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While pianist Keith Jarrett is known primarily for his brilliant reinventions of standards, he is also a prolific composer with a large body of original work, much of it composed for the two quartets he led in the 1970's, the "American" quartet with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian, and the "European" quartet with Jan Garbarek, Palle Danielsson, and Jon Christensen. Mandala approaches these Jarrett originals with deep respect for the seminal pianist’s ability to thread staggeringly complex lines with a sublime sense of simplicity.
Sheldon Brown - saxophones
Composer and woodwind multi-instrumentalist Sheldon Brown has been involved in the San Francisco Bay Area creative music scene for over 20 years. In June of 2014, he premiered his extended composition, "Blood of the Air," at the 32nd Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival.
Since 1994 he has led Sheldon Brown Group, which performs his own compositions, and he recently formed Sheldon Brown Quintet, which performs the music of Herbie Nichols, and Distant Intervals, based on poetic speech melodies.
The Sheldon Brown Group has performed several times at Yoshiʼs, and as part of the San Francisco Jazz Festivalʼs Summer in the City series.Brown has performed with Cuban pianist Omar Sosa, recorded on 5 of Sosaʼs albums, and played with him at many famous venues, such as The North Sea Jazz Festival in Den Haag, New Morning in Paris, and Tribute to the Love Generation in Tokyo.
Brown performs with many groups in the Bay Area, including Electric Squeezebox Orchestra, Clarinet Thing, Darren Johnston Quintet, Goldberg/Brown/Anderson, Ian Carey Quintet + 1, Club Foot Orchestra, Laurie Antonioli, Azesu (featuring Orestes Vilato), Mike Pattonʼs Mondo Cane, Admiral Ted Brinkley's Large Group, and the Aaron Germain Quartet.
Sheldon appeared here previously with Hemispheres, Mandala, Clarinet Thing, Ratzo Harris, Michael Wilcox, Ian Carey, Darren Johnston, Fred Randolph, Alon Nechushtan, the Sheldon Brown Quintet, and the Sheldon Brown Group.
Matt Clark - piano
Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Matt Clark holds a BFA in Jazz Studies from Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Highly regarded as a pianist and arranger, he has performed and/or recorded with such jazz icons as Bobby Hutcherson, Benny Golson, Eddie Marshall, Jon Faddis, David “Fathead” Newman, Gene Bertoncini, Joshua Redman, and Teddy Edwards, as well as practically everyone who appeared at Jazz at Pearl's in its heyday.
He was at The Back Room previously with Larry Schneider, Steve Heckman, Noel Jewkes, Mitch Marcus, Mandala, Sheldon Brown, Harvey Wainapel, Karen & Norbert Stachel, and the Robb Fisher - Matt Clark Trio.
Michael Wilcox - 6 string electric bass
Michael has performed with Richie Cole, the Fifth Dimension, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Oakland Eastbay Symphony, Eddie Duran, Jules Broussard, Tom Coster, and Larry Schneider. He was an Adjunct Faculty member in the Jazz Department at San Jose State University for five years (1989-1994), and also taught extensively at the Jazzschool in Berkeley.
He has appeared at Chez Hanny with the Sheldon Brown Group, Mandala, Lee Waterman and Jazz Caliente, and the Michael Wilcox Trio.
Bryan Bowman - drums
Drummer and composer Bryan Bowman leads his own band and plays frequently with the Harvey Wainapel quartet, the Ben Stolorow trio, the Ollie Dudek trio, and the David Ulolf trio at the famed Bix restaurant.
Notable recordings include "Collective Amnesia" with Leonard Thompson, "Hawkeye" with Sam Bevan, and the Bryan Bowman Quintet's debut CD, "Like Minds," released in 2015.
He has performed with Eric Reed, Mary Stallings, Mark Levine, Harvey Wainapel, Sheldon Brown, Matt Clark, Art Hirahara, Ben Stolorow, Leonard Thompson, Donald “Duck” Bailey, Paul McCandless, Michael Wilcox, Noel Jewkes, Sam Bevan, Keith Saunders, Peter Barshay, John Wiitala, Bob Kenmotsu, Chuck Sher, Randy Vincent, Grant Levin, Masaru Koga, Steve Heckman, and Dave Creamer.
Bryan studied music at The Berklee College of Music in Boston, CSU Long Beach, CSU Chico, and the Ali Akbar College of Music.
He frequently co-teaches historic improvisation workshops with Ben Stolorow at The Jazzschool in Berkeley.
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Children under 12 are free. Advance tickets are available here, or if the show is not sold out, you may purchase your tickets at the door before the show.
Doors open 30 minutes before show time. We accept cash or Venmo only at the door.
The Back Room is an all-ages, BYOB (for those 21+) space, dedicated to (mostly) acoustic music of all kinds. You are welcome to bring your own food and beverages. The venue is ADA accessible. If you need more information or have any questions, please call us: #510-381-1997.
Please refrain from using your phone during performances, and if you use your camera or video, please disable the flash.
Although masks are no longer required, we strongly encourage their use to keep everyone safe in our intimate space.
Thank you for your support!
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Event Venue
1984 Bonita Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA, United States
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
