Playlist: SFJAZZ Debuts We Can't Wait To Hear

Ches Smith's Clone Row: "Ready Beat"

I’m really looking forward to Clone Row, and this show is both a debut and a homecoming for drummer Ches Smith. He was a Bay Area resident in the 90s, and I remember seeing him with Good for Cows and Trevor Dunn back in the day before he made the move east, and he’s gone on to be one of the busiest and most inventive percussionists on the experimental/avant-garde scene. He brings a spiky punk-rock energy to his work with Marc Ribot, John Zorn, Tim Berne, David Torn, and others, and this band with guitarists Mary Halvorson and Liberty Ellman and bassist Nick Dunston is a powerhouse. This track is a great example of the electro-acoustic sound he does so well, and the band plays on 10/16 in the Joe Henderson Lab.   

– RUSTY ACEVES, SENIOR CONTENT EDITOR AND COPYWRITER

Michael Carvin Experience: "Rhythm-a-Ning"

Michael Carvin is a living legend, and somehow not a household name. Hailing from Houston, where they seem to grow ridiculous drummers, Carvin is probably best known for his work with organist Lonnie Liston Smith’s Cosmic Echoes and classic records on the Black Jazz label. Beyond his huge discography that includes albums by Pharoah Sanders, Cecil McBee, and Jackie McLean, his greatest legacy is as an educator, and his students include Ralph Peterson Jr., Nasheet Waits. Tyshawn Sorey, and Jaz Sawyer. His appearances in the Bay Area as a leader are rare, and I was lucky to be in the audience at San Francisco’s Black Cat for this live recording of Thelonious Monk’s “Rhythm-a-Ning" with bassist Mike Gurrulo and pianist Peter Smith. Carvin’s trio plays at SFJAZZ on 4/9. 

– RUSTY ACEVES, SENIOR CONTENT EDITOR AND COPYWRITER