Reinhardt inspired gypsy jazz and American standard, Steve is supported by Hanna Mingano on violin, Fabrice Urrizalqui on drums, François Egron on bass. Highly recommended!!! N/C

The Independant 628 Divisadero St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime Corey Henry & The Funk Apostles sound is a blend of blues, soul, R&B, Afrobeat, gospel, and jazz that is inventive and original. As one of the core members of Snarky Puppy, Cory demonstrates that’s he more than up for the challenge, moving from sideman to frontman with seemingly effortless grace and cool. This should be a great show.. Highly recommended!! $30 Cover Charge

Biscuits and Blues 401 Mason St, San Francisco 7:30 PM & 9:30 PM Showtimes.. Winners of the 2016 ‘Best Blues Band’ -City Weekly Music Awards, Tony Holiday & the Velvetones have turned some heads including heavy hitters like Rick Estrin, Dennis Gruenling, and Mark Hummel. The Velvetones mix their many influences into a musical gumbo of Dirty Rock and Down Home Blues . With Tony Holiday on harmonica and guitar, Adam Fifield on the Hammond organ, and Dave Idan on drums, it’s a compact trio that packs a big punch and will keep the place dancing till the sun comes up. Highly recommended!!! $20 Cover Charge

Bar Fluxus 18 Harlan Pl, San Francisco 8:00 PM-10:00 PM Showtime.. Caitlin Jemma is a singer-songwriter on the rise. Caitlin has this country/ soul voice and her songs are love notes offering encouragement to be your worst self in the pursuit of magic, adventure, and discovery. Lauren Benitez is a songwriter and lead singer and founder of Laura Benitez and the Heartache taking her musical cues from the heavily rock influenced Bakersfield sound. Should be a good show.. $7 Cover Charge

Le Colonial 20 Cosmo Pl, San Francisco 7:00 PM-10:00 PM Showtime.. Le Hot Jazz.. The spirit of Django is alive and well in San Francisco. This is a great ensemble. Highly recommended!! N/C

Feinstein’s at the Nikko 222 Mason St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime.. Michael Feinstein, the ambassador of the Great American Songbook, returns to San Francisco to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Feinstein’s at the Nikko with a selection of beloved standards as well as some contemporary surprises. Highly recommended!! $64-$105 Cover Charge.

Sweetwater Music Hall 19 Corte Madera Ave, Mill Valley 8:00 PM Showtime.. Louisiana Love Act is an ever evolving and revolving lineup of musicians playing funky blues, rock, and soul music with a world class horn section. The group is gearing up to release their newest record later this year, featuring new songs recorded and produced in collaboration with songwriter/drummer and Love Act co-conspirator Greg Anton. The lineup for the 5-17-18 show at the Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, Ca, will feature Phil Colombatto (SonoMama), Wally Ingram (Eric Burden/Sheryl Crow), Robin Sylvester (Atomic Rooster/Ratdog), Mark Karan (Ratdog), Jon Papenbrook (Aretha Franklin, Buddy Rich), Mike Nelson (Aretha Franklin), Duane Benjamin (Marvin Gaye) and more special guests! This will be a night of booty shakin’ music from the heart that you don’t want to miss! Highly recommended!! $30 Cover Charge.

The Freight & Salvage 2020 Addison St, Berkeley 8:00 PM Showtime.. In a special concert with the Tammy Hall Trio, singer/activist Barbara Dane celebrates her 91st birthday and the release of the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings 2 cd set, ‘Barbara Dane: Hot Jazz, Cool Blues and Hard-Hitting Songs’.Tammy Hall (piano),Ruth Davies (bass), Daria Johnson(drums) and special guest from Cuba,Pablo Menendez (harmonica and guitar). This career-spanning collection reflects over 60 years of the eclectic musical history of this unsung hero of American music and inspiration to Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt, and whose own early mentors included Pete Seeger and Count Basie.≤Now in her 90th year, Dane maintains “a jazz musician’s sense of rhythm, a blues singer’s deep investment in the material, and a folk stylist’s attention to authenticity. Highly recommended!!!! $25 Cover Charge..

Cornerstone Craft Beer & Live Music 2367 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley 8:30 PM Showtime I always get excited when Reckless Kelly comes to the Bay Area..This Grammy award winning Austin-based band was Americana before there really was such a term, combining roots, rock and country influences into an uncompromising musical approach. They will have the joint rockin’.. Highly recommended!! $25 Cover Charge..

Friday May 18th

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight St, San Francisco 10:00 PM-1:00 AM Showtime Cosmo Alleycats is one of my favorite Bay Are jazz ensembles. The Alleycats are so good and so much fun and one of the better jazz bands in the Bay Area. Highly recommended. N/C

SF Jazz 201 Franklin St, San Francisco 8:30 Showtime.. Berkeley-based drummer, composer and bandleader Scott Amendola showcases his longstanding partnership with Bay Area Hammond B-3 organ star Wil Blades for an evening of greasy grooves and head-spinning musical telepathy, joined for this exclusive run by Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker and Brazilian percussion genius Cyro Babtiste. Highly recommended!!!! $25 Cover Charge..

Feinstein’s at the Nikko 222 Mason St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime.. Michael Feinstein, the ambassador of the Great American Songbook, returns to San Francisco to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Feinstein’s at the Nikko with a selection of beloved standards as well as some contemporary surprises. Highly recommended!! $64-$105 Cover Charge.

The Fillmore 1805 Geary Blvd, San Francisco 9:00 PM Showtime IAM is the five-piece hip-hop collective and France’s first genuine rap superstars continue to remain a force in French hip-hop after having been one of the founders of the scene 25 years ago. Like the cult American hip-hop group who mixed their gritty street tales with eastern beats and imagery, IAM’s success lies in a similar approach, with a sound and presentation owing as much to ancient Egypt as modern France. This should be a great show..$25 Cover Charge..

The Freight & Salvage 2020 Addison St, Berkeley 8:00 PM Showtime The Berkeley Bluegrass Festival kicks off with Bay Area bluegrass icon Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands with special guest virtuoso multi-instrumentalist and award winning songwriter with a distinctive voicalist Molly Tuttle. Sean Watkins with The Bee Eaters and the youngest and very talented bluegrass ensemble Crying Uncle round out what promises to be a great evening of music. Highly recommended!!!! $34 Cover Charge.

The New Parish 1743 San Pablo Ave, Oakland 8:00 PM Showtime..The Pharcyde is the highly influential American alternative hip hop group, formed in 1989, from South Central Los Angeles. The Pharcyde still maintains a willfully weird vision, opting to stay true to themselves with their left field but still South-Central sensibility. Rap had seen few groups so self-deprecating and so smart, a group of visionary rappers adroitly able to split the difference between helium-voiced and hard-core. Highly recommended!!! $25 Cover Charge

If you live in the North Bay you may want to check out

Mystic Theatre 23 Petaluma Blvd N, Petaluma 8:30 Showtime. Since the early ’70s, Asleep At The Wheel has been the most important force in keeping the sound of Western swing alive. In reviving the freewheeling, eclectic sensibility of Western swing godfather Bob Wills the Wheel have earned enthusiastic critical praise throughout their lengthy career; they have not only preserved classic sounds that had all but disappeared from country music, but have also been able to update the music, keeping it a living, breathing art form. Typically featuring eight to 11 musicians, the group has gone through myriad personnel changes (at last count, over 80 members had passed through their ranks), but 6’7″ frontman Ray Benson has held it together for four decades, keeping Asleep at the Wheel a viable recording and touring concern and maintaining their devotion to classic-style Western swing. Highly recommended!!
$28 Cover Charge

I you live in and around Santa Cruz you may want to check out

Kuumbwa Jazz Center 320 Cedar St # 2, Santa Cruz 7:00 PM Showtime Loudon Wainwright lll is one of my favorite performers. This great American songwriter, folk singer,and humorist’s songs have been covered by Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Earl Scruggs and Mose Allison I saw Loudon a few years ago and he was outstanding. Highly recommended!!! $29.50-$42 Cover Charge

Saturday May 19th

The Fillmore 1805 Geary Blvd, San Francisco 9:00 PM Showtime California Honeydrops have been crossing genres from roots and blues to r&b and soul. Their sound is tied together by their instrumentation, vocal harmonies and New Orleans style influences. The Honeydrops’ more unusual instruments include a home-made gutbucket bass, jug, and washboard. Their rhythms are punctuated by trumpet, piano riffs, and bluesy vocals. This is one of my favorite groups to see in concert. Highly recommended!!!! $25 Cover Charge.

SF Jazz 201 Franklin St, San Francisco 8:30 Showtime.. Berkeley-based drummer, composer and bandleader Scott Amendola showcases his longstanding partnership with Bay Area Hammond B-3 organ star Wil Blades for an evening of greasy grooves and head-spinning musical telepathy, joined for this exclusive run by Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker and Brazilian percussion genius Cyro Babtiste. Highly recommended!!!! $25 Cover Charge..

Feinstein’s at the Nikko 222 Mason St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime.. Michael Feinstein, the ambassador of the Great American Songbook, returns to San Francisco to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Feinstein’s at the Nikko with a selection of beloved standards as well as some contemporary surprises. Highly recommended!! $64-$105 Cover Charge.

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight St, San Francisco 10:00 PM-1:00 AM Showtime.. Barrio Manouche is another great Bay Area ensemble performing a repertoire of original instrumental compositions with a unique sound that it’s difficult to classify but instantly recognizable deeply influenced by a range of musical traditions, from the swing of Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet, to the hot jazz of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli,the gypsy soul of eastern europe, the flamenco of Paco de Lucía to the avant-garde sounds of Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane…Highly recommended!!! N/C

Neck Of The Woods 406 Clement St, San Francisco 8:30 Showtime Laura Benitez and the Heartache use the three chord tools of country music to tell the simple, unvarnished truth about love, too much whiskey, and the call of the road. Their songs range from honky-tonk shuffles to fiery rock ‘n’ roll numbers to sweet old time waltzes, and cover everything from unwed motherhood (“Me or the Baby”) to mean drunks (“Don’t Wake the Devil”), with a whole lot of heartbreak in between. Good Morning Bedlam is often mistaken as siblings, owing partly to their members’ similar looks: two curly, red-haired girls and two guys with Minnesota tattoos and piercings. But their cohesion goes beyond appearances. Their show is an explosion of energy with soaring harmonies, a banjo player that scissor-kicks in the air, a string bass that will shake your chest, and a beat that will have your foot stomping through the floor. One Grass Two Grass delivers high energy, hard driving, fun loving, old-timey, new-timey, good-timey, rocking California string band music. Through richly lyrical, naturally inspired originals cushioned by a bed of old mountain tunes and a dash of stomping rock and roll, their unique sound is expressed as a mesh of yesterdays established, deep rooted protocols with the need to bring strings to the times in their own exciting way. Brother Spellbinder plays well-crafted songs with old world ache and modern angst. Sometimes described as Cabaret Folk-rock, they veer off the beaten track with plaintiff vocals, unusual arrangements, and a variety of textures. The daughter of Big Brother & The Holding Co.’s original drummer, Alzara grew up in a rock-n-roll scene and learned early that music could move mountains. Highly recommended!!!$15 Cover Charge

Great American Music Hall 859 O’Farrell St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime Al Stewart came to stardom as part of the legendary British folk revival in the sixties and seventies, and developed his own unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of the great characters and events from history. He is perhaps best known for his hit “Year of the Cat” from the platinum album of the same name and the platinum follow up album “Time Passages.” But his career spans four decades as a key figure in British music. Highly recommended!! $51 Cover Charge.

The Chapel 777 Valencia St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime The Flaming Groovies story goes all the way back to 1965, when the band began as the Chosen Few in their hometown of San Francisco, California. After a name change and a self-released 10-inch album called Sneakers, which sold amazingly well, the band caught the attention of Columbia Records, who signed them and released their first real album, Supersnazz, on the Epic label. Their next two albums were released on the Kama Sutra label: Flamingo, and the now revered classic Teenage Head. Lead singer Roy Loney then left the band and lead guitarist Cyril Jordan moved the group to England, with Chris Wilson (formerly of Loose Gravel) taking over as front man. They continued their style of straight-ahead guitar-driven rock n’ roll but this time with a more 60’s rather than 50’s influence. Roy Loney & The Phantom Movers and LA Based The Cairo Gang round out a fun night of music. $22 Cover Charge

The Freight & Salvage 2020 Addison St, Berkeley 8:00 PM Showtime The Berkeley Bluegrass Festival continues with Phantoms of High Country consisting of members of Bay Area bluegrass legendary bands High Country and The Phantoms Of The Opry. Multi-instrumentalist, distinctive vocalist and award winning songwriter Molly Tuttle and her band the Moly Tuttle Band and Jeff Scroggins and Colorado the high-energy five-piece bluegrass band located in the Western Frontier state of Colorado round out a great night of music. Highly recommended!!$34 Cover Charge.

I you live in and around Santa Cruz you may want to check out

Rio Theatre 1205 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz 7:30 PM Showtime Since the early ’70s, Asleep At The Wheel has been the most important force in keeping the sound of Western swing alive. In reviving the freewheeling, eclectic sensibility of Western swing godfather Bob Wills The Wheel have earned enthusiastic critical praise throughout their lengthy career; they have not only preserved classic sounds that had all but disappeared from country music, but have also been able to update the music, keeping it a living, breathing art form. Typically featuring eight to 11 musicians, the group has gone through myriad personnel changes (at last count, over 80 members had passed through their ranks), but 6’7″ frontman Ray Benson has held it together for four decades, keeping Asleep at the Wheel a viable recording and touring concern and maintaining their devotion to classic-style Western swing. Highly recommended!! $36.75-$52.50 Cover Charge

Sunday May 20th

Amnesia Bar 853 Valencia St, San Francisco 8:30 PM-10:30 PM Showtime.. The Hot Baked Goods are a band of young jazz musicians playing hot tunes of the 30’s. Most of the band members started as swing dancers, and became so infatuated with the music that they decided to make some themselves. I saw them at the Amnesia and this band really swings. N/C

The Lucky Horseshoe Bar 453 Cortland Ave, San Francisco 4:00 PM-7:00 PM Showtime..Bernal Hillbillies A great three hours of bluegrass music at a really great venue reminiscent of the jams at the Old Paul Saloon many years ago. N/C

SF Jazz 201 Franklin St, San Francisco 8:30 Showtime.. Berkeley-based drummer, composer and bandleader Scott Amendola showcases his longstanding partnership with Bay Area Hammond B-3 organ star Wil Blades for an evening of greasy grooves and head-spinning musical telepathy, joined for this exclusive run by Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker and Brazilian percussion genius Cyro Babtiste. Highly recommended!!!! $25 Cover Charge..

Feinstein’s at the Nikko 222 Mason St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime.. Michael Feinstein, the ambassador of the Great American Songbook, returns to San Francisco to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Feinstein’s at the Nikko with a selection of beloved standards as well as some contemporary surprises. Highly recommended!! $64-$105 Cover Charge.

The Freight & Salvage 2020 Addison St, Berkeley 8:00 PM Showtime The Berkeley Bluegrass Festivalcontinues with Darol Anger’s Blur-grass Allstars. Darol is of course the legendary fiddler and co-instigator of The David Grisman Quintet,The Turtle Island String Quartet and Windham Hill’s flagship, The Montreux Band. He played Bluegrass in the early 70’s in the San Jose and Santa Cruz area before touring internationally, and is part of the 2nd wave of pickers to come up in Northern California’s Bluegrass Scene, and studied with Byron Berline and Richard Greene. Joining Darol is guitarist-multi-instrumental virtuoso John Jorgenson, and 5-string banjoist Keith Little, together for the first time, join two highly beloved musicians bassist/mandolinist Sharon Gilchrist and mandolinist Joe K. Walsh. The Get Down Boys, a staple in the Southern California Bluegrass scene over the past six years and The Page Turners with special guests Bill Evans & Max Schwartz round out a great evening of music. Highly recommended!!!! $34 Cover Charge

Video Pick Of The Week

Beware Of Mr. Baker Legendary and indestructible rock drummer Ginger Baker is the focus of this documentary, which recaps his turbulent history and many influences. Starring: Ginger Baker, John Lydon,Eric Clapton