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Gary Singh on August 8, 2018
Hanging with trumpeter Eddie Gale tends to unearth a different version of San Jose history than what you’ll hear from anyone else bouncing around the periphery of the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest. First of all, he is the only person alive in San Jose to have recorded with John Coltrane. He…
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There are certain people who think that stand-up comedy is a town hall or an open invitation for discussion; you’re one of those people. I saw you interrupt the show (at a particular avian-themed comedy club) because you felt that the joke the comedian was making was an inaccurate depiction of reality.…
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Dominoe Ibarra on August 4, 2018
Picture this: Lauryn Hill, Stevie Wonder, Biggie Smalls, Prince—basically every great soul, hip-hop and R&B artist of the past 50 years—coming together in a single concert. SoulfulofNoise aims to make that dream a reality. By continually recruiting the best Southern Californian musicians to perform at their events, SoulfulofNoise shows are always stacked…
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Wallace Baine on August 4, 2018
It’s a been a long and often bizarre journey from the crunchy power pop of “Buddy Holly” to the perplexing, Twitter-prompted take on Toto’s “Africa”—but after 25 years of flying their dork flags high, Weezer is still belting out gooey vocal harmonies over cranked guitars. What’s more, this summer Rivers Cuomo and…
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Wallace Baine on August 4, 2018
John F. Kennedy was in the White House when young Frankie Valli first unleashed his scorching falsetto on the world, driving such hits as “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Sherry.” Valli and his group the Four Seasons were remarkably durable as hitmakers into the late 1970s (That’s Frankie doing the theme song…
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Almost every musician I know loves Tony Molina. It’s pretty easy to see why. So far, he’s written nothing but near-perfect songs. The 20 tracks that span his first full length (Dissed and Dismissed) and its follow-up EP (2016’s Confront the Truth) are a wealth of melodies, riffs and leads, with hardly…
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Andrew Lentz on August 1, 2018
An acoustic guitar-wielding troupe of Andalusian descent, the Gipsy Kings came up in the south of France and play a Roma-influenced flamenco style known as Catalan rumba. But don’t let that intimidate you. Even if you’ve never owned any recordings by Gipsy Kings, you’re likely guilty of crooning uber-ballad “Volare” in the…
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Wallace Baine on August 1, 2018
Sure, he’s a music industry veteran with tons of connections as well as a record producer who runs his own label. But if you’re looking to Jim Pugh to make you into the next Kanye or Tay Tay, you’re going to be disappointed. He’ll tell you so himself.
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We haven’t dated in, like, two years, so it’s getting more than a little creepy to continue to get flirty texts from you every month or so. And the surprise gifts on Valentine’s Day and my birthday sent to my office … Yeah, that’s not cute — that’s creepy. I said my…
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Bill Kopp on July 27, 2018
Taj Mahal is a timeless artist who’s always been ahead of his time. The singer, songwriter and guitarist was making Americana and world music long before either musical genre had been coined. He’s earned many accolades—three Grammys and more nominations, the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, an honorary Doctorate—and released over…
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