Grammy-winning percussionist and bandleader Javier Cabanillas and his band Cabanijazz Project play a free show at the Oakland Museum of California on Sept. 27. (Courtesy Javier Cabanillas)
Freebie of the week: Latin jazz lovers should head to the Oakland Museum of California on Friday. From 5-9 p.m., the museum hosts another free Friday Night event featuring live music, art activities and more fun stuff. Performing on the Garden Stage will be the Cabanijazz Project, a seven-piece band led by Grammy-winning composer, conga player and bandleader Javier Cabanillas. Not too long ago, he was busking on the streets of Tijuana, Mexico. Just a few years later, he was walking the red carpet at the Grammy Awards as a member of the Pacific Mambo Orchestra, which won a surprise victory in the Tropical Latin Album category, besting Marc Anthony. Now he and Cabanijazz Project are mainstays in the Bay Area music scene, performing a unique and often danceable take on jazz and Afro-Caribbean, with funk, rock, and other strains of Latin and roots music mixed in. Also on the itinerary is a DJ set from Bay Area musician La Femme Papi. A supervised “Sketchboard Live” figure drawing event, and Gallery Chat also are offered for visitors who purchase an admission ticket for after-hours access to the museum. It’s bound to be a lively scene. You can dance and chat to your heart’s content, grab grub and drink from nearby food trucks, or simply take in the fun scene. More information is at museumca.org.
Star-studded jazz show: Seeing revered pianist Bill Charlap in solo concert is well worth your time. But the SFJAZZ Center has a whole lot more in store for music fans this weekend. The Grammy-winning Charlap performs with his renowned Trio—consisting of bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington (no relation)—and two dazzling guest stars: singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and trumpeter Nicholas Payton. The ever-adventuresome Charlap is no stranger to high-profile collaborations. His 2016 album with the legendary crooner Tony Bennett, “The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern,” won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. He has also worked with Barbra Streisand, Gerry Mulligan, Ron Carter and acclaimed musicians from Mali. He has a rich history with Grammy- and Tony-winning Bridgewater, with whom he teamed in 2022-23 on a tour that stopped at SFJAZZ. As for Payton, a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective, he’s one of the best trumpeters going, not to mention a much-admired songwriter and bandleader. Performances are at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Jazz Center’s Miner Auditorium. Tickets are $40-$125; go to www.sfjazz.org.
Take a gander at Goose: The Bay Area has a long and storied love affair with the jam band movement, and one of the best current acts in the genre is headed to Stanford this weekend. The Connecticut outfit Goose, formed in 2014, has quickly risen to the top of the field thanks to the superior musicianship of members Rick Mitarotonda (guitar), Trevor Weekz (bass), Peter Anspach (guitars and keyboards), Jeff Arevalo (percussion) and Cotter Ellis (drums), as well as a burgeoning relationship with the field’s giants Dead & Company, guitar god Trey Anastasio of Phish and Vampire Weekend, whose singer Ezra Koenig is such a fan he convinced Goose members to record an extended version of VW’s hit “2021.” Like all good jam bands, Goose can hold a tight groove to advance a song and then bust out into an impressive shot of improvisational fun. To be fair, Goose feels more comfortable referring to itself as an indie-rock band with traces of trance in its sound, with Mitarotonda noting that there are more than a few “cheesy” jam bands out there these days. Labels aside, Goose lands at Stanford Frost Amphitheater at 6:30 Saturday p.m. on Saturday. General admission tickets are $74.73 at live.stanford.edu.
One plucky orphan girl: They call her “La Fille du Régiment,” the little girl found abandoned on a battlefield and adopted, dubbed Marie and raised by an entire doting regiment of the French army, and her story forms the basis of one of composer Gaetano Donizetti’s most beloved comic operas. This weekend in the Bankhead Theater, the Livermore Valley Opera launches a four-performance run of “The Daughter of the Regiment,” starring French American soprano Véronique Filloux in the title role. Singing alongside her as her lovestruck suitor Tonio (who joins the regiment to pursue her) is American tenor Chris Mosz, who will be required to navigate the perilous “Ah mes amis” aria with the infamous nine high C’s that made both Luciano Pavarotti and Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez famous. Longtime LVO favorite Baritone Eugene Brancoveanu steps into the role of Marie’s foster father Sulpice, and Lisa Chavez makes her LVO debut as the Marquise of Berkenfield. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday with repeats at 2 p.m. Oct. 5 and 6. Find tickets. $25-$110, at LVOpera.com or (925) 373-6800.
Swinging gypsy jazz: San Francisco Performances opens its new season Saturday night in a new venue for the presenting organization, the Presidio Theatre on the grounds of the Presidio of San Francisco. Leading off the Performances at the Presidio series is the Hot Club of San Francisco, a five-man band that for more than three decades has been keeping alive the memory and the style of the swinging Quintette du Hot Club de France, co-founded 90 years ago by Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt. The program, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, will be announced from the stage, but rest assured it will be both very cool and hot, hot, hot. Find tickets, $45-$60, at sfperformances.org and treat yourself to a sampling of their sound from their YouTube site.
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