Family Stone Band: Funk Music 30th San Jose, CA Jazz Summer Fest 8/9/2019
All music copyrights San Jose Summer Jazz Fest, Artists and Publishers
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sly_and...
Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, and included Stone's brother and singer/guitarist Freddie Stone, sister and singer/keyboardist Rose Stone, trumpeter Cynthia Robinson, drummer Greg Errico, saxophonist Jerry Martini, and bassist Larry Graham. It was the first major American rock group to have a racially integrated, male and female lineup.[1]
Formed in 1966, the group's music synthesized a variety of disparate musical genres to help pioneer the emerging "psychedelic soul" sound.[2][3] They released a series of Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits such as "Dance to the Music" (1968), "Everyday People" (1968), and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" (1969), as well as critically acclaimed albums such as Stand! (1969), which combined pop sensibility with social commentary.[4] In the 1970s, it transitioned into a darker and less commercial funk sound on releases such as There's a Riot Goin' On (1971) and Fresh (1973), proving as influential as their early work.[5] By 1975, drug problems and interpersonal clashes led to dissolution,[6] though Sly continued to record and tour with a new rotating lineup under the name "Sly and the Family Stone" until drug problems forced his effective retirement in 1987.[7]
www.mercurynews.com/2019/08/1...
If 30 is the age when you’re supposed to calm your wild ways, somebody forgot to tell the crowd at San Jose Jazz Summer Fest, which kicked off its 30th annual edition in strong form Friday night.
The joyful, rollicking audience surrounding the main stage in Plaza de Cesar Chavez was already in a good mood when the Family Stone shouted out, “San Jose, it’s a family affair,” riffing off the Bay Area funk and soul band’s 1971 hit. The crowd let out a huge cheer in response and kept right on cheering for En Vogue later in the night. It’s gonna be that kind of weekend in downtown San Jose, which is floating in music, be it jazz, blues, soul, salsa, swing or gospel.
Bruce Labadie, who has been booking the festival since its much smaller start in 1990, said he thinks this is the best lineup in three decades. Yet, it’s not just the big names - including Gregory Porter and Pink Martini on Saturday and the O’Jays on Sunday - that have transformed Summer Fest into an institution that’s expected to draw some 40,000 people to its 13 downtown stages this weekend.
It’s also because the festival has managed to maintain its community roots even as it has grown and evolved. Those nationally known acts are mixed in with homegrown performers like Jackie Gage, Aki Kumar, Amy Dabalos, Aaron Lington and the SJZ Collective, a touring band that features talents like Wally Schnalle and Oscar Pangalinan. Collaborating with Poor House Bistro’s Jay Meduri and promoter Universal Grammar to program stages has added a more diverse sound to the mix. And this year, the Sonido Clash collective - which has its own festival next month - is programming its own stage with Latin dance music near the Salsa Stage on San Fernando Street.
“I think we’ve done a good job of adapting the festival to be reflective of San Jose’s musical identity,” San Jose Jazz Executive Director Brendan Rawson said. “The diversity that’s present in our region is an exciting thing to tap into as a programmer, both in terms of the local talent that’s present and the international talent coming from around the globe that has particular relevance to the communities that are part of San Jose today.”
Many community hands had a role in bringing to life that first festival in
1990, especially Labadie and the late Sammy Cohen, who founded the San Jose Jazz Society. It would be impossible to list the scores of people who have nurtured the festival through ups and downs over the years.
People remember when the festival was free, and some lament the decision in 2008 to start charging a $5 gate admission fee. But those were also the days when stages were in parking lots, and the added revenue has allowed the fest to bring in better acts and to improve the stages. Today, general admission tickets are $30, providing access to five outdoors stages; paying an extra $15 adds four indoor stages. But there also are free stages inside the San Jose Museum of Art (youth), in the courtyard behind St. Joseph Cathedral Basilica (gospel), at Tabard Theater at San Pedro Square (swing) and at San Pedro Square Market (various).
Videographer: Ramon J. Martinez Ph.D.
La Raza Historical Society of San t Clara Valley
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