SF Conservatory of Music JAZZ MASTERS!

Seating times: 7:00pm & 8:30pm. Doors open 30 minutes early.

TICKET AVAILABILITY:  IF SELECTED TICKETS ARE “SOLD OUT”, PLEASE CHECK AVAILABILITY FOR ANOTHER TIME AND ANOTHER SEATING TYPE

JAZZ@theEDGE! Presents: SF Conservatory of Music FACULTY JAZZ MASTERS!

Matt Brewer – bass
Akira Tana – drums
Jason Hainsworth – saxophone
Amelie Anna – vocals, percussion
Spencer Hoefert – guitar
Michael Potter – piano
Carter Eng – trumpet

Bassist Matt Brewer, is widely respected for the technical wizardry and wide musical scope he has brought to a panoply of sideman engagements with, as he put it, “people who write challenging music.” In addition to being a member of the SFJAZZ Collective, Brewer is an esteemed educator on the faculty of San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The most recent of his four leader albums onThe Color of Intention, Ganymede, with Lewis Wright and Marcus Gilmore.

Born and raised in California, Akira Tana earned degrees from Harvard University and the New England Conservatory of Music. Tana has worked with among others, SONNY ROLLINS, SONNY STITT, ZOOT SIMS, HUBERT LAWS, MILT JACKSON, JIM HALL, ART FARMER, THE PAUL WINTER CONSORT, PAQUITO D’RIVERA, JAMES MOODY, J.J. JOHNSON, LENA HORNE, THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER, RUTH BROWN, CHARLES AZNAVOUR, MAURICE HINES, AND VAN DYKE PARKS. He has appeared on over 200 recordings.

In the 90’s, Tana co-led a quintet with the bassist, Rufus Reid called TanaReid, has five releases, “Yours and Mine” and “Passing Thoughts,” on Concord Records and “Blue Motion” and “Looking Forward,”and “Back to Front,” on Evidence Music.  On Sons of Sound, Akira has two releases as a leader,  “Moon Over the World and Secret Agent Men. The third US release on Sons of Sound as a leader is a project by the Secret Agent Men Band playing themes from the movies of James Bond, entitled “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” featuring the vocalist, Annie Sellick. A fourth release on VegaMusic-USA is a project entitled “JAZZaNOVA,”  that features the vocalists, Claudio Amaral, Claudia Villela, Jackie Ryan, Carla Helmbrecht, and Sandy Cressman. Guest artists include Branford Marsalis and Arturo Sandoval. Also available are three recent releases as a leader,“Otonowa,” “Stars Across the Ocean,” and “Ai San San (Love’s Radiance),” which features jazz interpretations of Japanese folk and pop melodies that date as far back as the1800’s. This group has completed   seven goodwill/charity  tours of Tohoku performing and teaching for communities still rebuilding from the Earthquake/Tsunamai of 2011. An active teacher and clinician, Tana has taught at Rutgers University, Queens College, Jersey City State College, New York University, San Francisco State University, California Jazz Conservatory  and is currently on the faculty at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Jason Hainsworth continues the longstanding tradition of the Texas Tenors, an esteemed group of raw, hard–blowing saxophonists from the Lone Star State who pioneered a robust fusion of swing, bebop, R&B and blues.  Brian Zimmerman – Downbeat Magazine

In these times when so many young musicians seem to seek head-scratching complexity in their performance, Jason Hainsworth’s rib stickin’ approach sounds downright novel by comparison!   Willard Jenkins – Downbeat Magazine

As a performer, Mr. Hainsworth has led his own quartet throughout the world to critical acclaim, most recently performing at the Suriname and Downtown Miami Jazz Festivals. He has also performed and recorded with Michael Dease, Josh Evans, Julian Lage, Michael Rodriguez, Johnathan Blake, Etienne Charles, Dianne Schuur, Jason Marsalis, and Randy Brecker just to name a few.

Mr. Hainsworth’s debut album, Kaleidoscope, features original compositions and arrangements for big bands with the likes of Tanya Darby, Linda Oh, Claudio Roditi, and Michael Dease as soloists.  His latest album, Third Ward Stories (Origin Records), was hailed as one of the best straight-ahead jazz albums of 2016 and was Downbeat Magazine’s “Editor’s Pick” for the issue.

Now in his fifth year on the West Coast, Jason serves as co-founder and Executive Director of the innovative Roots, Jazz, and American Music (RJAM) program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music which partners with SFJazz.

Following her heart, Amelie moved all the way from Austria (Europe) to San Francisco. It is here that she rediscovered her first love – music.

Currently, Amelie follows her mission to empower and support developing female and femme-identifying artists as Assistant Director of the Roots, Jazz and American Music Program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) She also works with Martin LutherMcCoy and San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin, and brings film and video game scores to life with her unique voice and hand drumming skills.

At SFCM, she studied with SFJAZZ Collective artists David Sanchez, Edward Simon and jazz greats like Julian Lage, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, or the late Randy Weston. Her mentors are Carlos Caro (Afro-Cuban Percussion), Jake Nissly (Jazz Drums) and Carmen Bradford (Jazz Vocals). The distinguished program, Amelie now co-leads, has brought her to SFJAZZ, the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Jazz Education Network Conference (JEN) in New Orleans. Amelie has been awarded the Marineau Family Foundation Scholarship, the Vincent Constantine Scholarship and the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence.

Spencer Hoefert is a guitarist from Gainesville, Florida. He currently studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Spencer is currently a student of Anthony Wilson, Julian Lage, and Randy Vincent.

Michael Potter is a jazz pianist and composer who strives to honor the traditions of improvised music while also making his own contributions to the progression of the art form. He’s shared the stage with artists such as Carmen Bradford, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, Steve Davis and Matt Brewer. Potter currently studies with Edward Simon at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Carter Eng has performed at many famous venues around the world, including the Newport, North Sea and Montreux Jazz Festivals, Jazz at Lincoln Center and SFJAZZ. In 2018, he was a finalist for the Grammy Band and received a full scholarship to attend the Berklee Global Jazz Institute Workshop. With the Roosevelt Jazz Band, winners of the 2019 Essentially Ellington Competition, he has received numerous soloist awards as well as the school’s “Waldo King Inspirational Award”. Carter is currently a student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he studies with Mike Rodriguez and Mario Guaneri.