Doors at 6:30 pm; Film Screening at 7:00 pm
Tickets are $15 / $20 at the Door
Evolutionary Blues... The Blues is an earthy, soul-stirring mélange of roots music and personal narratives that became the defining soundtrack of Black America. Wherever Black people settled that soundtrack took on a local flavor. In Northern California, the influences came from the musicianship of Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma. Seventh Street in West Oakland supported and bolstered Blacks who answered the call of the war effort in the late 1940’s. Entrepreneurship created a fully contained community that provided work, homes and all the necessities of life including a fully developed music scene. Watch as more than 30 local musicians share their inspiration and describe the trajectory of the Oakland Blues: how it evolved and what it has become.
Isabel Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author of The Warmth of Other Suns, Robert O. Self, author of American Babylon: The Struggle for Post War Oakland, and Rickey Vincent, author of Funk and Party Music, provide background giving these musical stories a historical context. The film incudes a catapulting soundtrack, amazing period images - newly digitized negatives from EF Joseph’s Collection, film clips from Marlon Riggs’ and Peter Webster’s film Long Train Running, others from private collections, even the Library of Congress.
Listen to entertaining interviews from Blues Legends like Sugar Pie DeSanto, Bob Geddins, Jr., Marvin Holmes, Faye Carol, Larry Vann, Lenny Williams, Ronnie Stewart, John Turk, Leon Williams, Alabama Mike, Ron Wells, Fantastic Negrito, The Hartfield Brothers, Freddie Hughes, Wylie Trass, Jesse James, Lady Bianca, Tom Bowden, and D’Wayne Wiggins. Then Lee Hildebrand, a music journalist and James C. Moore, Sr., record producer and talent manager, share their perspectives. We have incorporate legends such as Charles Sullivan, T-Bone Walker, Lowell Fulson, Jimmy McCracklin, Big Mama Thronton, and Omar Sharriff with short vignettes. Bob Geddins, Sr. and Johnny Talbot and De Thangs, and even Larry Graham are included through the stories the musicians tell about their impact on the scene.
With roots in Kansas City, Macon , Georgia and a father teaching her Texas Blues piano as a child, Lady Bianca has evolved into an icon in the San Francisco Bay Area where She's known as "Queen of the Blues and Gospel".
She sang, recorded and toured the world with Van Morrison for a decade as well as playing for John Lee Hooker and as featured vocalist with Frank Zappa.
With her writing partner, Stanley Lippitt, she has written over 300 songs and produced, arranged, and recorded 8 albums , including the August 2014 release "Real People Music on her own Magic-O Records label (Home of the Mighty Oakland Sound).
Lady Bianca has toured the country with her trio and was featured in last year's International Boogie Woogie Festival in Lugano, Switzerland.
In January 2015 Lady Bianca represented The Golden Gate Blues Blues Society in Memphis as a contestant in the International Blues Challenge in the Solo/Duo Category.
Lady Bianca has a new a new concept of a digital 45 entitled Blues is on the Menu released on Magic-O Records in 2016.
2017 finds Lady Bianca's voice singing "Oh Freedom" in the Roots award winning film Documentary Gina's Journey. The Search for William Grimmes.
Larry Vann has made an impressive mark on the Bay Area music scene over the years with his authentic, piercing, all-encompassing musical technique. One listen to his compelling, penetrating and intoxicating grooves clearly demonstrates why he has been in such huge demand for sessions and tours with the likes of Elvin Bishop and Merl Saunders. His top-notch drumming and percussion has garnered him popular and critical success throughout the United States and Europe, but Vann has also wowed critics and crowds alike with his sultry singing voice, buoyed by his melodic, inventive songwriting.
A professional performer since age 15, Vann draws from a deep well of musical influence, including gospel, blues, funk, jazz and soul. These various genres have collectively shared his unique sound, which is in full display on this CD.
Vann's resume reads like a “Who's Who” list, having toured and recorded with those musicians listed above, as well as The Whispers, Martha Reeves, The Marvalettes, Charles Brown, Buffy Saint-Marie, Randy Crawford, and many more. His work with the popular San Francisco Bay Area Blues Group, Ron Thompson and the Resistors contributed to the band earning two Bay Area Music Awards.
