There are numerous worthy events in the San Francisco Bay Area to promote, and if I wrote 365 entries each year, I still would not get to all of them. While this weekend features the behemoth Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park, the best stuff to check out is invariably the smaller gigs in smaller venues the evenings after these performances.
Friday's record release party at The BeatBox Club on 11th Street & Folsom is particularly cool. Ralph Carney, known as one of the co-founders of the wonderful, original and indescribable Akron band Tin Huey, as well as a presence on recordings by The B-52s, Tom Waits, and a fellow whose signature sound on numerous instruments can be found in a gazillion bands and soundtracks, will be leading the Serious Jass Project at 10:00 p.m., and then its offshoot ensemble, The Cottontails, for the 11:00 set.
Ralph Carney's Serious Jass Project has a new CD, Seriously, out on Smog Veil Records. This band, featuring Michael McIntosh on piano, Ari Munkress on bass and Randy Odell on drums, pays tribute to the music of Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman, Benny Moten, Henry "Red" Allen, Coleman Hawkins, Andy Kirk and Ben Webster - with touches of Sun Ra and Spike Jones thrown in for good measure.
I'm bias when it comes to Ralph Carney; he and approximately 47 musical instruments were involved in several shows I produced. Although my company-on-a-shoestring, Reet Spleet Productions, certainly could not afford a symphony, we could hire Ralph and Beth Custer to essentially provide a two-person orchestra. If you're running a 1921 Felix The Cat cartoon and need someone who can improvise the perfect sound effect, on the spot, something sonically amazing that you would never think of - Ralph is your man!
Ralph's encyclopedic riffology and swing will be in the spotlight this Friday night. There will be fun and stellar musicianship with good humor (but no ice cream that I know of).
Ralph Carney's Serious Jass Project's Gala Record And CD Release Party
The BeatBox Club
314 11th Street (cross street is Folsom)
San Francisco, CA
9pm - Rob Reich Trio
10pm - Ralph Carney's Serious Jass Project
11pm - The Cottontails
Buy advance tickets here
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