Eric Robert Lewis (born May 13, 1973), popularly known as ELEW, found cross-over success playing rock and pop music. He is known for his unconventional and physical playing style, which eschews a piano bench and includes reaching inside the piano lid to pull at the strings directly, as well as the creation that he calls “Rockjazz”, a genre that “takes the improvisational aspect of jazz and ‘threads it through the eye of the needle of rock.
Eric Lewis / Piano
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Live @ Alfie’s CD release party!!! Seventh in a series of popular live recordings set at Alfie’s, a long-established jazz club in Roppongi, Yasuko Nakamura is an authentic jazz singer reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Her voice is rich in expression as she expresses the emotions of the moments in which she lives, and we hope you will listen to her fascinating live performances where her personality is on full display.
Track List: 1. But Beautiful | 2. Round Midnight | 3. For All We Know | 4. Body and Soul | 5. When October Goes | 6. House is Not a Home | 7. At Last | 8. Day In Day Out | 9. PS I Love You
The Performers: Yasuko Nakamura ~ vocal | Lynn Heitetsu ~ piano | Yutaka Yoshida ~ bass | Hiroshi Murakami ~ drums
Cover: ¥4950
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Steve Turre – trombone & shells | Nicholas Payton – trumpet | Ron Blake – saxophones | Christian Sands – piano | Buster Williams – drums | Lenny White – drums
Steve Turre, trombone master and innovating performer on seashells, celebrates the release of his exciting new album, Saynas, which is surprisingly his first live recording in 50 years as a leader. Its title was inspired by the brightly colored robes of the Sanyasi, Hindu monks who have renounced worldly goods and pursuits. It also happens to be Turre’s first recorded composition and first solo on Woody Shaw’s 1975 release The Moontrane. Downbeat says, “Few artists ‘own’ their instrument to the degree that trombonist Steve Turre does. Whether playing the music of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, performing as a member of the Saturday Night Live house band, or with one of his own units, his voice is distinctive and memorable.” He convenes an impressive and historic sextet for the occasion with music legends bassist Buster Williams and drummer Lenny White, joined by trumpeter Nicholas Payton, saxophonist and SNL band colleague Ron Blake, and pianist Christian Sands.
“The jazz world needs more Steve Turres. A powerful technician with a quick wit, Turre is perhaps the leading trombonist of this generation.”
– Rolling Stone
*PLEASE NOTE: All 7PM and 9PM shows at Smoke are Dinner Shows
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Giveton Gellin – trumpet | Jon Beshay – tenor saxophone | Eric Reed – piano | Nick Joz – bass | Ethan Kogan – drums
Pianist Eric Reed leads this exciting quintet–Generation X, Y, and Z. His latest album, Black, Brown, and Blue, celebrates the rich and diverse music of composers of color. Reed calls the work a personal milestone and “the culmination of my life thus far. I’m freer than I’ve ever been in my personal life, and I’m freer than I’ve ever been in my music. I’m accepting who I am. I love who I am. And as I continue to evolve – my artistry, my sexuality, and my overall humanity – my music will continue to become more and more personal.” A widely respected and popular musician and mentor, Reed first rose to fame with Wynton Marsalis and has performed with artists as varied as Jessye Norman, Quincy Jones, and Patti Labelle. His perpetually swinging and sophisticated style has made him one of the important ambassadors of the music.
“Eric Reed has fully established himself in the forefront of jazz pianists.” – All About Jazz
*PLEASE NOTE: All 7PM and 9PM shows at Smoke are Dinner Shows
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Cuban piano maestro Omar Sosa, a longtime Healdsburg favorite, returns to town with his Quarteto Americanos featuring Cuban bassist Ernesto Mazar Kindelán, Berkeley drummer Josh Jones, and Oakland multi-reed player Sheldon Brown, who’s spent much of the past two years touring with the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir. Though long based in Barcelona, Sosa gained fame while living in Oakland, and his musical journey from Camagüey and Havana to Ecuador and eventually the East Bay is detailed in the new documentary Omar Sosa’s 88 Well-Tuned Drums, which screens as part of this program. An omnivorously creative figure whose music encompasses Afro-Cuban folkloric chants and European Romanticism, post-bop and hip hop, West African grooves and ambient moods, he’s released more than three dozen albums documenting collaborations with an international cast of fellow sound explorers.
5:00 PM | Documentary Screening
7:30 PM | Concert
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