Audrey

We tuned in to Jake Shimabukuru via streaming on Friday night, and to our surprise, we liked his music and entertaining style so much that we bought tickets for Sunday night. After a fun French dinner of crepes and French onion soup at Chez Maman West, we strolled over to SFJazz to catch the show. Jake performed a wide range of music from Flamenco-style to a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody and While my Guitar Gently Weeps. His take was lighthearted yet virtuosic. Overall, good fun. ...

We’ve enjoyed Maria Schneider several times now, but this is the first time we’ve heard the Orchestra in San Francisco. The compositions were lush and original, and ranged across many of her albums. We were glad to have time to catch a quick meal of Thai food beforehand with Micah and Victoria. “Sputnik” was my favorite tune this time, with the encore “Walking by Flashlight” a close second. Audrey ordered a copy of the book of poems that inspired many compositions, 100 Postcards to Jim Harrison. ...

“I’ll take you there” sings Mavis Staples, famously, and she did – it was a soulful, happy place. The minimalist backup band, guitar-bass-drums, was outstanding – filling the space with energy. We especially loved Rick Holstrom, a blues guitar player. He made his Telecaster sing in every way it should, extracting a series of tasty, and thrilling tones. The church is still in Mavis Staples; we felt we were in a wonderful Sunday gospel service, with Mavis ever urging our spirits higher. The surprise song of the set was the Talking Heads cover, Slippery People ( “What’s a matter with him? He’s alright.”" ) It fit perfectly. “Friendship” was also a touching song. ...

Dance we must, as the motown groove of San Francisco favorite “Pride and Joy” is undeniable! And dance we did, all night long, with our friends Mike and Fong. The packed house brought out every 55 year old in Menlo Park California who isn’t afraid to boogie. When they band closed with “Shout!” it was quite entertaining to look around and see everyone (including us) complaining that we can’t “get a little bit softer now; get a little bit lower now”—our knees hurt! ...

Fred Armisen introduced his show as “comedy for musicians” - and indeed, it featured lots of funny talk about music. An evening with Fred Armisen is a bit more like hanging out with a slightly off-kilter, ironic cousin than it is like traditional standup comedy. He did impressions of punk rock in every country across the world. He put trotted out a bass guitar and chomped on the headstock, which turned out to be a brownie. He played a great sounding Rickenbacker bass for a bit. Sitting at the drums, he did impressions of every punk rock band stretching across two decades. He’s smart and funny, and got us home in time for bed on a school night. ...