The work of soul musician JoDavi is well summed up by his own term “cinema-soul.” It is evocative and performative, full of filmic nostalgia and classic motown arrangements. It swells and swings and knows how to swagger when the beat gets mean. As part of the release tour for new album One More Go, JoDavi’s livestream from Art Boutiki will be a celebratory event just right for a summer evening. But with his background in gospel and R&B, and pedigree as an instructor, wedding musician and arranger, “Mr. Maestro” surely has more than just “one more go” in him.

JoDavi
Wed, 8:30, Free (registration required)

Even if you don’t recognize the name, you’ve probably heard the Stone Foxes. Their music has been used in multiple TV shows, including Showtime’s Shameless, FX’s Sons of Anarchy and a 2013 Jack Daniels TV campaign that prominently featured their cover of Slim Harpo’s “I’m a King Bee” (a song once covered by The Rolling Stones).

Ahead of the release of their most recent album, the Stone Foxes ran into an increasingly common problem for bands these days.

“Every single person who makes vinyl is backed up like 6 months,” singer and multi-instrumentalist Shannon Koehler says, referring to a global dearth of vinyl pressing factories.

Despite the hold up at the plant, the San Francisco band’s fourth full-length, Twelve Spells, still managed to ship in time for its March 18 U.K. release. When I speak with Koehler, he is just completing the final preparations for shipments and signing records for pre-orders.

Though technically an album, the production of the set of songs on Twelve Spells was unorthodox. Instead of going into the studio to record the whole album in one go, the songs were recorded at different times. Even more unorthodox is the fact that the composition of the band itself changed in the process. In this sense it is a document: capturing a band in flux, and highlighting the changes the band has gone through since being featured on national television.

“It was this chronicle of how new guys got into the band,” Koehler says, describing the album’s development, and the gradual accumulation of new members.

A propos of the process, the band decided to release each of the songs individually, putting a new one online once a month for a year.

“At the end we thought, well, this is an unconventionally put-together record,” Koehler says. “Should it be put out like a conventional record? We kinda thought it would be cool to give our fans something new every month.”

It’s clear that the whole band thinks of the record as their first step in a new direction. And for the three newest members (guitarist, bassist, and drummer), it literally is.

Since its U.S. release last September, the band has been touring regularly, crisscrossing the states and making their first jaunt across the pond. England is a long distance for the California natives, and they recently followed up the tour with a show that took them almost home, to Fresno—near where the core members of the group grew up, just outside the even more remote Tollhouse, population: 2,000.

The group’s rural upbringing is clearly audible in their sound, which pays homage to all things Americana. And though it might now have rebranded itself around hyperreal techno-capitalism, not that long ago, the sound of San Francisco used to be similar.

“There’s such a rich heritage,” Koehler says, poignantly, on the music of San Francisco. “From the garage guys, down to the punk ’80s scene, to the Dead and Big Brother, and Quicksilver Messenger Service, Canned Heat, Sly Stone, and all that stuff …”

The sounds of San Francisco’s Summer of Love can be heard all over Twelve Spells. Keyboardist Elliott Peltzman channels gone-electric Dylan with tremulous, “Like A Rolling Stone” organ and stabbing metallic Rhodes chords. Lead guitarist Ben Andrews strangles his axe with Hendrix-ian aplomb and occasionally picks up a fiddle along with bassist Brian Bakalian. And when the Foxes are quiet enough, you can almost hear the casters of the speaker cabinets rattling in harmony with the amplifier tubes.

With these elements in place, they have all the touchstones of a classic San Francisco lineup. Though they’re based only an hour away, the Stone Foxes have rarely played in San Jose.

“It’s kind of bizarre,” Koehler says. “It’s like Santa Cruz, you know, they’re both great spots, but for whatever reason we don’t get down there very much.”

For years there was not a single mid-sized venue downtown. But with the recent opening of the Ritz, more national acts—like our neighbors, the Stone Foxes—are finally coming to San Jose.

“We’re excited,” Koehler says. “Its cool to be able to stay close to home on a weekend and just party as hard as we can.”

The Stone Foxes
Apr 1, 8pm, $10-$13
The Ritz, San Jose

For many twentysomethings electronic dance music is the latest and greatest form of musical expression. Producers like Kaskade, Skrillex and Avicii pack festivals full of college-aged men and women with their high energy, synth-based beats.

But for 24-year-old San Jose denizen Jackie Gage, horns, upright bass and analog, brush-beaten drum kits are where it’s at.

Gage was born in Mountain View and raised in Sunnyvale by parents who loved soul and jazz. She grew up listening to the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Dionne Warwick and Stevie Wonder.

For much of 2014, Gage served as the co-founder and host of Fatale, a weekly series spotlighting local female soul, R&B and jazz vocalists at Blackbird Tavern and the Pagoda Bamboo Lounge in downtown San Jose.

A singer since childhood and a songwriter since college, Gage says that the women she saw singing at Fatale inspired her to write an entire album of original material and take her show on the road.

Gage played the final Fatale last week at Pagoda and then embarked on a short California tour, which took her to Oakland, San Rafael, Sacramento and down to Los Angeles, where she spoke with Metro on her cell phone about the upcoming release of two singles from her forthcoming LP, Ladies—named for the women singers who inspired her to take on this challenge in the first place.

“I really want as many ears as possible to hear this,” she says of Ladies, which she hopes to release in full some time in 2015. “I want the world to hear these stories and this music.”

For those who want to hear Gage’s material sooner, she will be performing at City Lights Theater Company in San Jose on Sunday, Dec. 7. It’s the second-to-last show of her brief tour, which will wrap up with one more stop in Los Angeles on Dec. 9—the same day she’ll be releasing two singles from Ladies.

Gage’s voice has been described as “velvety,” like a “smooth wine,” and indeed, her vocal ability is impressive, as she has shown in original songs like “Let Me Know,” a live version of which can be found on YouTube, and her jazzed-up cover of Rihanna’s hit “Umbrella.”

Jackie Gage plays the City Lights Theater Company on Dec. 7 at 7pm. More info.

While everyone’s been waiting for local eclectic soul singer-songwriter Anya Kvitka to record a debut full length, she decided to switch gears and instead put out a four EPs, released each week this month, and one song at a time.

Last week she released the first EP, Ruby Rhod, and this week she will be releasing her second EP, Mr. zOrg.

“I see them as their own short bodies of work, and they represent all of the sides of me,” Anya says. “I’m pretty schitzo when it comes to this stuff. Instead of doing a single every time that’s very different from the last one, I wanted to make more of a body of work that resembled a side of me. I wanted to organize it a little better and say ‘look it’s not just these completely random singles.’”

The titles of the EPs are taken from characters from the film Fifth Element. The third and fourth EP will continue with this theme with Diva Pavalaguna and Leeloo, respectively.

“I’m a huge fan of the Fifth Element. I named each EP after a character—what I associate with that character. Like the first one is based off of Chris Tucker’s character, Ruby Rhod. It’s funky fresh—like future funk. The second one is Mr. zOrg. He’s supposed to be the evil character, so it’ll be darker, more hard hitting songs,” Anya says.

The third EP, Diva Pavalaguna will be more atmospheric, ambient house-influenced songs, while the final EP Leeloo, will be reflect more of Anya’s sassy, soulful side.

Stay tuned for more details on Anya’s full-length album.

Visit Anya’s website for details.

The Bang’s Derek See recently took a momentary break from classic 1960s soul and recorded a solo EP, She Came This Way, an exploration into the psychedelic rock sounds of the mid to late 60s.

“While I love many different types of music, I essentially live for the sounds of 1963-1971,” See told us. “I guess stylistically if I were to analyze what I do best at on my own, it’s the distillation of the whole West Coast folk-rock sound by way of British rock and psychedelia.”

See recorded every instrument and all the vocals himself, except the drums, which were played by the Bang’s drummer Richard Gutierrez. See, who also created a blog to share his passion for music, Derek’s Daily 45s, felt inspired to record these new songs after spending some time with a musician friend.

“I spend so much time writing about music and sharing that it was high time that I started focusing on getting some of the ideas that float through my head onto a finished song,” See says. “I started relentlessly singing ideas into my voice memo recorded on the phone and among the sketches these songs came about.”

Psychedelphonic Records will releasing a 7″ single of the title cut “She Came This Way” with “McQueen (Slight Return)” as the B-side track.

Stream or purchase the EP on Derek See’s Bandcamp page.

Condy ChesnuTT, performing at Pagoda Lounge on Thursday, remembers the day in 2002 when his cousin, who was his manager at the time, received a call from the Roots, telling him they wanted to collaborate with him. Specifically, they wanted to cover ChesnuTT’s song “The Seed” and have him sing on the track. It was all very strange considering that he had never met the Roots and his one album, The Headphone Masterpiece, was an obscure indie release.

Flattered, ChesnuTT, who plays the Pagoda Lounge this Thursday, wasn’t sure how he felt about actually doing it. He was still reeling from a debacle with Hollywood Records, which had signed his previous group, the Crosswalk, recorded their album and subsequently dropped them without releasing it. Working with another major-label group didn’t seem like such a good idea.

“I had it out for the industry. [But] my cousin told me it would definitely be a good move to make, so I gave it a shot, and it worked out,” ChesnuTT says.

The Roots’ version, “The Seed 2.0,” became a single on the band’s Phrenology album and the only song to get major radio airplay. With a mix of Black Thought’s rapping and ChesnuTT’s vocal hook, it became an accessible neo-soul pop track with hip-hop street cred.
Oddly, the Roots later told him their label didn’t want ChesnuTT to sing on the song because he wasn’t well known enough; they wanted them to use Lenny Kravitz.

“That right there’s how the industry works,” ChesnuTT says ruefully.

The success of “The Seed 2.0” helped bump The Headphone Masterpiece into the Billboard 200. It was an album completely unlike anything out there—a long collection of Guided by Voices–style lo-fi and four-track recordings that jumped all over the place in the most chaotic and jarring ways possible.

It included psychedelic rock, soul, R&B, hip-hop, gospel and punk sounds—and songs that fell outside of any genre. Some numbers were just short little bursts of emotion, while others were long meandering pieces with friends doing spoken word. Others, like “The Seed,” were genius pop gems.

“I wanted to make a statement. It was an in-your-face kind of project. At that point in time, a lot of the bands were too polished. It was completely at the other end of the spectrum,” ChesnuTT says.

Despite the newfound attention, ChesnuTT didn’t immediately release a follow-up recording. He remained more or less silent for a decade, with the exception of an appearance on Dave Chappelle’s Block Party in 2006 and the release of the EP Black Sin No Value in 2010.
In the midst of promoting The Headphone Masterpiece, ChesnuTT became a father.

“I really embraced the fact that I had to change,” he says. “I took time to get to know what fatherhood was all about and make sure I was in the best space possible to raise another human being. I was re-evaluating myself. I just took time to grow. I didn’t think it was going to take 10 years.”

It was an understandable decision considering the chaotic mind frame he was in while recording The Headphone Masterpiece. “I was all over the place,” he says. “I was rooming with four other people. It was the epitome of the rock & roll lifestyle. You can see it on The Headphone Masterpiece. I had the presence of faith on that record, but there was a darkness—a worldy spirit that occupied my headspace as well.”

Part of changing meant taking his spirituality seriously, which is apparent on his new record, Landing on a Hundred, released last October.

Songs like “Till I Met Thee” and “Everybody’s Brother” express a profound spiritual transformation. But really, everything about the decidedly sweet and passionate Landing on a Hundred is different than The Headphone Masterpiece. Rather than capturing his unfiltered emotions, he gave himself a lot of time to consciously shape everything that he was expressing.

“I took the opportunity to really look at each lyric to be sure it was saying everything I needed it to say without saying too much,” he says. “I put a lot of thought into what I had to say.”

In order to make the best possible album, while still maintaining control, ChesnuTT funded the project himself. When he ran out of money, he turned to Kickstarter to help finish the project and was surprised by the response.

“It just blew me away that people would donate and give so much, especially in a time when people hate paying for a record, even $10,” ChesnuTT says. “But they gave $50–$100 dollars for the project. It shows you the love people have for music, the passion they put behind projects they believe in.”

Since 2009, four San Jose women, known at the Like-Me’s, have been at the forefront of modernizing Khmer (Cambodian) music. The fact that only two of them are Cambodian makes the story that much more interesting.

The Like Me’s take folk, rock, soul and classic Khmer music—singing in both English and Khmer—and fuse the genres into one. Their newest song, “Behdong Khmean Kongval,” adds electronic dance-pop to that list.

The key to the Like Me’s success, or at least how they’ve garnered so much exposure in Cambodian communities worldwide, is their videos on Youtube. While always on a shoestring budget, their videos are well-produced thanks to so much donated assistance from friends and admirers in San Jose. One of their previous videos, “Sva Rom Monkiss,” a remake of a classic 1960s Khmer song by by Pan Ron, is basically a period piece set in 1960s Cambodia.

The video for “Behdong Khmean Kongval” opens in a drab office where singer Laura Mam presumably works. She walks in and decides she’s had enough and throws all her papers in the air. She grabs the other members of the Like Me’s and starts to dance. As the music changes, so does the setting. They sing and dance in a low-lit dance club, perform on stage at a large rock venue and do synchronized dance moves in what looks like an 80s hip-hop video. At the end, it’s all just a fantasy in Mam’s head one day before work. Watch the last 30 seconds of the video. The punch line at the end is priceless.

San Jose local Maxx Cabello Jr. is known for his guitar chops, his soulful voice and for mixing it up with a wide range of styles. He plays everything from slow soul jams, blazing electric blues and Latin rock. In the case of his new video, “My Love,” he digs into old-school romantic soul, a throwback to the days before the style was dominated by drum machines and synthesizers.

A quick Google search reveals footage of Cabello playing eight minute blues guitar solos, which he’s quite talented at, but the simplicity of “My Love” makes it a good place to start for people new to his music. Like the video, the song is smooth and sweet—just a straight forward love song with nothing over-complicated about it.

The video holds special significance because it helped Cabello land an opening spot at San Jose’s Jazz Summer Fest this Friday after submitting it to festival organizers in a contest where people voted for the song they liked best. “My Love” won by a landslide.

Cabello opens the San Jose Jazz Festival on the main stage at Cesar Chavez Park this Friday at 5:30pm.

For hardcore soul music fans, hearing the same old Curtis Mayfield tunes or Al Green songs can get a little tiresome. Nothing against them, James Brown, Marvin Gaye or any of the other well-established geniuses from the soul era, but for a lot of DJs, that’s about the extent of their soul music catalog. Not so for Julius Papp and The Selector DJ Kirk, whose knowledge of soul music is vast.
Papp and Kirk have made Luxury Soul a regular thing at Chambers in San Francisco every Thursday night, and here in San Jose at the Pagoda every second Friday night of the month. Their soul catalog extends all the way back to the heyday in the ’70s, up to the hot new neo-soul tracks of 2012, and through everything in between.

They’ve got lesser known B-sides and remixes from the legends, lost tracks from underappreciated, forgotten masters. And if you think the ’80s and ’90s were an unfortunate dip in soul music brilliance, Papp and Kirk will prove you wrong. They’ve got lots of crazy, funky jams. We’re talking acid jazz, disco, boogie and every weird sub-genre of soul that ever existed.

Julius Papp’s tenure as a DJ started way back in 1987. He always had a particular interest in collecting weird disco and dance records, so you can bet he’s sitting on gems you never knew existed.

Luxury Soul will be held Fri, Jun 8 at Pagoda in San Jose, 10pm; $5.

Adrian Younge loves movie music. He collects soundtracks, especially those from the late 60s and early 70s. So it makes sense that the Wax-Poetics-signed Younge is best known as a musician for his work on movies, namely as composer on the 2009 cult favorite Black Dynamite, which lovingly (and hilariously) satirized just about every cliché in the Blaxploitation playbook.

But a decade before that, Younge had a revolutionary idea. At the time a hip-hop producer fed up with the limits of sampling and just beginning to explore live instruments, he let his love of Ennio Morricone and other film composers guide him in creating the soundtrack for a movie that never existed, Venice Dawn. Last year, he re-visited the project, pushing its psychedelic, ambient sound to more soulful and cinematic heights with the album Something About April, which he fittingly released under the moniker Venice Dawn.

When Younge performs at the Pagoda Lounge on Saturday (March 31), he’ll divide his set up into different “acts” and play music from both Black Dynamite and Something About April. He spoke about his experience with both in a phone interview.

STEVE PALOPOLI: There are so many great touches in the music to ‘Black Dynamite,’ especially the songs like “Jimmy’s Apartment” that tell the story in this very funny, overly obvious way. Some Blaxploitation films actually did that, where the lyrics replaced the character’s internal dialogue. How did that idea come about for the soundtrack?

ADRIAN YOUNGE: Everybody studied the hell out of these films. It was our job to make it exactly like they would have done. I can’t remember if it was Mike’s [Michael Jai White, who conceived, co-wrote and starred in the film as Black Dynamite] idea or Scott’s [Scott Sanders, director] idea. I’m going to say it was Mike’s idea. He showed me a lot of music, from Three the Hard Way and The Mack, and the lyrics would talk about what happened before it even happens in the film. We wanted to make sure we had that in this film. For example, the theme song at the beginning, it cuts off but that tells the full story. You hear it on the soundtrack and it’s the full story.

As a big Rudy Ray Moore fan, I liked the Dolemite references, too. Since Moore’s music was so key to his movies, were you thinking a lot about him while doing the Black Dynamite music?