These days, Brandon Coleman has exactly one thing on his mind:

“Trying to influence the music industry to produce more original music instead of just the status quo,” says the keyboardist/vocalist/arranger.

If anyone could do it, Coleman just might be the guy. Over the past decade and change, the man sometimes known as “Professor Boogie” has collaborated with many of the most influential musicians of our era, contributing piano, keys, or arrangements to works by Donald Glover/Childish Gambino, Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington and Thundercat (among others), as well as working as writing partner with R&B powerhouse Babyface. In 2018, he released his first solo album, the bold, conscious and interdimensionally funky Resistance, via Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder label.

This weekend, Coleman and band make a stop downtown for San Jose Jazz’s Summer Fest. His appearance comes at a busy time in the already busy musician’s career. On top of planning and prepping for tour and his normal work writing arrangements, he’s recently started a record label, a production company and even begun producing a TV show—all while working on his second solo album.

“I feel like the music I’m doing now is just along the lines of my life,” he says. “It’s an amalgam of all of my thoughts, and all of the records that have influenced me.”

Already, Resistance was quite an amalgam. Mixing jazz, disco, R&B, hip hop and film scores, and running them all through a funky, space-age filter, the expansive album fit in few boxes. Even its recording was unorthodox: Coleman recorded Resistance over the span of about six years, taking advantage of unused hours from sessions with his many collaborators. If you hear flecks of stardust on the P-Funk-via-J-Dilla thump of “Giant Feelings,” or feel transported to an interplanetary current on the title track, possibly that’s because both were recorded during the same session as Kamasi Washington’s galactic modern jazz goliath The Epic.

“I’d record in different studios, for different projects, and just be like, ‘I like this song, I’ll tuck it away,’” Coleman recalls.

So when Flying Lotus asked him about doing a solo record, the two sat down and started combing through all the songs he’d put together. Right away, the visionary producer started gravitating towards one thing.

“He really wanted to stick with the funky stuff,” Coleman remembers. “Once I got an idea of what the record label wanted, I pieced together songs based on that. I found all the funky stuff on my hard drive.”

Resistance is certainly funky. After a cinematic swell of strings that rises like leaves in a gentle updraft, the beat kicks in on a thick groove, setting the stage for Coleman to let loose a statement of purpose: “I’m in it for the rest of my life.” From that point on, Resistance is all swagger and float, picking up confidence with each unexpected influence brought in, from filmic woodwind flares, to interstellar disco strings.

One major component of the record is Coleman’s consistent use of vocoder, the roboticizing vocal effect originally pioneered for espionage. Vocoder appears on nearly all of Coleman’s vocal tracks on the album, sometimes in subtle ways—as on the smooth falsetto from “There’s No Turning Back”—sometimes in ways impossible to overlook, as on the melody from retro-futurist robo-sex jam “Sexy.” At all times, it is an undeniable part of Resistance.

“I have not seen anybody use the vocoder the way I’m using it,” he says. “People use it as a novelty. It’s like they think of it as a vocoder. I don’t see it as a vocoder. I see it as the human voice—but electric.”

But just as any revolution must first begin within, Coleman won’t be repeating himself while fighting for a more original music industry. He vows his next record will be bound neither by funk, nor any other genre.

“The stuff that I’m writing now is more unapologetic: I don’t really care about other people’s thoughts about my music anymore. I’ve just let that go completely. And because of that, it’s opened up a new door to wherever I can go,” he says. “The Black diaspora is so much more than just making people dance. I’m just using my creativity to help expand the diaspora.”

Brandon Coleman
Sat, 3pm, $35
Hammer Theatre Stage, San Jose

Back from its hiatus in 2020, San Jose Jazz’s yearly live and local music extravaganza is headed to quite a few stages around San Jose this weekend. From Friday on, many incredible musicians will be performing in nooks and crannies all throughout downtown San Jose, including local artists like the 7th St. Big Band, Joy Hackett and the SJZ Collective, as well as marquee guests like Common, Kandace Springs, Shamarr Allen and the Underdogs, Morris Day and the Time, Quiana Lynell, Las Chikas and more. A San Jose tradition more than thirty years running.

SJZ Summer Fest
Fri-Sun, Various Times, $35+
Downtown, San Jose

IT’S ONLY A slight overstatement to call trumpeter Herb Alpert the king of 1960s easy listening music. Alpert, of course, led the staggeringly successful Tijuana Brass; if you’ve ever been in a thrift shop, you’ve seen Whipped Cream and Other Delights, the record with that famously racy cover photo. Alpert is the rare artist who topped the charts as both an instrumentalist and a singer (the latter was a rare vocal turn for 1968’s “This Guy’s in Love With You”).

And as the “A” in A&M Records, Alpert co-founded the world’s largest independent record company, releasing music by artists as diverse as Paul Williams, Joe Jackson, the Carpenters, Peter Frampton, Cheech & Chong, the Tubes, Supertramp, Janet Jackson, Gin Blossoms, Soundgarden and Robyn Hitchcock.

Alpert is best known, however, as the man who brought a kind of pop-jazz into the homes of millions. Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass—actually Alpert backed by the ubiquitous LA session aggregation known as the Wrecking Crew—released 11 albums between 1962 and 1968; six of those LPs went to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. At one point, records by the TJB even outsold the Beatles. Alpert’s chirpy, uptempo style was effectively the soundtrack for a certain segment of the ’60s lifestyle. (And speaking of soundtracks, he recorded the memorable theme song for the original Casino Royale James Bond film in 1967.)

After the Tijuana Brass years, Alpert largely left the south-of-the-border style behind, moving toward a smoother mainstream jazz sound. His 1979 single “Rise” hit the No. 1 spot on both the pop and adult contemporary charts. To date Alpert has released nearly 50 albums, 29 of which went gold or platinum.

Way back in 1973 Alpert married singer Lani Hall, who had been the vocalist in one of A&M’s popular acts, Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ’66; their “Mas Que Nada” was a hit in 1966 and earned renewed popularity when it was featured on the soundtrack of Mike Myers’ 1997 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Hall has yet another spy movie connection: as a solo artist, she sang the theme song to 1983’s non-canonical 007 film Never Say Never Again.

Today at age 83, Alpert is active as an abstract expressionist painter and philanthropist. And he remains a vital onstage presence. Appearing in concert together since 2006 and backed by an instrumental trio, Alpert and Hall perform a set of songs that draws upon both of their celebrated musical careers.

Herb Alpert and Lani Hall
August 12, 4 p.m. $20-$40
San Jose Jazz Summer Fest

It’s buried deep in the heart of every boom-bap beat; it’s churning hot at the center of every rip-roaring rock & roll riff; and it’s slyly creeping in the smoky shadows of every soulful R&B jam. As we argued last week, jazz, and the music from which it sprang—the blues—are the purest American art forms. And they are both rolling into town this weekend with the 27th annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest.

With so many amazing acts to check out in such little time, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to … um … catch ’em all. Make the most of your time with this guide of festival picks.

DakhaBrakha
Sun, 3pm, California Theatre Stage
Clad in the traditional fur hats of Ukraine, DakhaBrakha seeks to elevate the international recognition of their homeland by blending their folk stylings with nearly every other genre on the planet. On “Karpatsky Rap,” they deploy a twangy mouth harp, a huffing accordion and a dreamy cello riff before Nina Harenetska unleashes a nasty flow in her native tongue. On the other end of the spectrum, they deploy animalistic yips and howls on “Vensa,” and on “Baby,” they lay an infectious pop chorus in the middle of tribal drums and looping chants. They blend the global and the intensely local into a stunning, singular sound.

Aki Kumar
Sat, 9pm, Blues Stage
Born in Mumbai, Aki Kumar came to the United States at the age of 18 to study software engineering at San Jose State and maybe play a little harmonica on the side. Three years ago, he quit his day job and began pursuing music full-time after becoming a regular at blues spots like The Smoking Pig in Fremont. Following an impressive debut, Kumar crafted a uniquely American record by combining blues with Indian music, two genres dominated by rabid purists. On Aki Goes to Bollywood—especially on “Eena Meena Deeka”—he zips and bounces through the peppy track like a Hindi-speaking Louis Prima. 

John Blues Boyd
Sat, 9pm, Blues Stage
Boyd released his fittingly titled debut album, The Real Deal, at the ripe age of 71. Born in Mississippi, he started working in the cotton fields at the age of 7, then moved onto hot tar roofing, which he did for 35 years. He sang his whole life, whether in the church choir or during his work or in some small clubs. After the death of his wife, he became a man possessed by the spirit of the blues, penning up to eight songs a day.

Jackie Gage
Sat, 10pm, Café Stritch Stage
This South Bay-bred singer possesses a timeless voice. Cooing over brushed drums, jazzy horns and a plodding stand-up bass, her voice flows like molasses and lands on the ear with a velvet touch. On her debut album, Siren Songs, she channels those mythical singing temptresses, putting a fresh twist on classic sounds and drawing the listener in like a doomed sailor. Though rooted in jazz, she’s branched into the modern realm as well, slowing Rhianna’s “Umbrella” into a dusty ballad and collaborating with electro-disco DJ Captain Supernova.

Aaron Lington
Sat, 5pm, Silicon Valley Stage
Grammy-winner Aaron Lington ranks among the most important artists in the area. He has played and composed for The San Francisco Symphony, Bo Diddley and the Pacific Mambo Orchestra. He’s been frequently recognized by the readers and critics of Downbeat magazine while also earning “Jazz Educator of the Year” in 2011 from California Music Educators Association for his work at San Jose State and with the San Jose High School All-Stars. The baritone saxophonist will lead his sextet in a rousing tribute to the essential cuts of Ray Charles, a follow-up to their spectacular medley in 2013 honoring Stevie Wonder.

John L. Worley Jr.
Sun, 3pm, Silicon Valley Stage
A world-class talent, Worley chose to remain a local artist and educate the next generation of performers. He is a Stanford faculty member, a featured recording artist on over 70 works and a collaborator with artists ranging from Ella Fitzgerald to the Asian American Orchestra. He plays both the trumpet and the flugelhorn with warmth and panache. The past few years, he’s taken a special interest in resurrecting the brilliance of Miles Davis, putting his own stamp on the divine creations of one of jazz’s iconic geniuses. And he’ll do that this year with his “Birth of the Cool Showcase.”

Clint Baker’s New Orleans Jazz Band
Sun, 6pm, Gordon Biersch Stage
Before Chicago and New York, there was New Orleans—the birthplace of jazz music. But unlike the cooler, smokier stylings of those northern cities, the bayou brand of the genre lolls along with a bouncy, brassy vibe, perfectly suited for the parades that march up and down Bourbon Street. Baker leads his band generously, deferring often to his talented accompanying artists before taking his turn and unleashing whimsically executed notes on his cornet, or a bluesy refrain in his soulful voice, or digging into the trove of other instruments he can play, including the trombone, alto sax, guitar, banjo, bass, tuba and drums.

Mark De Clive-Lowe
Fri, Midnight, Cafe Stritch Stage
After mastering straight-ahead jazz, MdCL took his compositional sensibilities and applied them on the ones and twos. He honed his skills as a DJ on London’s broken beat scene—a genre that prizes intricate, hiccupping percussion. Now, equal parts jazz, neo-soul and electro, he’s on the speed dial for major artists like Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott. He recently released his 11th studio album, Church, a kickstarter-funded project that returns to his sonic roots, but repackages it in electronic psychedelia. A dizzyingly talented artist, he creates live samples by playing his drum machine and keyboard during his sets, spawning an original mix at each show. 

Masego
Sat, 7pm, Post Street Stage
This precocious 23-year-old makes whatever will come after hip-hop. A multi-talented artist, Masego raps, sings, produces and plays saxophone, keyboard and marimba. He combines the raw performing skills of a first-chair phenom, the intricate beatmaking of Flying Lotus and the joyful blend of hard-spitting and tender crooning of fellow youngin’ D.R.A.M. On “Send Yo’ Rita,” he starts out riding a swaying dancehall beat, then staccato raps through erratic snares and bulbous, hard-smacking bass, before unfurling a glorious sax solo. He classifies his brand of sounds as “trap house jazz” and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever heard.

Adrian Younge
Fri, 9:30pm, San Fernando Stage
Adrian Younge possesses a diverse range of skills—he teaches entertainment law, he scored the blaxploitation send-up Black Dynamite and produced “Untitled 06” with Ali Shaheed Muhammad for Kendrick Lamar. A specialist in the jazzier, funkier side of hip-hop, he produced Twelve Reasons To Die II, a throwback project for Ghostface Killah. His most recent solo project Something about April II, leans heavily on samples from the early ’70s era of funk. His hip-hop influences and prowess on a multitude of keyboards imbue the soul-drenched project with a caramel-smooth, timeless listenability.

Freddie Joachim
Sat, Midnight, Cafe Stritch Stage
This Filipino-born DJ started practicing his craft in the mid-’90s, but has found a way to keep his turntable skills modern. He specializes in the dusty, soul-sampled boom-bap of yore that’s cut with electro influences and a jazzy sway. He builds his beats slowly, meditating on meandering horn or piano riffs that give way infectious beat breaks. Boasting a well-rounded repertoire, he excels equally at producing beats for Joey Bada$$, remixing the hits of others like his subdued drum n’ bass rendition of Razor-N-Tape’s “Outta Sight” and crafting his own tracks, like the loopy and organic “On and On.”

Aireene Espiritu
Sat, 9pm, Blues Stage
After immigrating to America as a 10-year-old, Espiritu began distilling the folk music of her adopted nation into a distinct brand of her own. The singer-songwriter plays an evergreen brand of old-timey tunes, strumming melodies on her ukelele or guitar backed by stomping and swaying rhythms. Mixing the vibe of a rural front porch and a gospel church choirstand, she weaves yarns that celebrate the struggle and joy of the dustier regions of America. She travels the country living out of her Toyota Prius, a rather fitting situation for a modern practitioner of humble tradition.

Tower of Power and The Internet are the latest acts to officially join the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2015 lineup. The addition of the Oakland-based funk, soul and R&B band, and the Odd Future offshoot was announced today.

Also added to the already overflowing bill: vocalist Storm Large (of Pink Martini), blues artist Selwyn Birchwood, organ trio Clark, Blades & Niswanger, and urban jazz group Times 4.

The dual announcement of the addition of Tower of Power and The Internet serves to highlight San Jose Jazz’s commitment to both veteran acts and boundary-pushing newcomers.

Tower of Power have been kicking out the jams for nearly 50 years. Founded in 1968, the band is recognized for its strong horn section and funky rhythm section. For many years now, they’ve been a regular at festivals around the Bay Area precisely because of their mass appeal.

The Internet, led by former members of the now-disbanded weirdo rap collective Odd Future, play a spacey brand of neo-soul—melding minimalist hip-hop beats with druggy instrumentation and introspective lyrics about love, loss and human condition. They join an already strong lineup of artists who are taking traditional jazz, soul, funk and R&B elements and spinning them forward for a new generation.

On their latest full-length album, Ego Death, released just last month, The Internet tapped their friend and one-time Odd Future ringleader, Tyler, The Creator, as well as Janelle Monae. Watch their video for “Girl” below.

Erykah Badu is at the top of the list of some recent additions to this year’s San Jose Summer Jazz Fest. The neo-soul legend won’t be singing however; she’s spinning records under her the moniker DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown. Her DJ side project began in 2011, and she spins frequently at clubs, bringing an eclectic mix of hip-hop, jazz, soul, funk and even a little EDM.

Other artists just announced for the festival include New York’s rising jazz pianist Kris Bowers, New Orleans R&B singer Ledisi, Poncho Sanchez Band, who will be performing a tribute to the late great Latin percussionist Armando Peraza, as well as label showcases by Peanut Butter Wolf’s cutting edge funk/hip-hip Stone Throw Records and Harlem’s jazz and world beat label Motéma Music.

This is a big year for the San Jose Summer Jazz Festival as they celebrate their 25 year mark milestone. Bootsy Collins has already been announced as this summer’s headliner. This year’s festival lasts between Friday August 8 and Sunday August 10. The festival started back in 1990 in downtown San Jose when the city was undergoing major efforts to rebuild the area. Starting out on a single stage the first year, The San Jose Jazz Festival has grown alongside downtown San Jose and now boasts 11 stages, and even happens twice a year—known as the summer and winter fests.

Between now and August 6th, 3-Day passes will be on sale: $55: General admission, $65 All Stage Access, $150: Priority Access, $285: VIP.

San Jose Jazz Summerfest took over downtown San Jose this weekend With established acts like Morris Day & The Time and Ivan Neville’s Dumpstafunk and talented newcomers to the scene.

Photos by Alex Stover.

Jeff Hamilton thinks it’s kind of funny that musical diversity at jazz festivals is getting so much attention in the last few years. He’s been playing them for longer than most of the artists at this year’s Summer Fest—both as bandleader of his own trio and as drummer for jazz legend Oscar Peterson, as well as Diana Krall and Ray Brown.

Hamilton, who plays Summer Fest in downtown San Jose Sunday, remembers rock singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones following him at the Montreux Jazz Festival three decades ago. He remembers Kool Cigarettes getting into the jazz game in the early ’80s and bringing an influx of R&B acts into jazz festivals.

“I think this has been going on for quite a long time,” says Hamilton.

He’s never minded, except for one thing. “They continue to use the four-letter word,” he says. “I don’t think you can do that.”

That word, of course, is jazz, and that is exactly what Hamilton plays. He doesn’t know why many events even bother to call themselves a “jazz festival” any more, and he prefers that they shift to something like what San Jose Jazz does with its rechristened “Summer Fest.”

In fact, he likes very much how San Jose Jazz has handled the sometimes challenging question of how to program other genres alongside traditional jazz, which is why he’s back for a second time. When he first brought his trio here two years ago, Tower of Power was playing their set outside, while they played in an intimate venue that had just the right acoustics for the group. That’s the only way he’ll do it anymore.

“I don’t play a lot of festivals,” he says. “The festivals I play have a listening room, like San Jose. I could flick a finger on the bell of a cymbal, and you’d hear it in the back of the room.”

His experiences with the kind of intimate, acoustic jazz played by his group—which also features Christoph Luty on bass and pianist Tamir Hendelman—haven’t always been so great. Back when he was touring with Ray Brown, he recalls being drowned out completely while trying to follow an electric band at the Playboy Festival.
“The rotating stage came around, and nobody knew we were playing,” he says. “We caught the sound engineer by surprise.”

Anyone who wonders what hip-hop could possibly have in common with traditional Punjabi music has never heard Ustad Lal Singh Bhatti sing.

“He’s the ultimate freestyler,” says rapper Vijay Chattha of his bandmate in the San Francisco hip-hop-funk-jazz group BlackMahal, who perform at Summer Fest in downtown San Jose on Saturday.

Indeed, Bhatti’s voice defies description. He is the world’s most famous Punjabi vocalist, and master of the two-sided Indian hand drum known as the dhol. Over a career that spans four decades, he has performed for U.S. presidents stretching back to Gerald Ford, at the U.S. bicentennial celebration, and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He’s collaborated with the Black Eyed Peas and other groups. But in hooking up with hip-hop head Chattha, who formed BlackMahal in 2004, he found a whole new groove.

Bhatti’s vocals draw on the traditional boliyan, which are lyrical couplets sung in Punjab. The oral tradition of boliyan allows much room for improvisation, and are known for expressing deep emotion. In other words, boliyan singers were the O.G. freestylers, so perhaps it’s no surprise that Bhatti has thrived in the hip-hop realm.

In fact, as far back as the ’90s, DJs began fusing boliyan with hip-hop beats, partly as a political response to what they considered the bastardization of folk traditions by bhangra. But in BlackMahal, Bhatti’s vocals are neither a statement nor a gimmick—they’re as intregral to the fabric of the music as Chattha’s raps, or the sound of the ever-growing musical ensemble (which also includes Jason Lee on turntables, Satish Pillai on Keys, Tim Chang on bass, Pangfua Chang on vocals, Sandeep Bhatt on sax, Dave Wood on trumpet and Jon Cook on drums).

“Today’s DJ culture is all about choppy loops and choppy samples,” says Chattha. “We feel like there’s an untapped element to having great musicians play and having Ustad do his thing.”

When Cajun rock up-and-comer Amanda Shaw belts out a punk cover—say, The Clash’s “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” or a gender-modified take on the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”—it’s not a novelty-type thing, like string-music versions of Metallica. Her versions, especially the Clash song, burn with the same power as the original, led by her constantly bobbing and weaving, fist-in-the-air delivery. She sings and fiddles with swagger and attitude. With authority.

Offstage, however, her personality is as far from that tough-girl stance as the bayou is from the South Bay. Shaw, who plays the Summer Fest in San Jose on Saturday, is all Southern charm, as bubbly and fun-loving as a newly minted 22-year-old (she celebrated her birthday last week) should be. This one just happens to have been playing violin since she was four and making records since she was 11. She’s beloved in her hometown of New Orleans, and two years ago Mayor Mitch Landrieu declared August 31 “Amanda Shaw Day.”

Underneath the sweetness and upstanding citizenry, though, there is definitely a punk spirit in Shaw. She admits her musical heroes are all strong and sometimes complicated women: Chrissie Hynde, Amy Winehouse, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Etta James and so on.

“I’m definitely all about the girl power,” she admits. “Even though I’m a fiddle player, I like to rock out.”

She laid this out early on in the song “I’m Not A Bubblegum Princess,” from the 2004 album of the same name. It signified a shift in her career, as she had just finished filming movies for the Disney Channel.

“It was junior high or the beginning of high school,” she says, “Early on, around that time, I had done the two Disney movies. It was fine, it was fun, but I didn’t like how some of the girls would come on and talk bad about New Orleans, even though they were filming the movie here. Or they’d come in and be like ‘look at my Chanel shoes,’ or my Gucci bag or whatever. For me, it’s not about being a product to sell.”