Pasha Ensemble performs music from many traditions of the Middle East, including classical Arabic, Kurdish and Turkish music and as well as modern songs from throughout the region — Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, etc. — and original compositions by the group’s founder and leader, Husain Resan. Husain Resan, violin, vocals (Iraq) Raman Osman,  tambour, vocals…

Phil Hill, vocal and guitar; Sam Cady, piano; Bill Langlois, bass; Mark Lee, drums. The Phil Hill Trio was already soaring before they added drummer Mark Lee, making the trio a quartet and allowing the whole enterprise to fly higher, faster and ever more gracefully. Phil plays a sweet and evocative guitar and sings with…

Christopher Bernard will read from his new novel, Voyage to a Phantom City, described as a spine-tingling adventure across the Sahara and a heart-breaking romance, provoking haunting memories of war and a long-lost America after the tragedy of September 11th. The novel is a spiritual quest into the heart of darkness that discovers the supremely…

“Lori Carsillo is a vocal musician of relaxed, cool self-assurance and her voice is special for its unfiltered feelings and melodic warmth.” – Herb Wong, jazz historian, producer, Black Hawk Records & Palo Alto Records founder A noted presence on the Bay Area jazz scene, Lori Carsillo (an Italian name, pronounced: “car-SILL-oh”), is a vocalist…

Pianist Grant Levin and his long-time jazz collaborator, bassist Chris Amberger converse in jazz over two generous sets of music. Arriving in Oakland in his early teens, in the early 1960s, Chris Amberger was schooled in music by some of the great jazz and blues figures of the era, including pianist George Duke, drummer Smiley…

Live jazz every Friday night at Bird & Beckett, from 5:30 to 8:00 pm This week:  Chuck Peterson leads his quintet through two sets of standards and bebop, with singer Dorothy Lefkovits lending her characteristic charm and grace to the occasion. Chuck Peterson & Howie Dudune, reeds Glen Deardorff, guitar Dean Reilly, bass Tony Johnson,…