Tickets to the performance are available HERE

Another interview brought to you from our Oberlin Conservatory intern Chase.  I will let Chase introduce this one from the lap top in his dorm room..

“As you can see it is much shorter than the other interviews I have done. This is mainly because he directed me to his extensive and articulate bio on his webpage (http://www.bengoldberg.net/bio)… You may also want to add the link to his recently released album on band camp (http://ben-goldberg–bag-production-records.bandcamp.com/)… he was kind enough to give me a free copy!” 

Chase Kuesel: Talk about your history with Intersection and what we can expect for the upcoming show.

Ben Goldberg: I haven’t played at the new Intersection and I’m looking forward to that. I’ve played a few times at the one on Valencia Street. To tell you the truth I don’t think I ever played there as a leader, so this is probably the first time I’ve ever presented my own group at Intersection. I’ve played there as a sideman with Scott Amendola, Sarah Wilson and others but never as a leader. So I’m definitely looking forward to it. All the guys in the group are old friends of mine and I’m looking forward to presenting a variety of music that comes from the various projects I’ve done recently. Some songs are going to come from a project of mine called Come Back, Elliot Smith; some others might be from the Orphic Machine [Ben’s nonet] book. So it should be a nice opportunity to browse through my catalogue and pick tunes that are fun to play.

Tell us about the group for the upcoming concert. Is this a working unit, or is this your first time performing together?

Yes to both questions, really. It’s not a working unit in the sense that we haven’t gone on tour and performed a lot of concerts. It is a working unit in the sense that I’ve worked very deeply with each of the musicians in the group in various settings. There are some people you just know and like to play with, and for me Rob [Suddeth, tenor sax], David [Ewell, bass] and Scott [Amendola, drums] are those guys. So I would say it really is a working unit just because these guys know me and they know what I want, which is for them to just be themselves. That might sound like a funny thing to say, but it really takes a long time to get that type of relationship with other musicians, where you completely trust them when they’re performing your music.

Has your leadership style changed as you have gotten older?

I think it has. That being said, I’ve always wanted the musicians in my group to just be themselves when playing my music. I generally tell the people in my groups to just “do their thing”. However, I think I have become more nuanced in the sense that I now really want to put music that’s very clear and precise in front of people: real, written, through-composed music. I like to see what happens when people are dealing with some written material instead of just using the melody as a vehicle for soloing. Of course, the written material is a jumping-off point for improvisation, but I want to be really exact about what I write down, and have those sections be just as important as the solos.

Chase  Kuesel  was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, a forty-five minute train ride away from New York City.   A June 2012 Greenwich High School graduate, Chase is a Freshman at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio.   He is enrolled in a five year dual-degree program leading to a BA and a BM upon graduation. In the conservatory, Chase majors in Jazz Performance (percussion) and he leans heavily towards declaring English his Oberlin College major. From May-August 2012, Chase interned at Blue Note Entertainment in New York City, giving him incredible insight into the business side of the music world.  His experience there motivated Chase to spend Winter Term (January 2013) at Intersection for the Arts working closely with Jazz at the Intersection Program Director Kevin Chen on the Spring Jazz series.  Chase’s enthusiasm was matched by his dedication as he interviewed many of the world class, local San Francisco Jazz artists who are featured this Spring.

A solo performance piece about Israel and Palestine that follows one man’s journey to the Middle East. Based on interviews and personal experience, Aaron gives voice to over a dozen characters he meets in Israel and Palestine, seeking to make sense of competing and conflicting interests. The project, beyond the performance itself, is a partnership with New Israel Fund, who will create post-performance conversation to facilitate a deeper public discourse about the challenges facing Americans, Jews and non-Jews, as they grapple with the complexities of Jewish identity, Israeli politics, US-Israel relations, censorship, open debate, and so on. Healthy and nuanced community dialogue has been severely lacking in the American Jewish community.

For more information: http://www.aarondavidman.com

Location: Minna Street tunnel, between 5th Street and Mary Alley, near corner of 5th and Mission Streets.  Click here for map!

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FRIDAY JUNE 7, 2013, 12 to 2pm

LES GWAN JUPONS: VINTAGE CARIBBEAN PARTY MUSIC

Henry Hung – trumpet; John Finkbeiner – guitar; Lisa Mezzacappa – acoustic bass; John Hanes – drums

Les Gwan Jupons play vintage party music from the French, Spanish and English-speaking Caribbean: biguine from Martinique, calypso from Trinidad, cumbia from Colombia, cha-cha and bolero from Cuba.This new project, named in French Creole for the puffy skirts traditionally worn by women at Carnival celebrations, translates music from favorite recordings of the 1930s to 60s to the context of a contemporary acoustic “jazz ” ensemble. The instrumentation is inspired by the biguine bands of Martinique dancehalls in the 1930s.

Photo credit: Scott Chernis

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FRIDAY JUNE 14, 2013, 12 to 2pm

JIMBO TROUT AND THE FISHPEOPLE

JimBo Trout - guitar & vocals; David Phillips - steel guitar; Greg Laakso – saxophone & clarinet; Steve Neil - bass

JimBo Trout & the Fishpeople are a high energy, good-time band from San Francisco that has been together since 1992. They perform a musical gumbo made up of bluegrass, ragtime, blues, western-swing, Appalachian, rock+roll, New Orleans, honky-tonk and more. But they are not a band that would let tradition stand in the way of a good time! JimBo Trout and the Fishpeople are known for their entertaining, energetic and danceable live shows. The lineup features some of the Bay Area’s most interesting musicians including JimBo Trout (Trout’s Jug Thumpers, Colonel Trout’s Possum Hunters) on guitar, banjo, and harmonica, David Phillips (Tom Waits, Peter Rowan, Mr. Bungle) on steel guitar, Leif Karlstrom (Misisipi Mike and the Midnite Gamblers, The Heeldraggers) on fiddle, and Steve Neil (Swoop Unit, The Wags) on bass.

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FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013, 12 to 2pm

ROB REICH TRIO

Rob Reich – accordion; John Wiitala – bass; Beth Goodfellow – drums

Performer / Composer Rob Reich has been called “a virtuoso of the accordion”.  His playing graces the sounds of many high profile ensembles, including Tin Hat, Gaucho, Nice Guy Trio, and Circus Bella. The Rob Reich Trio presents an altered take on the jazz piano trio, with Ari Munkres’ bass and Beth Goodfellow’s drumset providing a strong rhythmic foundation. The trio features Reich’s original material alongside music from Europe, Tin Pan Alley, and Jazz standards.  They approach this diverse repertoire with a spirit of spontaneity and improvisation, resulting in a high energy, magical performance. “Whatever context he’s in, Reich transforms it into a creative hothouse where thousands of musical flowers bloom.”  -Andrew Gilbert, East Bay Express

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FRIDAY JUNE 28, 2013, 12 to 2pm

SCOTT AMENDOLA QUARTET

Scott Amendola – drums; Ben Goldberg – clarinet; Josh Smith – tenor saxophone; John Shifflett - bass

An organizer by nature, Jersey native Scott Amendola has become a creative nexus for a community of musicians stretching from Los Angeles and Seattle to Chicago and New York. Amendola’s inspiration stems from such stylistic influences as African music, jazz, blues, spirituals, rock, and the avant garde. Scott has never been satisfied with just being a masterful drummer, he has spent his career pushing music in new directions. Scott has toured, recorded, or performed with Bill Frisell, Dave Liebman, John Zorn, Wadada Leo Smith, Jacky Terrasson, Larry Goldings, Jeff Parker, Madeleine Peyroux, Sex Mob, Wayne Horvitz, Johnny Griffin, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Pat Martino, Nels Cline, Peter Apfelbaum, Jim Campilongo, Ben Goldberg, Mark Turner, Michael Franti, Phil Lesh and others, and has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America, and Australia.

Photo credit: Baytaper.com

By documenting the species diversity and distribution of this “invisible majority,” Dr. Fisher is helping to establish conservation priorities for Madagascar, identifying areas that should be set aside to protect the highest number of species. Along the way, he has discovered 100’s of new species of ants. He created the annual Ant Course in 2001, AntWeb in 2002, and the Madagascar Biodiversity Center in 2004. He has published over 90 peer reviewed articles including the “Ants of North America” with Stefan Cover. Every year, Dr. Fisher trains dozens of international graduate students in the taxonomy and natural history of ants, providing them with skills to use ants as an important indicator of biodiversity across the globe. He is currently Associate Curator of Entomology at the California Academy of Sciences and adjunct professor of biology at both the University of California at Berkeley and at San Francisco State University. He has appeared in a number of BBC, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic films and has been profiled in Newsweek and Discover magazine.

 
This talk is held in conjunction with
Ants in the City
April 10 – May 25, 2013

Intersection for the Arts presents Ants in the City, a solo exhibition project by San Francisco-based artist Su-Chen Hung. 18^th Century British poet William Blake wrote, “To see a world from a grain of sand,” and so Hung examines our world from the perspective of ants through three related video works and installations: Ants in the City; Kiss you, Honey; and Red Corner. Working with light, space, sound, movement, and stillness, Hung’s work is simple and elegant, accessible and contemplative. She has utilized a variety of media in both installation and performance contexts to investigate a diversity of social, cultural, and environmental concerns, and viewers often become performers in her work, intentionally or otherwise.

In the immersive video installation Ants in the City, Hung used a macro lens over a 38-hour span to document an ant colony as they slowly devoured red stained sugar and relayed it back to their home. Scurrying about and emitting specific phermones and antennae signals to communicate with one another, we might observe the ants displaying frustration, anger, and even gluttony – acts compatible with our own behavior. There are more than 10,000 known ant species around the world, and over 100 species native to the Bay Area. Some early myrmecologists – scientists who study ants – considered ant society as an ideal social system, and sought to find solutions to human problems by studying them. There is a hierarchy within the ant world: a queen, male ants (which are only around for reproduction), soldiers, and workers. Whether protecting the nest, foraging for food, or procreating, each ant serves a particular function within the colony. Reflecting on our own human existence, Hung questions the relationships formed between humans within our larger urban environment. Do we function as part of a larger, structured system like an ant colony, or are we individuals working together for a cause? As ants divide into castes of labor and occupy one role their whole life, are our social positions stratified this way as well?

This exhibition is supported in part by the San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Equity Grants program. Visual technology for the project provided by Optoma Technology, Inc., with generous support provided by Wade Chang, Mills Chen, Jon Grodem, Vincent Huang, Joshi Hsieh, Teddy Jung, Arun Kanuga, Nick Liang, TI Lin, Felix Pimentel, Andy Wang, Hans Wang, and Shen Wang.  Additional thanks for assistance on this project to Bamboo Curtain Studio, Coretronic Culture and Arts Foundation, Yung-Ta Chang, Wei Ching, Terence Lee, Christian Rice, and Perngjuh Shyong.

Location: Minna Street tunnel, between 5th Street and Mary Alley, near corner of 5th and Mission Streets.  Click here for map!

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FRIDAY MAY 3, 2013, 12 to 2pm

THE NICE GUY TRIO

Darren Johnston – trumpet; Rob Reich – accordion; Daniel Fabricant – bass

The Nice Guy Trio creates a sound that is both intimate and reflective of their contrasting yet complimentary musical backgrounds, and always with an emphasis on spontaneity.  In concert they navigate through a uniquely diverse collection of original compositions and songs from folk traditions all around the globe, from jazz to klezmer to Balkan dance forms, to calypso and beyond. They have performed in venues, big and small, from Jazz at Chez Hanny and Café Royale, to The Great American Music Hall, and the Yerba Buena Garden Festival.

Photo credit: Julie Caine

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FRIDAY MAY 10, 2013, 12 to 2pm

LORCA HART ORGAN TRIO

Lorca Hart – drums; Brian Ho – organ; Tony Peebles - saxophone

The Lorca Hart Organ Trio – featuring Brian Ho on organ and Tony Peebles on sax – is rooted in the classic jazz organ sound (Jimmy Smith, Larry Young, jazz standards and be-bop) but also explores more contemporary elements (John Ellis, Joshua Redman, funk and pop compositions) to create it’s own unique musical identity. 

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FRIDAY MAY 17, 2013, 12 to 2pm

DESTINY MUHAMMAD JAZZ TRIO

Destiny Muhammad – harp & vocals; Mark Heshima Williams – bass; Leon Joyce, Jr. - drums

Destiny Muhammad’s genre “Celtic to Coltrane” is cool and eclectic with a feel of Jazz & storytelling to round out the sonic experience.  Destiny has opened for The Oakland East Bay Symphony, shared the stage with Jazz Masters Azar Lawrence, Marcus Shelby, Omar Sosa, John Santos and co-starred in Def Jam Poetry Winner Ise Lyfe’s Hip Hop Play Pistols & Prayers to name a few. She has also headlined for the ‘Women in Jazz’ Concert series in San Francisco. Destiny is expanding her musical ideals with her project(s) S.O.N.G/ Strings of a Nubian Groove Nubian string ensemble, The Destiny Muhammad Project, & The Richard Howell Quintet.  Destiny is Governor Emeritus and Educational Chair Emeritus of the Recording Academy, San Francisco Chapter, Jazz Heritage Center of San Francisco Jazz Ambassador and an ASCAP Songwriter Awardee.

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FRIDAY MAY 24, 2013, 12 to 2pm

HOWARD WILEY TRIO

Howard Wiley – saxophone; Michael Aaberg – keyboards; Sly Randolph - drums

Howard Wiley’s debut recording, The Businessman (Sax Records, 1995) was produced shortly after his 15th birthday by Steve Savage and Jim Nadel, founder of The Stanford Jazz Workshop. While still in high school, Wiley received the Thelonious Monk Scholarship, Downbeat Blues/Pop/Rock Instrumentalist award for best soloist, and the MVP Award for the Grammy All-American Jazz Band. He has performed at the San Francisco Jazz Festival, the North Beach Jazz Festival, the Stanford Jazz Festival, the Fillmore Jazz Festival, and the Huntington Beach Jazz Festival, and has been the recipient of a Meet The Composer Commissioning Music/USA commission and a recording grant from The Aaron Copland Fund for Music.  Wiley’s second recording, Twenty-First Century Negro, was independently released by High Cotton Productions in 2002. Inspired by his early years attending church and the continuing and deepening influence of the blues, gospel, and spirituals on his musical performance and compositional writing, Wiley has been composing for and performing with his newest ensemble – The Angola Project – which investigates the roots and legacies of African American prison spirituals, encompassing folk, blues, and gospel, with a focus on the songs and stories from the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, LA from the 1950s onward. He released his third recording, The Angola Project, in 2007, and his fourth recording, Twelve Gates to the City, in 2010, which has received critical reviews nationwide.

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FRIDAY MAY 31, 2013, 12 to 2pm

JOEL BEHRMAN TRIO

JOEL BEHRMAN TRIO featuring Michael Aaberg and Howard Wiley

Joel Behrman – trumpet; Michael Aaberg – organ; Howard Wiley – drums

Joel Behrman started playing trumpet and trombone at age 9.  He grew up in a suburb of St. Louis, a city with a great legacy of jazz and blues.  At 18 he moved to Miami and studied with local musicians Ira Sullivan, Barry Reis and with the faculty at the University of Miami.  He has been performing in the Bay Area for 11 years and is currently working with several local ensembles including the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, the Glide Change Band, Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Lydia Pense and Cold Blood, and former Tower of Power leade singer Lenny Williams.  This trio plays intense versions of well known tunes.

Photo credit: Maurice Ramirez

Chase Kuesel: Talk about how you got started in music. What drew you to the guitar?
Terrence Brewer: I started as a woodwind player. I started playing the flute, clarinet, and saxophone in junior high school and continued into college. I started playing guitar when I was about 15 years old because I was inspired by the rock music of the time: Hendrix, Zeppelin, Sound Garden, Alice in Chains, Rage Against the Machine, etc. So that sound and style is what initially drew me to the guitar. I was playing jazz, classical and symphonic music during the day at school and playing hard rock with bands in the garage at night. At the end of my first year of college (when I was still a woodwinds major), I went to see one of my professors play a concert that featured a jazz guitarist. The first time I heard jazz guitar live and in person I was completely blown away. I was so amazed by what the instrument could do, and I was drawn to the complexity of it — it just sparked something in me. So I ended up switching my major to guitar performance and began to study classical and jazz guitar from there.

CK: How did you end up in the Bay Area?
TB: I was born in Oklahoma but in elementary school I moved to Pittsburgh, California, which is about 35 miles outside of the Bay Area. I stayed in the area and studied music at Los Medanos College. So I’ve been in the bay area since I was I nine, and really consider it to be my home. It was great to grow up in an area where I was able to see so much live music since Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco were all so close to home.

CK: What do you like about the music scene here? What makes it stand out from other cities across the country?
TB: I make a living primarily playing jazz, but I love all kinds of music. I love the opportunity to be able to play different kinds of music, work with different types of musicians and see other styles of music. So it’s important for me to be in a city where I can experience so many different types of music. On any given night of the week in San Francisco you can go hear reggae, Brazilian, hip-hop, punk, hard rock, jazz, and pretty much any other type of music you like. There are not a lot of cities where you can do that on a Monday or Tuesday night. Just look at the history of the city. So many different artists came out of this area: the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Starship, Sly & the Family Stone, etc. There’s no better city to be exposed to such a sheer variety of music, so it’s a phenomenal place to live as a musician.

CK: Talk about your history with Intersection, and why you like playing here.
TB: I’ve known Kevin [Chen, program director] and been playing at Intersection since 2006. Kevin got in contact with me to play after I released my second album, The Calling: Volume II. My first show was at the De Young museum as part of Jazz at Intersection’s residency there. He’s been extremely supportive from the beginning, and he’s had my groups back many times since that first show. I have so much respect for what everyone does at the Intersection. It’s great to have an organization that is consistently showcasing high-level visual art, dance, drama, theatre, and music. That diversity and variety is really what San Francisco is about. I’m honored to be back playing at Intersection because I know what the organization means to the San Francisco arts community.

CK: Tell us about your upcoming show with your group Citizen Rhythm. What should we expect at the show?
TB: I predominately play, write and record jazz music but I grew up playing R&B, funk and hard rock. To be honest, I really wanted to be in a band that made people nod their heads and shake their butts. I wanted people to have that visceral reaction you get when you’re listening to R&B, funk, and hip-hop groups. So I started Citizen Rhythm about four years ago, and it was born out of a marriage between two things: the harmonic sophistication and intricacy that you find in jazz and funk, R&B, rock and hip-hop grooves.

CK: Talk about the other musicians in the band. How did you meet them and what do they bring to the music?
TB: Myself, Rob Rhodes (drums), and Michael Coleman (keys) have been in this group since the beginning. For the past year we’ve been playing with Doug Ebert, who’s a phenomenal bassist. He’s a great writer and arranger in his own right and he’s contributed a lot of arrangements and compositions to the group. Before Doug came in I was doing about 95% of the arrangements, so it’s nice to have another compositional voice contributing to the group’s sound. But I’ve really known all those guys for years just from playing jazz in the Bay Area, because they’re all first-call, in-demand sidemen, not to mention band leaders in their own right. I knew each of them had the sensibility to be in this kind of project. You have to have a jazz sensibility, but you also have to be able to really grove. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, but there aren’t many musicians who can do both really well. These guys can.

 
Chase  Kuesel  was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, a forty-five minute train ride away from New York City.   A June 2012 Greenwich High School graduate, Chase is a Freshman at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio.   He is enrolled in a five year dual-degree program leading to a BA and a BM upon graduation. In the conservatory, Chase majors in Jazz Performance (percussion) and he leans heavily towards declaring English his Oberlin College major. From May-August 2012, Chase interned at Blue Note Entertainment in New York City, giving him incredible insight into the business side of the music world.  His experience there motivated Chase to spend Winter Term (January 2013) at Intersection for the Arts working closely with Jazz at the Intersection Program Director Kevin Chen on the Spring Jazz series.  Chase’s enthusiasm was matched by his dedication as he interviewed many of the world class, local San Francisco Jazz artists who are featured this Spring.