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Larry Vuckovich All Star Sextet
Larry Vuckovich returns to the piano store with his all-star ensemble. The crisp, bright, clean unison sound of marimba and guitar beautifully projects the melodic repertoire of this ensemble’s world music jazz mix: swingin’ bebop/Afro-Cuban salsa + boleros/Balkan ethnic Middle Eastern/boogaloo bluesy funky sounds, Larry Vuckovich on piano, Tommy Kesecker on marimba, Kai Lyons on guitar, Hector Lugo on Latin percussion and vocals, John Wiitala on bass, and Akira Tana on drums.
$25 General Admission
We are offering a limited number of tickets to attend this performance in person. Advance purchase is required. COVID-19 SAFETY: Masking is recommended but no longer required.
LARRY VUCKOVICH
Larry Vuckovich has won acclaim from critics and jazz audiences for his deeply imaginative style and repertoire heard at prestigious North American and European jazz clubs, concert halls and festivals. He is as equally at home in world music/classically influenced modal jazz as he is in hard-swinging bebop, post-bop, contemporary jazz, and down-home blues. The New York Times notes that his unique outlook and collection of influences "set him apart from most pianists who are heard regularly in New York". The Village Voice comments on his "book of piano gems that will keep you guessing." The Toronto Globe and Mail calls him "a musician who sits apart from the rest by virtue... of his taste for both the exotic and the exquisite".
Larry Vuckovich is recognized as a pioneer, being the first in the US to fuse Balkan ethnic, Gypsy – Roma folk elements with American jazz. His 1980 LP, Blue Balkan, featuring Bobby Hutcherson, is a landmark recording in this genre. Here is a link to major reviews https://larryvuckovich.com/audio-blue_balkan_2002.htm
Cited by piano legend Barry Harris as "one of the premier West Coast pianists", Mr. Vuckovich brought his Jazz-Latin Trio/Quartet, featured on his two piano trio/quartet CDs, to Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca Cola in New York. On the same tour, Marian McPartland invited him to interview and perform with her on her Piano Jazz show, broadcast to national and global NPR affiliates. larryvuckovich.com
TOMMY KESECKER
For decades, San Francisco-based vibraphonist and marimbist Tommy Kesecker has delighted audiences with his virtuosic performances and has shared his wealth of knowledge with students of all ages. Chronicle staff writer Jesse Hamlin once referred to Tommy as “a cross between Milt Jackson, a Jamaican steel drummer and a Balinese gamelan player.”
Whether playing thrilling Jazz compositions in concert with the Klobas/Kesecker Ensemble or enchanting renditions of pieces from the Great American Songbook for private or corporate events, Tommy always brings tremendous passion and skill to everything he does.
Tommy’s musical vision is masterfully portrayed on two recordings with the Klobas/Kesecker Ensemble, which he co-leads with double bassist Pat Klobas. Their debut CD, “No Gravity,” (2008) delivers a rich tapestry of original pieces and fresh takes on some well-known Jazz classics, with world-renowned tabla master Zakir Hussain contributing some delicious Indian flavors to the mix. The Klobas/Kesecker Ensemble released “Moment’s Notice” in 2014, featuring Tommy on vibraphone and marimba, Pat Klobas on double bass and electric bass, David Rokeach on drums and Terrence Brewer on electric guitar. tkvibes.com
KAI LYONS
Kai Lyons is from the Excelsior District of San Francisco and was surrounded by music and community from an early age. He completed his studies at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in 2012 as the first to graduate from the acclaimed Classical Guitar Program, directed by Scott Cmiel. From 2012-2014, on full scholarship, Kai attended the prestigious jazz program at William Paterson University of New Jersey, directed by Mulgrew Miller. He studied with Vincent Herring, Gene Bertoncini, Harold Mabern, Rich Perry, and Hal Galper. Kai received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from San Francisco State University where he studied with Andrew Speight, Michael Zisman and Hafez Modirzadeh.
Ever since returning to the Bay Area in 2015, he has freelanced extensively and also traveled frequently to New York City, New Orleans, Brazil and the Caribbean on music trips. In 2018 he participated in Master Class: Orff-Afrique 2018 in Ghana, Africa.
Besides working with his own trio, Kai has performed with Mike Clark and Donald Harrison of Herbie Hancock’s Original Headhunters, Louis Romero, award-winning organist Wil Blades, Larry Vuckovich, Sueños and Illy Bogart. kailyons.com
HECTOR LUGO
Hector Lugo is a percussionist, singer, songwriter, producer, and educator. A native of Puerto Rico, he has performed and recorded with a variety of prominent artist in the Bay Area’s Latin, Jazz, and Afro-Caribbean music scenes – including Louis Romero and Grupo Mazacote, the Larry Vuckovich Jazz-Latin Quartet, Jackeline Rago and the Venezuelan Music Project, Bobby Céspedes and Conjunto Céspedes, John Santos and the Machete Ensemble, as well as internationally artists such as salsa great Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez, the Veracruz based Son Jarocho ensemble Mono Blanco, the late great Puerto Rican percussionist Luis Chichito Cepeda, Modesto Cepeda, and the Los Cepeda Folkloric Ensemble from Puerto Rico.
He is the founder and director of the Caribbean roots music and dance ensemble La Mixta Criolla and musical director of the Afro-Puerto Rican folkloric ensemble and education project Aguacero. Hector has lectured on the history of Puerto Rican music at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Mills College, San Francisco State University, and Humbolt State University, and has taught workshops on Latin percussion in the Bay Area, Mexico, and Spain.
JOHN WIITALA
John Wiitala has worked with some of the greatest names in jazz, including Joe Henderson, Junior Cook, Charlie Rouse, James Moody, Bud Shank, and Cecil Payne. He has toured with Richie Cole, Arturo Sandoval, Shorty Rogers, and Jessica Williams, and has played at jazz festivals around the world, including Monterey, North Sea, Montreux, Detriot, and JVC/Concord. His recording credits include work with Scott Hamilton, Jessica Williams, Mark Levine, as well as Anton Schwartz.
AKIRA TANA
Born and raised in California, Akira Tana earned degrees from Harvard University and the New England Conservatory of Music. Tana has worked with Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Zoot Sims, Hubert Laws, Milt Jackson, Jim Hall, Art Farmer, The Paul Winter Consort, Paquito D'Rivera, James Moody, J.J. Johnson, Lena Horne, The Manhattan Transfer, Ruth Brown, Charles Aznavour, Maurice Hines, and Van Dyke Parks, among many other. He has appeared on over 200 recordings.
In the 90's, Tana co-led a quintet with the bassist Rufus Reid called TanaReid, has five releases, "Yours and Mine" and "Passing Thoughts," on Concord Records and "Blue Motion" and "Looking Forward," and “Back to Front,” on Evidence Music. On Sons of Sound, Akira has two releases as a leader, "Moon Over the World" and "Secret Agent Men." The third US releasee on Sons of Sound as a leader is a project by the Secret Agent Men Band playing themes from the movies of James Bond, entitled “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” featuring the vocalist Annie Sellick. A fourth release on VegaMusic-USA is a project entitled “JAZZaNOVA,” that features the vocalists Claudio Amaral, Claudia Villela, Jackie Ryan, Carla Helmbrecht, and Sandy Cressman. Guest artists include Branford Marsalis and Arturo Sandoval. Also available are three recent releases as a leader,“Otonowa,” "Stars Across the Ocean," and "Ai San San (Love's Radiance)," which features jazz interpretations of Japanese folk and pop melodies that date as far back as the 1800’s. This group has completed seven goodwill/charity tours of Tohoku performing and teaching for communities still rebuilding from the Earthquake/Tsunami of 2011. An active teacher and clinician, Tana has taught at Rutgers University, Queens College, Jersey City State College, New York University, San Francisco State University, California Jazz Conservatory and is currently on the faculty at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Mr. Tana is a product endorser of YAMAHA DRUMS, SABIAN CYMBALS, and VIC FIRTH STICKS. akiratana.com