Piedmont Piano Company is pleased to present
Rebecca Kleinmann & Tiffany Austin
Bossa meets the Blues
In the latest installment of the "Bossa meets the Blues" concert series, flutist Rebecca Kleinmann and vocalist Tiffany Austin debut their collaboration, melding jazz, bossa, and original compositions. Featuring an all-star rhythm section: Tammy Lynne Hall (piano), Jeff Chambers (bass), and Leon Joyce (drums), and special guest guitarist Ian Faquini. Don't miss these brilliant artists sharing music from Mozart to Charlie Parker and Herbie Hancock and new co-creations!
$25 General Admission
The West Coast’s fastest rising jazz vocalist, Tiffany Austin combines classic jazz tradition with a deep love for blues, spirituals, and contemporary soul. Hailed as a "fully formed masterpiece" by All About Jazz, Tiffany's new album, "Unbroken" has earned rave reviews from both Downbeat and Jazziz, and has reached #16 on the Jazz Week chart.
Tiffany has performed with jazz luminaries (including pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist Rodney Whitaker, vibraphonist Roy Ayers, and saxophonist John Handy), and continues to appear at illustrious venues including Birdland NYC, Dizzy's NYC, SFJAZZ, and Walt Disney Music Hall in Los Angeles.
A graduate of UC Berkeley’s Boalt School of Law, Austin decided to forgo a career as a lawyer to focus on music, her true passion, and she’s been raising the bar ever since. tiffanyaustin.com
Rebecca Kleinmann is an acclaimed flutist, singer, composer and music educator with a professional career marked by diversity and improvisation. In the words of master Jazz pianist Benny Green, "Kleinmann is masterful and selfless in her ability and inclination of melding her sound with her environment.” She has indeed immersed herself in especially rich musical environments, performing and recording with musical greats and world-class dancers. Rebecca rockets and flows between genres, leading The Rebecca Kleinmann Trio and Jazz Quartet, performing with Brazilian Choro and Forró bands, Classical chamber ensembles and accompanying acclaimed flamenco artists. Her international career has taken her to perform on stages in Brazil, Argentina, Africa, Europe and Australia including at Birdland in New York City, the International Women in Jazz Festival in Melborne; SESC in São Paulo, the Blue Whale in Los Angeles as well as being featured at the SF Jazz Center, the San Jose Jazz Festival, Yoshi’s San Francisco and Oakland, Piedmont Piano, the Sound Room, Oracle Arena and the Paramount Theatre closer to her Oakland home. Rebecca's recently released new album, "Intuição Verdadeira" (True Intuition) features collaborations with Brazilian artists and music written for her by living legend Hermeto Pascoal. rebeccakleinmann.com
Tammy Lynne Hall is an exceptional soulful virtuosic pianist with a core sound that is a fusion of Jazz, Gospel and Classical music. She has with worked award-winning artists including the Supreme Mary Wilson, David ‘Fathead Newman', Regina Carter, Marcus Shelby, Terrence Brewer, Linda Tillery, and Etta Jones. She has traveled and performed extensively in the US, Japan, Europe and Mexico and performed in world-class venues including the Kennedy Center (Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival), Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, Sala Filharmonica (Trento, ITALY), Herbst Theatre, Monterey Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, Yoshi's and the SFJazz Center.
Tammy’s involvement with her musical and cultural community include working as an instructor (faculty)/mentor, with non-profit arts organizations making music and theatre accessible to under-funded inner city children. These include Adventures In Music, The Handful Players Children’s Theatre, Jazz Camp for Girls at the Jazz School, The Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, Stanford Jazz Workshop, Zellerbach Foundation, and Musically Minded Academy.
Tammy has also accompanied Gospel choirs under the direction of Valerie Joi Fiddmont and shares a Music Ministry with the Centers for Spiritual throughout the Bay Area and California. tammyhall.com
Veteran bassist Jeff Chambers is known for his impeccable timing, dynamic rhythms and improvisational dexterity. Now known as one of the foremost bassists in the country, he has played with many great jazz artists such as Ahmad Jamal, Larry Coryell, Dizzy Gillespie, Gonzalo Rubalcaba.
Chambers masterfully breaks the conventionally accepted boundaries of his instrument and forges new melodic possibilities. According to San Francisco Chronicle music critic Phil Elwood, "Jeff Chambers makes playing upright bass look and sound so easy with his rhythmic sense and melodic vocabulary". He has played at venues such as the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland); Concord Jazz Festival (CA); Monterey Jazz Festival (CA); Fujitsu Jazz Festival (Japan), the Newport Jazz Festival (RI) and countless others.
A gifted educator, Jeff Chambers has taught bass, improvisation and combo direction at various institutions including The Brubeck Institute, University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA); San Francisco State University (San Francisco, CA); Jazz Camp West (Oakland, CA); The Jazz School (Berkeley, CA); Berkeley High School (Berkeley, CA); Fresno State University (Fresno, CA); and Dominican University of California (San Rafael, CA) and though out the greater Bay Area public school system. Chambers also teaches privately. jeffchambersjazz.com
Leon Joyce Jr. is known as a virtuosic drummer whose deep groove and infectious swing bring irresistible smiles to musicians and audiences alike. His musical career was shaped and nurtured by his service in the Marine Corps from 1976-1997, during which time he served as Drum Major and received numerous prestigious awards.
As a drummer Leon has worked for a wide variety of top artists. A short list includes Ramsey Lewis, Nancy Wilson, Smokey Robinson, Monty Alexander, Barry Harris, Clark Terry, Ellis Marsalis, Larry Coryell, Barbara Morrison, Patti LaBelle & Mary Wilson. Leon is a regular with the Leon Joyce Trio, Quartet and Quintet, the Sista Monica Band, and the Jamie Davis Quintet.
Leon has appeared at many of the top International Jazz Festivals, including Montreux & Lugano Jazz Festivals in Switzerland and the Villingen Swing/Jazz Festival in Germany. Nationally, he has appeared in the Monterey Jazz and Blues, Playboy Jazz and JVC Jazz Festivals in California, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in Louisiana, Chicago Jazz Festival, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, the Chicago Blues Festival & the South Shore Jazz and Heritage Festival and the Carmel Jazz Fest. In addition to his rich musical career, Leon is a gifted educator and clinician working with youth and adults in Chicago and the Bay Area. leonjoycejr.com
Ian Faquini is a Brazilian composer, guitarist, and vocalist who was born in Brasília and raised in Berkeley, California. At the age of 15, Ian met the legendary Brazilian composer Guinga, who became his mentor and inspired him to pursue a career in music, drawing on rich musical traditions of his Brazilian heritage. Ian went on to study at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley and joined the faculty immediately after graduating. He is also on the faculty at California Brazil Camp, alongside musical legends including Ivan Lins, Guinga, Chico Pinheiro, and Spok.
In 2014, he released his debut album with flutist Rebecca Kleinmann, entitled Brasiliense, featuring all original compositions by Faquini and drawing from a wide range of musical sources from the 20th century, from impressionism and jazz to the great Brazilian songwriting tradition. Faquini released his second album, Metal na Madeira, in 2016, with acclaimed vocalist Paula Santoro, who hails from Minas Gerais and his third, Setting Rays of Summer with vocalist trombonist, Natalie Cressman in 2019. As a composer, Faquini presents a fresh take on traditional Northeastern rhythms such as Maracatu, Frevo, Baião, and Xote. Faquini’s music keeps one foot firmly planted in the past while stepping briskly towards the future with modern harmonic and melodic structures.