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

Monday 6-04

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

Mr.Tipples 39 Fell St, 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

Amnesia Bar 853 Valencia St, San Francisco 9:00 PM-11:00 PM..The Old Time Travelers, a great bluegrass/string band from Chattanooga Tennessee will be performing for one night. Check them out. Highly recommended!!! N/C

Tuesday 6-05

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

Bottom Of The Hill 1233 17th St, San Francisco 9:00 PM Showtime. Three really good indie bands with the Nashville based alternative rock band The Lonely Biscuits headlining the show. Oakland rockers Parkway and San Francisco psychedelic dreamy rockers Moral High Horses round out a great night of music. $12 Cover Charge.

Great American Music Hall 859 O’Farrell St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime Calexico is one rocking band. The Americana Tex-Mex rockers from Tucson puts on a great show. They are on tour promoting their ninth album “The Thread That Keeps Us”. Highly recommended!!! $31 Cover Charge

The Fillmore 1805 Geary Blvd, San Francisco 9:00 PM Showtime.. Yo La Tengo has been one of the most restless and most consistently good bands of the past 25 years. The trio — led by Hoboken, New Jersey, bohemians and husband and wife team Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley — have been pegged as a critics’ band, but their warm, open-armed sound has helped them develop one of the biggest followings in indie rock. A little trivia, the group’s name means “I’ve Got It!” in Spanish and was taken from a story about the 1968 New York Mets outfielders, who used to the phrase to claim fly balls to accommodate Venezuelan Elio Chacon, who spoke no English. Highly recommended!!! $29.50

If you live in the Southbay you may want to check this out.

Mountain Winery 14831 Pierce Rd Saratoga 7:30 PM Showtime..Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot will have the crowd up dancing. The iconic singer/songwriter/performer is one of the world’s greatest living guitarists, Setzer’s trademark guitar work and vocal stylings are matched with the Brian Setzer Orchestra’s rockin’ big-band horn arrangements. Brian is a great performer and I highly recommend this show. $71-$798 Cover Charge.

If you live in the Northbay you may want to check this out..

The Healdsburg Jazz Festival Healdsburg Plaza Healdsburg Ave & Matheson St, Healdsburg 6:00 PM-8:00 PM Showetime..John Santos Sextet is one of the premier Latin jazz ensembles in the world. Born in San Francisco, bandleader Santos was raised in the Puerto Rican and Cape Verdean traditions of his family and surrounded by the fertile musical environment of the Bay Area. Across a career spanning five decades the 7 time Grammy nominee he has been recognized for his achievements as a composer, producer, percussionist and Afro-Latino music educator. His sextet is comprised of a Bay Area who’s who of latin music all stars including John on percussion, guitarist-singer Jose Roberto Hernandez, John Calloway on flute, Marco Diaz on pianist, David Flores on drums, Melecio Magdaluyo on sax and Saul Sierra on bass. This is a great ensemble. Highly recommended!! N/C

Wednesday 6-06

Biscuits and Blues 401 Mason St, San Francisco 7:30 PM & 9:30 PM Showtimes 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

Great American Music Hall 859 O’Farrell St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime Calexico is one rocking band. The Americana Tex-Mex rockers from Tucson puts on a great show. They are on tour promoting their ninth album “The Thread That Keeps Us”. Highly recommended!!! $31 Cover Charge

The Fillmore 1805 Geary Blvd, San Francisco 9:00 PM Showtime.. Yo La Tengo has been one of the most restless and most consistently good bands of the past 25 years. The trio — led by Hoboken, New Jersey, bohemians and husband and wife team Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley — have been pegged as a critics’ band, but their warm, open-armed sound has helped them develop one of the biggest followings in indie rock. A little trivia, the group’s name means “I’ve Got It!” in Spanish and was taken from a story about the 1968 New York Mets outfielders, who used to the phrase to claim fly balls to accommodate Venezuelan Elio Chacon, who spoke no English. Highly recommended!!! $29.50

Bottom Of The Hill 1233 17th St, San Francisco 9:00 PM Showtime Wild Evil & The Trashbones has that ’60s proto-punk sound with succinct fuzz-guitars, farfisa organ, furious drumming, and wild, howling vocals that represent a one hundred per cent high-voltage rock’n’roll attitude. The Austrian rockers are famous for their untamed live performances with the overdriven fuzz guitars will be blaring. The masters of ghoulish rock n roll Isaac Rother & The Phantoms and Oakland rockers The Ogres round out a great show. Highly recommended!! $12 Cover Charge

Thursday 6-07

Mr.Tipples 39 Fell St, San Francisco 7:00 PM-10:00 PM Showtime Ken Husbands Trio is the explosive combination of three very active players on the Bay Area jazz scene: Ken Husbands on guitar, Aaron Germain on electric and acoustic bass and Otto Huber on drums. Their live shows combine original music with interpretations of standards for a refreshing program of tight grooves, kaleidoscopic harmonies and inspired improvisational energy. The trio has established a unique sound and approach that is rooted in jazz but draws upon influences from around the world. Highly recommended !! N/C

Biscuits and Blues 401 Mason St, San Francisco 7:30 PM & 9:30 PM Showtimes The Daniel Castro Band is truly a force to be reckoned with. Daniel is one of the greatest blues guitarists to come bursting out of the highly competitive West Coast scene. To the classic music of B.B. King, Albert King, and Albert Collins, Castro’s passion warms your soul while his deep groove kicks your butt on fine, fresh originals and well chosen covers. Highly recommended!!! $20 Cover Charge

Hotel Utah 500 4th St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime Texas rockers Blue Water Highway are known as a great live performance band. But this group are great songwriters and excellent musicians. Flood Mansion combines elements of funk, blues, jazz and rock n roll. Should be a good show. $15 Cover Charge.

The Chapel 777 Valencia St, San Francisco 9:00 PM Showtime..Jonathan Richman has been playing music, recording and touring for most of his life. The singer, songwriter, guitarist and founder of the influential proto-punk band The Modern Lovers is a great performer. Highly recommended!! $25 Cover Charge.

SF Jazz 201 Franklin St, San Francisco 7:30 Showtime..The two best Bay Area string bands The Hot Club of San Francisco & The San Francsico String Trio share a bill devoted to the timeless music of The Beatles. These two great ensembles are recolonizing the Fab Four’s songbook in the name of Gypsy jazz legend Django Reinhardt with John, Paul, George and Django, a ravishing and consistently revelatory reimagining of classic Beatles tunes. Highly recommended!!! $25-45 Cover Charge

The Warfield 982 Market St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime.. Sleep the doom metal power trio from San Jose do not perform regularly as of late so this is a rare chnge to see the band in performance. Highly recommended!! $35-$45 Cover Charge.

Friday 6-08
Bar Fluxus 18 Harlan Pl, San Francisco 5 PM-8PM Showtime..Byrds of a Feather .. David Byrd has been a mainstay in the San Francisco Bay area music scene for many years. David is a pioneer in fusing jazz/reggae music. He is fun and inspirational.. N/C

Biscuits and Blues 401 Mason St, San Francisco 7:30 PM & 10:00 PM Showtimes.. Chris Cain has established himself as a musical force to be reckoned with his jazz-tinged, blues soaked guitar and deep warm vocals not to mention his maturity and authenticity of bluesmen many years his senior. Highl;y recommended !!! $24 Cover Charge

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight St, San Francisco 10 PM-1 AM Showtime… Mitch Polzak is a master guitarist and he and The Royal Deuces has been one of the premier Rockabilly bands since staring in 1999. I am a huge fan. Highly recommended!! N/C

Locale Edition 691 Market St, San Francisco 8:00 PM-Midnight 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

Herbst Theatre 401 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime..Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers with special guest steel guitar master Bobby Black perform the music of the country music icon Patsy Cline including “Walkin’ After Midnight,” and “Crazy.” Highly recommended!! $35-$55 Cover Charge..

SF Jazz 201 Franklin St, San Francisco 7:30 Showtime..Irma Thomas and the Professionals…Irma Thomas is an r&b icon and universally known as the “Soul Queen of New Orleans.” since the 1960s the Grammy award-winning singer has had a lengthy history of collaboration with the likes of Allen Toussaint, BB King, Dr. John, Marcia Ball, and Galactic. Her music has appeared in the soundtracks numerous films and television shows. Highly recommended!! $30-$85

The Independant 628 Divisadero St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime..Singer/songwriter Nicki Bluhm is on tour promoting her new album ‘To Rose You Gotta Fall”. I saw Nicki about a year ago at Stern Grove and she was great. Should be a good show. $25 Cover Charge

Feinstein’s at the Nikko 222 Mason St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime.. Musician and actress Storm Large of Pink Martini fame returns to Feinstein’s at the Nikko for three performances only. Explore the many facets of romance through classics from the Great American Songbook. Highly recommended!! $35-$70 Cover Charge

Elbo Room 647 Valencia St, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime..Two of great reggae bands in the Bay area Sol Horizon & Native Elements return to Elbo Room for a night high energy party. There will be a party going on Friday night!! $20 Cover Charge.

Elbo Room 311 Broadway Jack London Square, Oakland 9:00 PM Showtime Jazz Mafia is one of the best party bands in the Bay area. Tonight they present a tribute To The Ladies Of Hip Hop Heaviest Feather w/ special guests Aima The Dreamer, Dakini Star, April King, Breathless and DJ Ladyfingaz. Highly recommended!! $12 Cover Charge

The Freight & Salvage 2020 Addison St, Berkeley 8:00 PM Showtime California native and Americana country music singer songwriter Maurice Tani has been a fixture on the local alt-country scene for more than a decade. His music is neither retro nor country; it’s twang noir. This should be a great show. Highly recommended. $24 Cover Charge.

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

Healdsburg Jazz Festival Raven Performing Arts Theater 115 North Street, Healdsburg 7:00 Showtime.. Celebrating Geri Allen with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, Dave Holland on bass & drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. Pianist Geri Allen passed away last summer at the tender age of 60. She left a big void, but also a legacy. Geri was a wonderful inspirational musician whose playing embraced the full continuum of jazz, from ragtime to the avant-garde, with a deep consciousness of the art form’s roots in Africa. I was lucky to see Geri perform with a few times. I am glad the Jazz fest is having this tribute to her. Highly recommended!!! $45-$75 Cover Charge.

Saturday 6-09

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight St, San Francisco 6:00 PM-9:00 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

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight St, San Francisco 10:00 PM-1:00 AM Showtime..Howell Devine is my favorite Bay Area blues band. They will have the house rockin at the Deluxe. N/C

Brick & Mortar Music Hall 1710 Mission St, San Francisco 9:00 PM Showtime.. Cash’d Out is a San Diego based band, that channels Johnny Cash in about as close a manner to the real thing as it gets. The group’s genuine love (and authentic recreation) of Johnny Cash’s music and its universal appeal fans of all ages and of virtually all musical genres makes each Cash’d Out show a must-see event. Highly recommended!!! $20 Cover Charge

SF Jazz 201 Franklin St, San Francisco 7:30 Showtime Legendary Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes is one of the prime architects of the bossa nova revolution of the 1960s. The Grammy award winning pianist and composer first made an impact in collaboration with Antônio Carlos Jobim and Cannonball Adderley, and came to international stardom with his iconic band Brasil ’66. I saw Mendes a few years ago at Stern Grove and it was a great show. Highly recommended!!! $30-$50-$70-$85 Cover Charge.

Bottom Of The Hill 1233 17th St, San Francisco 9:00 PM Showtime. A really good night of music. Headlining the night is title title Strange Hotels is the indie pop rock band from Portland with alt rockers Strange Hotels Talkie and metal rock blues band title Moldover rounding out the show. $15 Cover Charge

The Back Room 1984 Bonita Ave, Berkeley 8:00 PM Showtime.. Hot Club Faux Gitane is an acoustic swing band from Modesto, California that plays in the Gypsy jazz tradition of Django Reinhardt and his Quintette du Hot Club de France. HCFG includes the rhythm/lead guitars and acoustic bass typical of the style, but adds mandolin, bassoon, clarinet, and the occasional melodica and C-melody saxophone. They also augment the standard Gypsy repertoire with original compositions, jazz standards, and even Latin tunes. The band’s unique blend of instruments and music adds new vitality and freshness to an old favorite genre. Highly recommended!! $15 Cover Charge

Ashkenaz 1317 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley 8:00 PM-11:00 PM Showtime.. Andrew Carriere & The Zydeco Cajun Allstars is of the Bay area’s premiere Zydeco Cajun bands.. A native of Southern Louisiana, accordionist and singer Andrew Carriere brings a long family tradition into his playing. His father was the legendary Creole fiddler “Bebe” Carriere, his uncle was accordionist Eraste Carriere, and his cousin is the great Chubby Carriere. They are really fun. $15 Cover Charge

Sunday 6-10

Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society 311 Mirada Rd, Half Moon Bay 4:30 Showtime.. Chico Freeman is heralded as one of the most important saxophonists of our time, musician, composer, and producer. His diverse résumé includes R&B to blues, hard bop to avant-garde. Joining Chico is Fred Harris on Piano, Evan Flory-Barnes on Bass and Billy Hart on Drums. This is a show you won’t want to miss! $55 Cover Charge $35 for students.

Biscuits and Blues 401 Mason St, San Francisco 7:00 PM & 9:00 PM Showtime Too Slim And The Taildraggers plays an eclectic style of blues and rock that has become a genre all its own. Tim “Too Slim” Langford’s ever-evolving musical direction cannot easily be classified, effortlessly cross genres, flavoring blues with rock and Americana. Should be a really good show. $20 Cover Charge.

SF Jazz 201 Franklin St, San Francisco 7:30 Showtime.. Tuck & Patti’s signature approach that combines jazz, folk and r&b, makes this Bay Area based husband & wife team of guitarist Tuck Andress and vocalist Patti Cathcart an enduring treasure. For three decades, Tuck and Patti have been performing fresh new music as well as a selection of re-imagined jazz classics and pop gems. Highly recommended!!! $25-$55 Cover Charge.

Herbst Theatre 401 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco 8:00 PM Showtime..A Benny Goodman Tribute is led by composer and multi-instrumentalist Gordon Goodwin and his Grammy-winning Big Phat Band bringing swing-era power to this salute to clarinet legend and big band icon Benny Goodman featuring two of the greatest living jazz clarinetists Eddie Daniels and Anat Cohen. Highly recommended!!! $30-$85 Cover Charge.

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

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

Healdsburg Jazz Festival Raven Performing Arts Theater115 North Street, Healdsburg Noon Showtime..Marcus Shelby Big Band With Tiffany Austin & The Freedom Jazz Choir presents Lift Every Voice and Sing with special guests Ruth Naomi Floyd and James Newton. The grace and healing force that this concert will provide is needed more than ever after tragic fires that ravaged so much of the area last fall. Highly recommended!! $30-$45 Cover Charge..

Healdsburg Jazz Festival Raven Performing Arts Theater115 North Street, Healdsburg 7:00 PM Showtime. Dr. Michael White’s Original Liberty Jazz Band takes a little bit o’ New Orleans with them wherever they go. Their goal is to both preserve and expand the authentic New Orleans jazz tradition. For more than a decade, Dr. White and his men have been one of the preeminent New Orleans traditional jazz bands. Great way to end the fest. Highly recommended!! $30-$45 Cover Charge

Video Pick Of The Week.

Beat Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest
Director Michael Rapaport sets out on tour with A Tribe Called Quest in 2008, when they reunited to perform sold-out concerts across the country, almost ten years after the release of their last album, The Love Movement. As he travels with the band members, Rapaport captures the story of how tenuous their relationship has become; how their personal differences and unresolved conflicts continue to be a threat to their creative cohesion. When mounting tensions erupt backstage during a show in San Francisco, we get a behind-the-scenes look at their journey and contributions as a band and what currently is at stake for these long-time friends collaborators.