LIVE at Piedmont Piano Company
Michael Smolens
The Holiday Project Sextet
”Holiday music you thought you knew…”
The Holiday Project Sextet is one of the few small ensembles in the country to present innovative reconstructions of Christmas Pop and Chanukah songs along with timeless Spirituals. The most daring work is a melding of Martin Luther King's favorite spiritual "Precious Lord" with Aaron Copland's ballet score to "Appalachian Spring". The group is lead by award-winning composer/arranger Michael Smolens and features some of the most creative touring jazz instrumentalists in the Bay Area, along with a stunning gospel vocalist. The project has been featured at the Herbst Theater, as well as numerous concert series and house concerts.
$25 Advance tickets
$30 at the door
We are offering a limited number of tickets to attend these performance in person. Advance purchase is recommended. Masking is encouraged but no longer required.
"Terrific ensemble. Congrats on your performance today." — Cory Combs (SFMUSIC DAY Artistic Director)
"Michael’s arrangements and compositions are masterfully crafted, played by some of the most accomplished musicians in their respective fields. These pieces take the listener on a three-dimensional musical experience that is delightfully unpredictable. He seamlessly weaves style and meter changes, pairing improvisational with fully written sections, into a journey that incorporates influences from around the world and song forms from across the centuries." — Ellen Robinson (jazz recording artist/composer/educator/choral conductor)
"A truly inspiring ensemble . . . Your version of 'Over My Head, I Hear Music’ perfectly illustrates the meeting place of Spirituals and Jazz.” — Rev. Carolyn Douglas
AARON GERMAIN (acoustic & electric basses/kalimba)
Aaron began his musical career in Massachusetts, but has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2000. He has always struck a balance between being a consummate sideman and a composer/bandleader. Playing both upright and electric basses, he is adept at playing diverse genres of music, which reflects in his eclectic compositions. He has performed with musicians such as Yusef Lateef, Stanley Jordan, Randy Brecker, Paul McCandless, Nguyen Le, Andy Narell, Michael Wolff, Eric reed, Bonnie Raitt, Barry Finnerty, Mary Wilson, Paula West, Melba Moore, and Tom Coster, among many others.
Touring has allowed him to play at national venues such as the Blue Note (NY) and Birdland (NY); Blues Alley (Washington DC) and Zanzibar Blue (Philadelphia); the San Francisco, North Beach, Fillmore, and San Jose Jazz Festivals; The Baked Potato (LA) and Humphries By The Bay (San Diego); and internationally at Z Imagine, Donna and MEG (Tokyo); Ronnie Scott’s (London), Jazz Club Ferrara (Italy), Chorus (Switzerland), Franz K. (Germany); The Bromo Jazz Festival (Indonesia), Ambleside Days (UK) and Band On The Wall (UK), among many others.
Aaron has four albums of original music: “Before You Go”, “Chance” (on Origin Records), “Bell Projections”, and “Opus”. www.aarongermain.com
BRIAN FISHLER (drums/recorder)
An east/west coast drummer/percussionist, Brian grew up in Novato, CA. He started playing the drums at the age of four years old and went on to win various awards and scholarships throughout high school. Fishler played professionally in the Bay Area before moving to NYC in 2005. Some highlights include performing at the Montreal and Montreux Jazz Festivals, and the Carson Daly and Jonathan Ross shows. Brian can be heard in the 2017 films "The Lego Batman Movie" as well as "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice". He continues to tour internationally and domestically with various artists and bands of different genres.
Fishler has played for and performed with jazz artists: Craig Handy, Ed Cherry, Bruce Foreman, Ron Affif, Erik Jekabson, Marcus Shelby, Joel Frahm, Fred Hersch, Brian Charette, Tom Guarna, Noel Jewkes, Lori Bell, Brad Leili, Carla Helmbrecht, Mike Olmos, Andrew Speight, Josh Nelson, Dave McNab, Adam Klipple, Kenny Washington, Petula Clark, Michael C. Hall, Carol Channing, The Max Weinberg and Chico Hamilton Orchestras, and pop artists: Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) Richard Cheese, Aaron Freeman (of Ween), Bernie Worrell (of Funkadelic) , Donovan Leitch, The Hot Sardines, George Gee, Fred Schneider (B-52’s), and many other talents.
ERIK JEKABSON (trumpet/flugelhorn)
Erik Jekabson is a freelance composer, arranger, trumpet player and educator who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is equally busy composing, arranging and playing for different bands, leading his own groups, teaching a wide variety of students and running the Young Musicians Program at the Jazzschool in Berkeley.
As an arranger and composer, he’s arranged for symphony orchestras (the San Francisco Symphony, the BBC Radio Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the Coltrane: Legacy for Orchestra Project) vocalists (Madeleine Peyroux, Ani DiFranco, Jane Krakowski, Jackie Ryan, Kenny Washington, Madeline Eastman) and jazz ensembles (The Daggerboard-Erik Jekabson Orchestra, the Erik Jekabson String-tet, and his own Electric Squeezebox Orchestra, which holds a monthly residency at the Jazzschool in Berkeley.)
As a trumpet player, he’s spent time on the road with John Mayer, Galactic and Illinois Jacquet, and has performed and recorded with other notable musicians such as Taj Mahal, Maceo Parker, Boz Skaggs and Kermit Ruffins. He has released eight albums under his own name (including four on his own record label, Jekab’s Music), and produced three records with his big band the Electric Squeezebox Orchestra. www.erikjekabson.com
SHELDON BROWN (sop./alto/ten. saxes/bs. clarinet)
Composer and woodwind multi-instrumentalist Sheldon Brown has been involved in the San Francisco Bay Area creative music scene for over 30 years. He is currently performing nationally with Omar Sosa's group Quarteto Americanos and Bobby Weir's band Wolf Brothers (as a member of the Wolfpack). Recent appearances with Quarteto Americanos include a week at Birdland in New York and shows at The Jazz Alley in Seattle, Yoshi's in Oakland and Catalina's in Los Angeles. Notable performances with Wolf Brothers include appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. (with the National Symphony Orchestra), Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and Radio City Music Hall in NYC (which featured guest artist bassist Ron Carter).
In June of 2014 Brown premiered his extended composition "Blood of the Air" at the 32nd Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival. Based on the speech melodies of Beat-era Surrealist poet Philip Lamantia, "Blood of the Air" was made possible with the help of Chamber Music America's 2013 New Jazz Works: Commissioning and Ensemble program (funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation), and with additional support from San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music.
BENJASOUL (voice/text setting/keyboard/West-African percussion)
BenjaSoul is a composer, pianist, percussionist, and song leader who specializes in music of the Black Spiritual tradition. He can often be found leading songs at benefit concerts, vigils, protest actions, sacred services, circle songs, and workshops. Benja has directed and founded both adult and youth choirs for 20 years, including the Joyful Noise! Gospel Singers and a newly formed East Bay civil rights choir.
Benja is a third-generation professional musician. His mother is an opera singer and “grandaddy” was a jazz pianist who worked with Sarah Vaughan and Charles Mingus. Benja counts among his mentors luminaries like Dr. Ysaye Barnwell of Sweet Honey in the Rock, concert pianist Kai Pangune Kim, and a host of session musicians in the world of jazz.
When not performing music, Benja is a writer and public speaker on issues of racial justice, civil rights, and Black History. He is on the board of directors of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, an immigrant rights and anti-incarceration nonprofit, and is a certified executive coach through the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute.
MICHAEL SMOLENS (piano/keyboard/alto flute/arranger/composer)
Michael began composing at age 10 and was influenced by progressive rock and pop groups of the late 60’s — notably Buffalo Springfield, Sons of Champlin, and Joni Mitchell — along with J.S. Bach and Brahms. Jazz did not land on his radar until his second year of college and international music followed shortly after graduating.
Since moving to the Bay Area in 1979, he has formed ten different ensembles — from duos to 20-person groups — that featured his writing and arrangements/reconstructions of jazz, folk, pop, rock, gospel, electronica, classical, and pattern-based styles; North Indian, Brazilian, West-African, and Turkish/Sufi influenced works; and spoken word/poetry. He has been commissioned by Meet the Composer, Bernard Osher Foundation, University of California, See's Sunday Night Series, and numerous vocalists, lyricists, churches, and local arts organizations. Besides The Holiday Project, he currently leads the Karma Roulette Quartet (world music) and VoKaL ParTy (12-person vocal ensemble).
Michael has recorded and/or performed with instrumentalists Stefon Harris, Zakir Hussain, Akira Tana, Alan Hall, Paul McCandless, Paul Hanson, David Balakrishnan, Evan Price, and Steve Erquiaga; and vocalists Rhiannon, David Worm, Bryan Dyer, Katy Stephen, and Claudia Schmidt. Four of his six CDs are free improvisations with multi-instrumentalist Sheldon Brown.
Michael has been teaching in various settings since 1974, and is completing a book on the art of practicing and his first volume of poetry. www.secondsightmusic.com