Jesse Levit, saxophone.
Matt Clark, piano.
Aaron Germain, bass.
Isaac Schwartz, drums.

$20 cover charge per adult / byob.
Student rate $10-15 sliding scale.
cash or venmo; no credit cards.

Reservations, call the shop at 415-586-3733.

Aaron Germain, a unique voice on bass with a flexibility beyond compare, is well into his third decade working widely and constantly as hired gun, core band member and bandleader. This has led him through all sorts of adventures, as he’s traveled the world and learned from musical masters. Growing up in Massachusetts, he cut his teeth playing upright and electric bass in bands playing jazz, blues, funk, reggae, Senegalese mbalax and more, driving to New York, to Boston and all over New England. From the beginning he learned to be picky about quality, but not genre.

Moving to San Francisco Bay Area in 2000, his adventures expanded. He entered the realms of Salsa and Afro-Cuban music, Brazilian Forro music, Caribbean Steel Pan music. He found himself accompanying Indian Kathak dancers and veteran Trinidadian Calypso singers, and navigating through dense, odd-meter jazz compositions.

Aaron has released one album on the Origin Records label and three more independently, is a contributing arranger and composer for The Afro-Cuban Jazz Cartel and is a core member of Charged Particles.

Over the years, he has performed with artists including Yusef Lateef, Stanley Jordan, Andy Carell, Michael Wolff, Bonnie Raitt, Francisco Aguabella, Nguyen Le, Paul McCandless, Scott Hamilton, Jason Marsalis, Tommy Igo, Melba Moore, Mary Wilson, Paula West, Tom Coster, Gary Meek, Gene Jackson, Jacqui Naylor, Jeff Massanari, Michael Zilber, Eddie Marshal, Dave Ellis, Kenny Washington, Akira Tana, Royal Hartigan, John Handy and many others. That is to say, these artists have played with Aaron keeping and expanding the pulse and expanding the harmonics in ways that facilitate their ability to get their music across. More than a sideman in those heady ensembles, he’s woven his sensibilities into the fabric of the music each time out.

With saxophonist Jesse Levit, pianist Matt Clark and drummer Isaac Schwartz, Aaron is in wonderful company for tonight’s engagement at Bird & Beckett.