Two sets focused on the influence of the late Ornette Coleman, featuring Patrick Wolff on tenor sax; Grant Levin on piano; Doug Stuart on bass; and Vinnie Rodriguez on drums.

An excellent brief discussion of Ornette’s career and influence can be found at this link.

Drummer Vinnie Rodriguez, who leads our 4th Saturday dates, was born in Daly City and raised in Danville, where he spent most of his childhood and teen years playing sports. At the age of 20, he bought a drum set and got deep into jazz, and was fortunate enough to study with John Maltester (LMC-Pittsburgh) and Ray Brown (Cabrillo-Aptos). He earned a BM & MA in jazz studies from SJSU, where he studied with Joe Hodge, Jason Lewis and Frank Sumares. Since finishing school, he’s stayed busy gigging in San Francisco venues including The Bayview Boat Club, Bird & Beckett Books and Club Deluxe. He plays with Don Prell, Grant Levin, Keith Saunders, John Shifflett and others.

Patrick Wolff, saxophone, is originally from New York, and currently resides in San Francisco.  He attended New York University, where he studied with Ralph Lalama, George Garzone, Frank Foster, Ron McClure, and Frank Kimbrough.  Wolff has worked with many of the most exciting local bandleaders, including Graham Connah, Marcus Shelby, Adam Shulman and Andrew Speight, and currently leads a trio with bassist John Wiitala and drummer Hamir Atwal, as well as a sextet with the same trio plus trumpeter Erik Jekabsen, pianist Adam Shulman and clarinetist Ben Goldberg. He can be heard in residence every Wednesday at Club Deluxe, where he leads the San Francisco Repertory Jazz Quartet featuring pianist Adam Shulman, bassist Eric Markowtiz and Smith Dobson V on drums.  As a composer, Wolff blends melodies and forms from a broad base of folk traditions and his own experiences with the advanced jazz conceptions of composers like Andrew Hill, Ornette Coleman and Booker Little.

Grant Levin, piano, is a multi-faceted contemporary pianist, band leader and composer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and showcases the piano as an infinitely powerful instrument, allowing the audience to experience the sonic possibilities. He has performed at: SFJAZZ, Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Yoshi’s Oakland, Bird & Beckett Books (where he leads a date every 2nd Saturday), 57th Street Gallery in Oakland, Doc’s Lab in San Francisco’s North Beach, Cafe Stritch in San Jose, and the Mildred Owen Concert Hall in Pacifica.  Grant has worked with such talented musicians as Pete Yellin, Jerry Dodgion, Dayna Stephens, Noel Jewkes, John Santos, Howard Wiley, Ray Obiedo, Dean Reilly, Melecio Magdaluyo and Marcus Shelby, to name just a few.

Doug Stuart, bass, is a former University of Michigan student currently much in demand in the San Francisco Bay area, playing both upright and electric bass. Doug is one of the busiest players in town and can be regularly heard at Club Deluxe on any given night, with any given band.  He works steadily with Smith Dobson, Patrick Wolff, Pacific Jazz Connection, Hamir Atwal, Eric Garland and many other great Bay Area jazz musicians.