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

Monday December 24th

Biscuits and Blues 401 Mason St, San Francisco 7:00 PM & 9:30 PM Showtimes.. Two time Grammy award nominee and “Blues Award” winner Reverend John Lee Hooker Jr. and his 7 member band will be bringing a whole new sound to Biscuits & Blues this Christmas! The younger Hooker’s musical style is markedly modernized, featuring contemporary arrangements with a funky big horn sound with elements of funky Gospel. In the spirit of the holiday there will be uplifting, festive Gospel and Christmas melodies where the audience can sing along. As John says… “There will certainly be a “Merry Gospel Christmas” at Biscuits & Blues this year!” Highly recommended!!!!! $30 Cover Charge..

Slims 333 11th St, San Francisco 7:00 PM & 9:30 PM Showtimes. The treasured Bay Area institution Oakland Interfaith Choir Ensemble will performing their special annual holiday concert at Slims. Highly recommended!!! $20 Cover Charge.

Tuesday December 25th

Biscuits and Blues 401 Mason St, San Francisco 7:00 PM & 9:30 PM Showtimes.. Two time Grammy award nominee and “Blues Award” winner Reverend John Lee Hooker Jr. and his 7 member band will be bringing a whole new sound to Biscuits & Blues this Christmas! The younger Hooker’s musical style is markedly modernized, featuring contemporary arrangements with a funky big horn sound with elements of funky Gospel. In the spirit of the holiday there will be uplifting, festive Gospel and Christmas melodies where the audience can sing along. As John says… “There will certainly be a “Merry Gospel Christmas” at Biscuits & Blues this year!” Highly recommended!!!!! $30 Cover Charge..

Wednesday December 26th

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight St, San Francisco 9:30 PM-12:30 AM Showtime. The Patrick Wolff Bebop Quartet is deeply rooted in the bebop tradition established by Bird, Clifford Jordan and Dexter Gordon. Patrick is absolutely my favorite Bay Area tenor player and he leads an outstanding group of musicians..N/C.

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. Sitting in tonight with the band is special guest Simon Russell whose vocals and piano style embraces the soulful traditions of jazz, blues, gospel & funk. This event is a celebration of the Blues in all its forms and an adventure into the depth of a national genre. Tonight 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.

Tupelo 1337 Grant Ave, San Francisco 9:00 PM-1:00 AM Showtime.. If you don’t know Johnny Z and the Camaros you should. They are such a fun rock and roll band. They will have Tupelo rockin’ out. N/C

Yoshis 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM Showtimes.. Bring in the New Year early in a swinging style with Larry Vuckovich‘s All-Star Bay Area Sextet featuring Larry on piano, Andrew Speight, on alto sax, Steve Heckman on tenor sax, Joel Behrman on trumpet, Jeff Chambers on bass and Akira Tana on drums. Larry comes back to Yoshi’s with a new, uplifting historic theme of the best swinging jazz from the 30’s, 40s, 50s, & 60s. Come and hear the great hits from the orchestras of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey/Sy Oliver and the great jazz groups of Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner & John Coltrane. Don’t miss this year ending swinging jazz that will keep you going into the New Year. Highly recommended!!!! $21 Cover Charge..

Thursday December 27th

The Chapel 777 Valencia St, San Francisco.. 9:00 PM Showtime.. One of England’s most enduring contemporary singer/songwriters and live performers Robyn Hitchcock will be performing Bob Dylan’s John Wesley Harding plus a set of songs inspired by the album.. This should be a great show.. Highly recommended!!!!!! $28 Cover Charge..

Atlas Cafe 3049 20th Street, San Francisco 8:00 PM-10:00 PM Showtime.. The Gil Cohen Trio is a really wonderful jazz trio. When I first heard Gil playing he reminded me a lot of Roy Eldridge’s sound. It turns that Roy was one of his major influences. Gil and his trio is definitely worth checking out. Highly recommended!!! N/C

Tupelo 1337 Grant Ave, San Francisco 9:00 PM-1:00 AM Showtime.. Somewhere between Joan Jett and Bonnie Raitt lies GG Amos. This is one badass chick with one badass band. This is one of my very favorite local blues band. Highly recommended!! N/C

Cornerstone Craft Beer & Live Music 2367 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley 8:30 PM Showtime…One of my favorite American blues and R&B bands The California Honeydrops is among the most exciting and dynamic live bands on the planet. I love their energy and a near-encyclopedic knowledge of musical styles, genres and idioms. This is a great band. Highly recommended!! $36 Cover Charge.

Yoshis 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM Showtimes.. Con Funk Shun is a star-quality attraction delivering a superb, high-energy show with electrifying choreography, glistening six-part vocal harmonies, and a dash of humor. They are, unquestionably, among the heroes of funk with romantic ballads and dance-party hits galore. Memorable melodies, inventive horn arrangements and clav-guitar woven grooves, make the group absolutely essential to the evolution of funk. This shown should be a bang up way to enter the New Year. Hiughly recommended!!!!! $34-$79 Cover Charge…

Friday December 28th

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight St, San Francisco 6:00 PM-9:00 PM Showtime.. Nashville Honeymoon is another Bay Area band I really love. Their music is a modern reworking of the classic country sounds of the 50s and 60s. Their songwriting draws on country, rockabilly, and honky-tonk traditions. Highly recommended!!! N/C

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight St, San Francisco 10:00 PM-1:00 AM Showtime.. Portland based Tumbledown House, a self described modern speakeasy, saloon jazz, parlor pop and Tom Waits in a cocktail dress ensemble. I really like what I have seen on youtube and look forward to seeing them this evening. Highly recommended!! N/C

August Hall 1706, 420 Mason St, San Francisco 9:30 PM Showtime.. The Canadian indie blues hard rock band Reignwolf takes the stage tonight. Should have the house rockin’!!! $23 Cover Charge..

Local Edition 691 Market St, San Francisco 8:00 PM-Midnight Showtime… Steve Lucky and the Rumba Bums perform vintage jazz, pounding boogie-woogie rhythms, sultry ballads, and funky-swinging New Orleans R&B. This band simply gives you the beat to move your feet. This will be a fun show. N/C

SF Jazz 201 Franklin St, San Francisco 7:30 PM Showtime.. Ring in the New Year with the king of the funky saxophone and one of the primary architects of modern R&B, Maceo Parker. He spent the first half of his career in the service of funk’s founding fathers, and in his second act as a bandleader, the unrelentingly soulful saxophonist/vocalist has ascended into the funk firmament in his own right, leading a righteously grooving outfit that plays with ecstatic precision and ferocious drive. Vocalist and songwriter Deva Mahal will open the show with her superb band, performing a set of groove-heavy R&B. Highly recommended!!! $25/$45/$65 Cover Charge….

Biscuits and Blues 401 Mason St, San Francisco 7:30 PM & 10:00 PM Showtimes…. When Texas born Sugaray Rayford takes the stage and starts to belt out a song you can feel the excitement in the room. Sugaray is a superb vocalist and entertainer and his dynamic voice is large just like the man. His old school vocal style, echoes of Muddy Waters, Otis Redding and Teddy Pendergrass. At 6’5” he is a big man, but he moves with grace and energy. His fluid dance steps will remind you of the Legendary James Brown. He also has a great band backing him.. Highly recommended!!!! $35 Cover Charge…

Cafe Claude 7 Claude Lane, San Francisco. 7:00 PM-10:00 PM Showtime. The Pleasure Palace is a wonderful trio where Hammond Organ, Electric Guitar, and Drums make a crazy melange of greasy 70’s soul, sparkling teen beat favorites, once folks enter the palace, they never return the same…The band features the guitar wizardry of Ned Boynton, Lorenzo Farrell on Hammond organ and Rolf Wilkinson on Drums. Highly recommended!!! N/C

Sweetwater Music Hall 19 Corte Madera Ave, Mill Valley 9:00 PM Showtime. Monophonics is one of the best live soul bands I have ever seen! Raised amid the rich musical culture and history of the San Francisco Bay Area, titleMonophonics proudly carry the torch through the generations into today’s musical landscape. Holding on to tradition, but by no means purists of any kind, they play their own brand of music known as “Psychedelic Soul.” Highly recommended!!!! $32 Cover Charge..

HopMonk Tavern 224 Vintage Way, Novato 7:00 PM Showtime… One of England’s most enduring contemporary singer/songwriters and live performers Robyn Hitchcock will be performing Bob Dylan’s John Wesley Harding plus a set of songs inspired by the album.. This should be a great show.. Highly recommended!!!!!! $25 Cover Charge..

Ivy Room 860 San Pablo Ave, Albany 8:00 PM Showtime.. Tonight is a benfit and birthday show for Ileath featuring Mitch Polzak and The Royal Dueces are unquestionably one of the great rockabilly bands around. Also performing tonight are Hot Laundry, HEWHOCANNOTBENAMED with burlesque from Szandora LaVey & Bunny Pistol. Highly recommended!!!! $10 Cover Charge…

Freight & Salvage 2020 Addison St, Berkeley 8:00 PM Showtime.. Master drummer, rhythm innovator and New Orleans legend Zigaboo Modeliste birthday extravaganda features special guest and fellow co founder of The Meters George Porter Jr. along with Dj Harry Duncan to honor and celebrate one of the most highly-acclaimed drummer ever to hail from the Crescent City. Highly recommended!!!! $30 Cover Charge…

Cornerstone Craft Beer & Live Music 2367 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley 8:30 PM Showtime…One of my favorite American blues and R&B bands The California Honeydrops is among the most exciting and dynamic live bands on the planet. I love their energy and a near-encyclopedic knowledge of musical styles, genres and idioms. This is a great band. Highly recommended!! $36 Cover Charge.

Yoshis 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM Showtimes.. Con Funk Shun is a star-quality attraction delivering a superb, high-energy show with electrifying choreography, glistening six-part vocal harmonies, and a dash of humor. They are, unquestionably, among the heroes of funk with romantic ballads and dance-party hits galore. Memorable melodies, inventive horn arrangements and clav-guitar woven grooves, make the group absolutely essential to the evolution of funk. This shown should be a bang up way to enter the New Year. Hiughly recommended!!!!! $34-$79 Cover Charge…

Saturday December 29th

Biscuits and Blues 401 Mason St, San Francisco 7:30 PM & 10:00 PM Showtimes…. When Texas born Sugaray Rayford takes the stage and starts to belt out a song you can feel the excitement in the room. Sugaray is a superb vocalist and entertainer and his dynamic voice is large just like the man. His old school vocal style, echoes of Muddy Waters, Otis Redding and Teddy Pendergrass. At 6’5” he is a big man, but he moves with grace and energy. His fluid dance steps will remind you of the legendary James Brown. He also has a great band backing him.. Highly recommended!!!! $35 Cover Charge…

Bird & Beckett 653 Chenery St, San Francisco 7:30 PM-10:00 AM Showtime.. The Jazz Philanthropist’s Union presents John Calloway the renown multi-instrumentalist/composer and arranger performing a “Winter Soltace” concert. Highly recommended!!! $20 Cover Charge..

SF Jazz 201 Franklin St, San Francisco 7:30 PM Showtime.. Ring in the New Year with the king of the funky saxophone and one of the primary architects of modern R&B, Maceo Parker. He spent the first half of his career in the service of funk’s founding fathers, and in his second act as a bandleader, the unrelentingly soulful saxophonist/vocalist has ascended into the funk firmament in his own right, leading a righteously grooving outfit that plays with ecstatic precision and ferocious drive. Vocalist and songwriter Deva Mahal will open the show with her superb band, performing a set of groove-heavy R&B. Highly recommended!!! $25/$45/$65 Cover Charge….

Revolution Cafe 3248 22nd St, San Francisco 5:00 PM-8:00 PM Showtime..Westside Jazz Club, lead by the wonderful tenor saxophonist Scott Silverberg, is a collective of innovative jazz musicians performing jazz standards, challenging modern compositions and freshly-updated classics. I have seen this ensemble a number of time and they never dissapoint.. Highly recommended!!! N/C

Bottom Of The Hill 1233 17th St, San Francisco 9:00 PM Showtime. A really good show tonight with indie electro funk hip hop band Man in Space headlining the night. Also on the bill is future jazz, soul & r&b band Ghost & The City and escapism pop band Pink Skies rounding out a great night of music.. $15 Cover Charge..

Cafe du Nord 2174 Market St, San Francisco 7:00 PM Showtime.. Lavay Smith‘s Holiday Speakeasy Concert & Dance featuring burlesque by the amazing Ms. Nutty Boltz. The night includes a swing dance lesson by Nathan Dias of Cat’s Corner. Highly recommended!!!! $20 Cover Charge..

The Riptide 3639 Taravel Street, San Francisco 9:30 PM-Midnight.. A really fun raucous rockabilly band Miss Connie Champagne & The Kissing Cousins will have the Riptide rocking. Highly recommended!!! N/C

Sweetwater Music Hall 19 Corte Madera Ave, Mill Valley 9:00 PM Showtime. Monophonics is one of the best live soul bands I have ever seen! Raised amid the rich musical culture and history of the San Francisco Bay Area, Monophonics proudly carry the torch through the generations into today’s musical landscape. Holding on to tradition, but by no means purists of any kind, they play their own brand of music known as “Psychedelic Soul.” Highly recommended!!!! $32 Cover Charge..

Ivy Room 860 San Pablo Ave, Albany 9:00 PM Showtime.. The John Brothers Piano Company are as innovative as they are timeless playing early jazz meets stride and swing, waltzed through a Barbary saloon. Members are John Thatcher Boomer on piano & clarinet, Arlo Perlstein on piano & trumpet, Jimi Marks on drums & piano and Dustin Smurthwaite on bass & trombone. Highly recommended!!!! $15 Cover Charge..

Yoshis 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM Showtimes.. Con Funk Shun is a star-quality attraction delivering a superb, high-energy show with electrifying choreography, glistening six-part vocal harmonies, and a dash of humor. They are, unquestionably, among the heroes of funk with romantic ballads and dance-party hits galore. Memorable melodies, inventive horn arrangements and clav-guitar woven grooves, make the group absolutely essential to the evolution of funk. This shown should be a bang up way to enter the New Year. Highly recommended!!!!! $49-$89 Cover Charge…

Freight & Salvage 2020 Addison St, Berkeley 8:00 PM Showtime.. Hot Tuna, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, perform with a well-honed and solid power – always in the groove from their years of experience and mutual inspiration. Started as a side project during Jefferson Airplane days, the constant, the very definition of Hot Tuna, has always been Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady. The two boyhood pals have never wavered in one of the most enduring friendships in Rock history. They seem to always shine at the Freight. Highly recommended!!!! Only $80 VIP Tickets available.

Cornerstone Craft Beer & Live Music 2367 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley 8:30 PM Showtime… UK Ska legends The English Beat whose music fuses Latin, ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock will have the house rockin’ at the Cornerstone.. Highly recommended!!! $34 Cover Charge.

If you live in and around Santa Cruz you might want to check out

Moes Alley 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz 9:00 PM Showtime. Con Brio is a seven-piece that plays energetic soul, psych-rock and R&B that’s as fresh and freethinking as the place they call home. With charismatic singer Ziek McCarter bringing the dance moves, splits and all, of James Brown.. Midtown Social is a nine-piece tour-de- force. From the first time that I saw them Midtown immediately became one of my favorite Bay Area bands. The musicianship and fresh vocal arrangements of ranging from funk ,rock hip hop and soul had the place rockin’. Highly recommended!!! $20 Cover Charge..

Sunday December 30th

SF Jazz 201 Franklin St, San Francisco 7:30 PM Showtime.. Ring in the New Year with the king of the funky saxophone and one of the primary architects of modern R&B, Maceo Parker. He spent the first half of his career in the service of funk’s founding fathers, and in his second act as a bandleader, the unrelentingly soulful saxophonist/vocalist has ascended into the funk firmament in his own right, leading a righteously grooving outfit that plays with ecstatic precision and ferocious drive. Vocalist and songwriter Deva Mahal will open the show with her superb band, performing a set of groove-heavy R&B. Highly recommended!!! $25/$45/$65 Cover Charge….

Biscuits and Blues 401 Mason St, San Francisco 7:00 PM & 9:00 PM Showtimes. Daniel Castro is the latest and 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 he has added the three T’s, taste, tone, and technique. His raw passion warms your soul while his deep groove kicks your butt on fine, fresh originals and well chosen covers.. Highly recommended!!! $20 Cover Charge..

The Chapel 777 Valencia St, San Francisco.. 9:00 PM Showtime.. With apologies to the late, great James Brown you’d be hard pressed to find another singer and a band who’s ever worked as hard as Lee Fields & The Expressions, who’s been making soul and funk anthems since 1969 and has earned the nickname “Little JB” for his physical and vocal resemblance with James Brown..Fields has toured the world with musical legends like Kool and the Gang, Sammy Gordon and the Hip-Huggers &O.V Wright. Blues singer Quinn Deveaux and the instrumental classical soul quartet The M-Tet round out the show. Highly recommended!!!!$35 Cover Charge..

Club Deluxe 1511 Haight St, San Francisco 6:00 PM-9:00 PM Showtime.. Tin Cup Serenade is one of the Bay Area’s most exceptional old time jazz band deeply rooted in the blues ragtime, New Orleans jazz, western swing with a little mariachi and calypso thrown in. I really love this band. Highly recommended!! N/C

Cafe Claude 7 Claude Lane, San Francisco. 7:00 PM-10:00 PM Showtime. The Patrick Wolff Trio is deeply rooted in the bebop tradition established by Bird, Clifford Jordan and Dexter Gordon. Patrick is absolutely my favorite Bay Area tenor player and he leads an outstanding group of musicians..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

Sweetwater Music Hall 19 Corte Madera Ave, Mill Valley 9:00 PM Showtime. New Orleans based Americana roots singer/song musician Eric Lindell will be in performance along with blues guitarist Anson Funderburgh. Eric a personnel favorite and great performer. Highly recommended!!!!! $30 Cover Charge…

Freight & Salvage 2020 Addison St, Berkeley 8:00 PM Showtime.. Hot Tuna, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, perform with a well-honed and solid power – always in the groove from their years of experience and mutual inspiration. Started as a side project during Jefferson Airplane days, the constant, the very definition of Hot Tuna, has always been Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady. The two boyhood pals have never wavered in one of the most enduring friendships in Rock history. They seem to always shine at the Freight. Highly recommended!!!! Only $80 VIP Tickets available.

Cornerstone Craft Beer & Live Music 2367 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley 8:30 PM Showtime.. Y&T is known as one the the hardest working blue collar touring bands in hard rock history. The heavy metalmicons perform on one and will guarantee to shake the Cornerstone’s foundation.. Highly recommended!!!!! $35-$99 Cover Charge..

Video Pick of The Week..

In honor of the upcoming Rolling Stones Tour I would like to recommend the spledid documentary Keith Richards: Under The Influence. This is a portrait of Rolling Stones guitarist and pop culture icon Keith Richards. As Richards records his first solo album in two decades, he reflects on the hard-living celebrity life that has made him an indelible fixture in rock’n’roll history. Morgan Neville directs.