THIS EVENT HAS ENDED
Sun November 6, 2022

San Francisco Leonard Cohen Festival w/ The Crooked Jades and Sylvie Simmons

SEE EVENT DETAILS
$25 Same price online and at the door.
Doors at 7:30pm.
Show from 8:15-10:30pm with one intermission

The Crooked Jades
The unique and modern sound of The Crooked Jades is created by exploring the roots of Americana and interweaving the diverse musical influences of Europe and Africa. Released to rave reviews, their 2019 recording "Empathy Moves The Water" was their first original album in over 10 years. "Few could make an album as striking as this...the highlights are the originals." - Sylvie Simmons, Mojo Magazine, March 2019

For this performance Crooked Jades founders Jeff Kazor (vocals/guitar/ukulele) and Lisa Berman (vocals/slide guitar/banjo/harmonium) play with long-time member Erik Pearson (vocals/banjos/ukulele/harmonium/slide guitar), with special guest.

The Crooked Jades are known for their rare and obscure repertoire, inspired arrangements and eclectic vintage instrumentation. The band began with Jeff Kazor's vision to revive the dark and hypnotic sounds of pre-radio music. Filtering these old-world sounds with universal and ancient themes, they seek to make sense of the future, reaffirming the importance of connecting to our shared humanity in this increasingly digital world.

Together with choreographer Kate Weare and San Francisco dance company ODC founder and artistic director Brenda Way, The Crooked Jades created "World's on Fire" presented at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 2019. The contemporary dance performance paired with the music of The Crooked Jades was received with rave reviews and the band was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for outstanding achievement in Music/Sound/Text. The "World's on Fire" performance evolved from "Bright Land" a 2010 album, live dance and music collaboration with Kate Weare's New York based contemporary dance company.

The Crooked Jades have released over 10 albums including the recent and acclaimed Empathy Moves the Water. Other releases include World's On Fire (featuring a track chosen by Sean Penn for the soundtrack of Oscar-nominated film Into The Wild), Seven Sisters: A Kentucky Portrait - the soundtrack to the award-winning PBS documentary of the same name, and two albums co-produced by alt-country's Richard Buckner. The Crooked Jades were featured in the KQED television and online program, SPARK which takes the audience inside the creative process to witness the challenges, opportunities and rewards of making art.

PRAISE FOR THE CROOKED JADES
**** "Few could make an album as striking as this...the highlights are the originals." - Sylvie Simmons, Mojo Magazine, reviewing "Empathy Moves The Water"

"True to form, The Crooked Jades are alive and thriving and they just may have produced one of the best Americana albums of 2019" - FOLKWorks, reviewing "Empathy Moves The Water"

Writes Bluegrass Unlimited, "Chords in unexpected places, out of this world harmonies, and some of the most powerfully-arranged material I've ever encountered."

"This San Francisco quintet keeps true to their old-time string band heart, yet in subtle, weird ways, they exaggerate the slightly-crazed aura of the rural pre-radio era music. It makes for a haunting, sophisticated trip to Appalachia. Mixing originals and traditional songs flawlessly, this might be the finest band to come out of the string-band resurgence." - Boston Herald

"The two adjectives that keep coming to me during repeated listenings to The Crooked Jades are profound and transcendent. This is visionary music, forged from the raw materials of old-time forms and instruments. It's easy to forget that the first old-time music recorded was a mirror of the times the musicians lived in. That was almost 100 years ago. Here, in the beginning of the 21st century, people in appreciable numbers are feeling as though they're teetering on the brink of apocalyptic times. Through the lens of tradition, The Crooked Jades are voicing this feeling convincingly and beautifully." - The Old-Time Herald

http://www.crookedjades.com
https://www.facebook.com/crookedjades
https://www.instagram.com/crookedjades/

~~~~~~~~

Sylvie Simmons
Sylvie Simmons' debut album - was released in 2014 to universal acclaim. Devendra Banhart called it "Fragile, fearless, direct, poetic, timeless and absolutely beautiful." Rosanne Cash called Sylvie "a punk Piaf."

Sylvie's songs are raw, tender, sensual and mesmerizing, played on a ukulele and sung in a voice that critics have compared with Hope Sandoval, Jane Birkin, Isobel Campbell and a young Marianne Faithfull - or in the Times' review, "Reminscent of a female Leonard Cohen." Rolling Stone wrote: "Had this same album been issued in mono and credited to an obscure mid-'60s flower child, the word 'legendary' might be used by more than a few writers who'd swear they'd purchased it back then. She's not only good, she's good."

"Legendary" is a word that's been used to describe Sylvie before - not as a recording artist but as an iconic music journalist and the author of best-selling books that include biographies of Leonard Cohen, Serge Gainsbourg, Johnny Cash, Debbie Harry and Neil Young.

Born and raised in London, UK, where she sang and played instruments from childhood, Sylvie planned to spend her life in music. But paralyzed by stage fright in her teens, she abandoned the idea of being a singer in favor of writing about music instead. In 1977 she bought a one-way ticket to L.A to start her new career. One of very few women included among the rock writing elite, her byline has appeared in nearly every major music magazine ever since.

Three decades later, now living in San Francisco, Sylvie found herself writing songs again, just for herself, and this time on a ukulele. The first person to hear them was her friend, Howe Gelb of the Americana band Giant Sand. He urged her to let him record her, but Sylvie was still reluctant to perform publicly. Plus she was busy working with Leonard Cohen on his biography.

When I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen was released in 2012, Sylvie set off on a long, unorthodox book tour that took her around the world, talking about Cohen and singing his songs. Gradually the stage fright started to fade. When the tour was over, she went into a studio in Tucson, AZ with Gelb and Giant Sand bassist Thoger Lund and, live to tape, recorded her songs.

"There's an unspoken rule among rock critics: don't release your own music", wrote the Guardian newspaper's critic. "Simmons shatters that rule to gripping effect with one of the most beautiful albums of the year." In 2020 Sylvie followed it with a second album, Blue on Blue, as haunting and as well-received as her first. Like Popmatters said, "Breathtaking."

http://sylviesimmons.com
https://twitter.com/sylviesimmons
https://www.facebook.com/SylvieSimmonsWordsAndMusic/
https://www.instagram.com/sylviesimmons1/
https://sylviesimmons.bandcamp.com/album/sylvie

Recommended If You Like: Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen

Vaccines, boosters, and masks are strongly encouraged, but are not required as per local Public Health Policy.
$25 Same price online and at the door.
Doors at 7:30pm.
Show from 8:15-10:30pm with one intermission

The Crooked Jades
The unique and modern sound of The Crooked Jades is created by exploring the roots of Americana and interweaving the diverse musical influences of Europe and Africa. Released to rave reviews, their 2019 recording "Empathy Moves The Water" was their first original album in over 10 years. "Few could make an album as striking as this...the highlights are the originals." - Sylvie Simmons, Mojo Magazine, March 2019

For this performance Crooked Jades founders Jeff Kazor (vocals/guitar/ukulele) and Lisa Berman (vocals/slide guitar/banjo/harmonium) play with long-time member Erik Pearson (vocals/banjos/ukulele/harmonium/slide guitar), with special guest.

The Crooked Jades are known for their rare and obscure repertoire, inspired arrangements and eclectic vintage instrumentation. The band began with Jeff Kazor's vision to revive the dark and hypnotic sounds of pre-radio music. Filtering these old-world sounds with universal and ancient themes, they seek to make sense of the future, reaffirming the importance of connecting to our shared humanity in this increasingly digital world.

Together with choreographer Kate Weare and San Francisco dance company ODC founder and artistic director Brenda Way, The Crooked Jades created "World's on Fire" presented at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in 2019. The contemporary dance performance paired with the music of The Crooked Jades was received with rave reviews and the band was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for outstanding achievement in Music/Sound/Text. The "World's on Fire" performance evolved from "Bright Land" a 2010 album, live dance and music collaboration with Kate Weare's New York based contemporary dance company.

The Crooked Jades have released over 10 albums including the recent and acclaimed Empathy Moves the Water. Other releases include World's On Fire (featuring a track chosen by Sean Penn for the soundtrack of Oscar-nominated film Into The Wild), Seven Sisters: A Kentucky Portrait - the soundtrack to the award-winning PBS documentary of the same name, and two albums co-produced by alt-country's Richard Buckner. The Crooked Jades were featured in the KQED television and online program, SPARK which takes the audience inside the creative process to witness the challenges, opportunities and rewards of making art.

PRAISE FOR THE CROOKED JADES
**** "Few could make an album as striking as this...the highlights are the originals." - Sylvie Simmons, Mojo Magazine, reviewing "Empathy Moves The Water"

"True to form, The Crooked Jades are alive and thriving and they just may have produced one of the best Americana albums of 2019" - FOLKWorks, reviewing "Empathy Moves The Water"

Writes Bluegrass Unlimited, "Chords in unexpected places, out of this world harmonies, and some of the most powerfully-arranged material I've ever encountered."

"This San Francisco quintet keeps true to their old-time string band heart, yet in subtle, weird ways, they exaggerate the slightly-crazed aura of the rural pre-radio era music. It makes for a haunting, sophisticated trip to Appalachia. Mixing originals and traditional songs flawlessly, this might be the finest band to come out of the string-band resurgence." - Boston Herald

"The two adjectives that keep coming to me during repeated listenings to The Crooked Jades are profound and transcendent. This is visionary music, forged from the raw materials of old-time forms and instruments. It's easy to forget that the first old-time music recorded was a mirror of the times the musicians lived in. That was almost 100 years ago. Here, in the beginning of the 21st century, people in appreciable numbers are feeling as though they're teetering on the brink of apocalyptic times. Through the lens of tradition, The Crooked Jades are voicing this feeling convincingly and beautifully." - The Old-Time Herald

http://www.crookedjades.com
https://www.facebook.com/crookedjades
https://www.instagram.com/crookedjades/

~~~~~~~~

Sylvie Simmons
Sylvie Simmons' debut album - was released in 2014 to universal acclaim. Devendra Banhart called it "Fragile, fearless, direct, poetic, timeless and absolutely beautiful." Rosanne Cash called Sylvie "a punk Piaf."

Sylvie's songs are raw, tender, sensual and mesmerizing, played on a ukulele and sung in a voice that critics have compared with Hope Sandoval, Jane Birkin, Isobel Campbell and a young Marianne Faithfull - or in the Times' review, "Reminscent of a female Leonard Cohen." Rolling Stone wrote: "Had this same album been issued in mono and credited to an obscure mid-'60s flower child, the word 'legendary' might be used by more than a few writers who'd swear they'd purchased it back then. She's not only good, she's good."

"Legendary" is a word that's been used to describe Sylvie before - not as a recording artist but as an iconic music journalist and the author of best-selling books that include biographies of Leonard Cohen, Serge Gainsbourg, Johnny Cash, Debbie Harry and Neil Young.

Born and raised in London, UK, where she sang and played instruments from childhood, Sylvie planned to spend her life in music. But paralyzed by stage fright in her teens, she abandoned the idea of being a singer in favor of writing about music instead. In 1977 she bought a one-way ticket to L.A to start her new career. One of very few women included among the rock writing elite, her byline has appeared in nearly every major music magazine ever since.

Three decades later, now living in San Francisco, Sylvie found herself writing songs again, just for herself, and this time on a ukulele. The first person to hear them was her friend, Howe Gelb of the Americana band Giant Sand. He urged her to let him record her, but Sylvie was still reluctant to perform publicly. Plus she was busy working with Leonard Cohen on his biography.

When I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen was released in 2012, Sylvie set off on a long, unorthodox book tour that took her around the world, talking about Cohen and singing his songs. Gradually the stage fright started to fade. When the tour was over, she went into a studio in Tucson, AZ with Gelb and Giant Sand bassist Thoger Lund and, live to tape, recorded her songs.

"There's an unspoken rule among rock critics: don't release your own music", wrote the Guardian newspaper's critic. "Simmons shatters that rule to gripping effect with one of the most beautiful albums of the year." In 2020 Sylvie followed it with a second album, Blue on Blue, as haunting and as well-received as her first. Like Popmatters said, "Breathtaking."

http://sylviesimmons.com
https://twitter.com/sylviesimmons
https://www.facebook.com/SylvieSimmonsWordsAndMusic/
https://www.instagram.com/sylviesimmons1/
https://sylviesimmons.bandcamp.com/album/sylvie

Recommended If You Like: Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen

Vaccines, boosters, and masks are strongly encouraged, but are not required as per local Public Health Policy.
read more
show less
   
EDIT OWNER
Owned by
{{eventOwner.email_address || eventOwner.displayName}}
New Owner

Update

EDIT EDIT
Links:
Event Details

Category:
Music

Date/Times:
988 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA EVENTS CALENDAR

TODAY
27
SATURDAY
28
SUNDAY
29
MONDAY
1
The Best Events
Every Week in Your Inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Edit Event Details

I am the event organizer



Your suggestion is required.



Your email is required.
Not valid email!

    Cancel
Great suggestion! We'll be in touch.
Event reviewed successfully.

Success!

Your event is now LIVE on SF STATION

COPY LINK TO SHARE Copied

or share on


See my event listing


Looking for more visibility? Reach more people with our marketing services