Episode Summary: In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, Steven Roby sits down with Grammy-nominated clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen. Known for her expressive virtuosity and infectious charisma, Anat is bringing a massive milestone celebration to San Francisco.

We discuss her upcoming "50th Birthday Celebration" at SFJAZZ (December 11-12), a career-spanning residency featuring her intimate "Quartetinho" ensemble and her expansive 10-piece "Tentet." Anat opens up about growing up in a musical household in Tel Aviv, her "student for life" philosophy while pursuing a master’s degree in Rio de Janeiro, and the creative visualization behind her latest album, Bloom.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• The Cohen Family House: Growing up in Tel Aviv with brothers Yuval and Avishai and fighting for sonic space.
• Defining "Quartetinho": How her "little quartet" creates a massive sound through multi-instrumentalism (accordion, vibes, guitar, and electronics).
• Visualizing the Music: The fascinating story of how a solo clarinet practice session evolved into the track "The Night Owl."
• The Eternal Student: Why Anat returned to university to study Brazilian music in the middle of a successful touring career.
• Big Band Energy: Recording Interaction Live with the WDR Big Band and her brothers.
• Show Preview: What audiences can expect at the SFJAZZ Birthday Celebration, from intimate duos to "wild party moments".

Featured Music:

• "The Night Owl" – From the album Bloom (2024, Anzic Records).
• "Footsteps and Smiles" – From the album Interaction Live (2025, Anzic Records).

Links & Resources:

• TICKETS: Anat Cohen 50th Birthday Celebration at SFJAZZ (Dec 11-12, Miner Auditorium).
• Official Website: AnatCohen.com
• Record Label: Anzic Records
• Latest Album: Bloom

Connect with Backstage Bay Area:

• Website: BackstageBayArea.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backstagesfbay/
• Host: Steven Roby

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review!

Episode Summary: This week on Backstage Bay Area, host Steve Roby welcomes two-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Mads Tolling. Known for his work with the Turtle Island Quartet, Stanley Clarke, and Bob Weir, Mads is shifting gears this season to share a piece of his Danish childhood in San Francisco.

Mads takes us inside his project, Cool Yule: A Nordic Holiday Celebration, a "love letter" to his upbringing in Copenhagen. We explore the concept of "hygge," compare the structured traditions of a Danish Christmas with the chaotic energy of American holidays, and delve into the fascinating—and sometimes frightening—folklore of the North. From a rice pudding-eating gnome to a child-eating "Christmas Cat," Mads explains the stories behind the music. Plus, hear how he transforms an 1830s violin into a growling baritone instrument he calls "Uncle Scratchy."

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Life Lately: Meds’ recent touring with Melvin Seals & JGB and his deep dive into the Grateful Dead repertoire.
• Nordic vs. American Christmas: Why the "Christmas spirit" feels different in Denmark, the importance of hygge (coziness), and why the 24th is the real main event in Scandinavia.
• Folklore & Music:
• The Gnome’s Attic: The story of the Nisse who demands his rice pudding (and fights off rats to get it).
• The Christmas Cat: An Icelandic legend about a giant fashion-policing cat that eats children who don't receive new clothes for Christmas.
• "Uncle Scratchy": Mads explains his unique baritone violin, tuned an octave lower to create a cello-like, medieval growl perfect for monster stories.
• The Frozen Connection: How a modern Disney hit connects back to Danish author Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen.

Featured Music:

• "The Gnome's Attic" (from Cool Yule) 
• "The Christmas Cat" (from Cool Yule) 

Upcoming Live Show: Catch Mads Tolling & The Mads Men live for a special holiday engagement!

• Event: Cool Yule: A Nordic Holiday Celebration 
• Dates: Saturday, Dec 13 & Sunday, Dec 14, 2025 
• Venue: Joe Henderson Lab, SFJAZZ (San Francisco) 
• Showtimes: 7:00 PM & 8:30 PM 
• The Band: Mads Tolling (violin), Colin Hogan (piano/accordion), Gary Brown (bass), Eric Garland (drums).

Resources & Links:

• Get Tickets: SFJAZZ Ticket Link
• Mads Tolling Official Site: madstolling.com
• Host: Steve Roby, Backstage Bay Area

Episode Summary:

Vibraphonist, composer, and educator Stefon Harris joins Backstage Bay Area before his November 29 double bill with trumpeter Theo Croker at SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium. Harris discusses the spiritual roots of his sound, the ideas behind his new album Sonic Creed Volume Two: Life Signs, and why he believes harmony can be felt as vividly as rhythm. He also shares how his Harmony Cloud app is transforming the way musicians hear and respond to chords in real time.

About Stefon Harris:

Stefon Harris is a four-time Grammy-nominated jazz vibraphonist, bandleader, and educator. As a longtime leader of the band Blackout and a former member of the SFJAZZ Collective, he has recorded for Blue Note and Concord, collaborated with artists ranging from Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter to Dianne Reeves and Common, and teaches at Rutgers University–Newark. Harris is also the co-founder of the Melodic Progression Institute and the creator of the Harmony Cloud ear-training app.

In This Episode:

- Stefon’s early experiences with music in the Black church and classical training
- The concept and story behind Sonic Creed Volume Two: Life Signs
- How the title track “Life Signs” grew out of creative limits and four-note cells
- Writing “I Know, Love” as a musical memorial and exploring the emotional weight of chords
- Why Harmony Cloud was designed as a “metronome for harmony” and how musicians are using it
- Reflections on his years with the SFJAZZ Collective and the lessons learned there
- What Bay Area jazz fans can expect from the UpSwing double bill with Theo Croker

Music Featured in This Episode:

- Stefon Harris & Blackout – “Life Signs”
- Stefon Harris & Blackout – “I Know, Love”

Show & Ticket Information:

Stefon Harris & Blackout / Theo Croker – UpSwing at SFJAZZ
Date: Saturday, November 29, 2025
Venue: Miner Auditorium, SFJAZZ Center (San Francisco)
Showtime: 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/upswing-stefon-harris-theo-croker/

Links & Resources:

Stefon Harris official site: https://www.stefonharris.com
Download and explore Harmony Cloud (iOS app): https://www.stefonharris.com/harmony-cloud
SFJAZZ: https://www.sfjazz.org

Support & Follow Backstage Bay Area:

Website, show archive, and concert reviews: https://www.backstagebayarea.com
Follow and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, and share this episode with a fellow jazz fan.

In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, host Steve Roby interviews Ben Folds, the pianist, songwriter, and arts advocate who has spent three decades balancing sharp, story-driven pop songs with orchestral ambition. Fresh off the release of Ben Folds Live with the National Symphony Orchestra and deep into his work on the new holiday album Sleigher, Folds discusses what it means to keep art alive in a noisy, distracted culture.

The conversation shifts from his years at the Kennedy Center to the details of writing for orchestra, from the small dramas within songs like “Christine From The Seventh Grade” and “But Wait, There’s More” to the quirky, reflective world of his upcoming Christmas shows at SFJAZZ. Along the way, Folds explores his long-standing Keys For Kids initiative and explains why access to instruments and music education still feels crucial to him.

• How Ben Folds thinks about moving between rock clubs, concert halls, and orchestras without changing the core of his songwriting.

• The story behind “Christine From The Seventh Grade” and why some songs invite a full orchestral treatment while others do not.

• Why “But Wait, There’s More” became a centerpiece about information overload, conspiracy thinking, and the carnival atmosphere of modern media.

• What Folds learned during his tenure as Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra and how that shaped his view of orchestration as storytelling.

• How his Keys For Kids program puts instruments and lessons into the hands of young players, and why he sees creativity as a basic civic skill, not a luxury.

• The ideas and scenes that shaped the Christmas album Sleigher, from collapsing inflatable Santas to the sense of Christmas as a personal time machine.

• What to expect from his informal, story-rich holiday shows at SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium with Lindsey Kraft, Ross Garren, and his touring band.

• Ben Folds Live with the National Symphony Orchestra – new live album documenting two sold-out nights at the Kennedy Center.

• “Christine From The Seventh Grade” – expanded from a studio track into a full orchestral narrative.

• “But Wait, There’s More” – from chamber piece to orchestral meditation on information overload.

• Sleigher – Folds’s offbeat, reflective Christmas album that anchors the SFJAZZ holiday shows.

• Keys For Kids – his long-running initiative supporting access to instruments and music education.

Ben Folds brings his holiday program to SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium on Monday, December 8, and Tuesday, December 9, 2025.

Both shows begin at 7:30 p.m. at Miner Auditorium in San Francisco.

Tickets and full event details: https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/ben-folds/

Ben Folds – official website: https://www.benfolds.com

SFJAZZ event page: https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/ben-folds/

Backstage Bay Area – more episodes and concert coverage: https://www.backstagebayarea.com

Show Description: In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, host Steve Roby interviews pianist and composer Edward Simon to discuss the trio Three Visitors, a deeply collaborative project with bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade. This trio consists of three composers writing for one another, built on a long history, shared language, and deliberate listening. We talk about how the group developed from their New York connections in the 1990s, how the new album on GroundUP Music was created with guests like Chris Potter and Becca Stevens, and what Bay Area audiences can expect when Three Visitors performs at the Joe Henderson Lab at SFJAZZ.

What we cover in this episode:

·      Edward’s musical roots in Venezuela and his path through New York’s jazz scene

·      How he, Scott Colley, and Brian Blade discovered their “we-already-know-each-other” chemistry

·      Why Three Visitors is a fully collaborative project, not “Edward Simon’s trio”

·      Writing music that invites conversation, space, and high-level improvisation

·      Deep dive on the album track “You Are” — a meditation on human potential, with strings and Chris Potter

·      How vocalist Becca Stevens reshaped “I Wanna Be With You” and why the trio welcomes guests

·      What changes (and what doesn’t) when they bring this music into an intimate room like the Joe Henderson Lab

·      How the group keeps sets fluid so each show feels like a new “visit”

About the album — Three Visitors

Show Description: In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, host Steve Roby interviews pianist and composer Edward Simon to discuss the trio Three Visitors, a deeply collaborative project with bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade. This trio consists of three composers writing for one another, built on a long history, shared language, and deliberate listening. We talk about how the group developed from their New York connections in the 1990s, how the new album on GroundUP Music was created with guests like Chris Potter and Becca Stevens, and what Bay Area audiences can expect when Three Visitors performs at the Joe Henderson Lab at SFJAZZ.

Upcoming show

Three Visitors: Edward Simon, Scott Colley & Brian Blade

Where: Joe Henderson Lab, SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco

When: Friday, November 21, 2025 — 7:00 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, November 22, 2025 — 7:00 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.

Tickets: https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/edward-simon-three-visitors/

Listen / Buy the album:

GroundUP Music store: https://store.groundupmusic.net/products/three-visitors-cd

Bandcamp: https://threevisitors.bandcamp.com/album/three-visitors

Episode Description

In this episode, Steven Roby talks with Bay Area trumpeter and composer Sarah Wilson about her luminous new album Incandescence and the creative path that led her from political puppet theater to leading an all-woman horn line in a brass-forward Bay Area ensemble. Wilson explains how visual art, community-based performance, and New Orleans street energy shaped the music on Incandescence, and why she wants audiences to experience the album as one immersive arc at her upcoming Berkeley show.

·       Growing up in Healdsburg and finding the trumpet again after college

·       How work in political/activist theater shaped her sense of rhythm and movement

·       Writing music in response to visual art, especially painter Thomas Reinhold

·       Building the Incandescence band: Kasey Knudsen (alto sax), Mara Fox (trombone), John Schott (guitar), Lisa Mezzacappa (bass), Jason Levis (drums)

·       Why she wanted an all-woman horn line for this project

·       The story behind the piece “Architecture in Space”

·       What audiences can expect at The Back Room album-release show

·       How joy and a sense of time-suspension are at the center of her music

Sarah Wilson – Incandescence album release

The Back Room, 1984 Bonita Ave., Berkeley, CA

Saturday, November 8

8:00 p.m. (doors 7:30 p.m.)

Tickets and venue info: https://backroommusic.com

Sarah Wilson’s official site: https://sarahwilsonmusic.com

Music and releases (including Incandescence): https://sarahwilson.bandcamp.com

Follow her on her website for social media updates.

Backstage Bay Area is a Bay Area music journalism podcast hosted by Steven Roby, featuring conversations with the artists shaping our region’s jazz, roots, and creative music scenes. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube, and help support Bay Area live music by sharing the episode.

Episode Summary

Executive Director and co‑founder of SFCM’s Roots, Jazz & American Music (RJAM) program, Jason Hainsworth, joins Steve to talk about how the Side‑By‑Side model turns the Joe Henderson Lab into a working classroom. We explore mentorship in real time, why original student music matters, and what audiences can expect from RJAM’s *Side‑By‑Side: New Visions* performance at the Lab.

Guest

Jason Hainsworth — Executive Director & Co‑Founder, RJAM (San Francisco Conservatory of Music)

What You’ll Hear

·      How RJAM prepares young improvisers for a professional life on and off the bandstand.

·      How the SFCM–SFJAZZ partnership gives students meaningful access to world‑class artists and stages.

·      What the *Side‑By‑Side* format looks like on stage: mixed student–faculty ensembles, quick turnarounds, and plenty of room for improvisation.

·      Two original student works discussed on the show: “Rebecca” by Xitlalli Estrella and “Warlike” by Alan Jones.

·      Where and when to catch free SFCM concerts across the academic year.

Suggested Timestamps (approx.)

·      00:00  | Intro and episode setup

·      01:10  | What RJAM offers promising students

·      05:30  | SFCM × SFJAZZ partnership and Lab culture

·      10:10  | Inside the *Side‑By‑Side* format

·      14:00  | Student track spotlight: “Rebecca” (Xitlalli Estrella)

·      18:30  | Student track spotlight: “Warlike” (Alan Jones)

·      23:00  | SFCM concerts open to the public

·      26:00  | What to expect on show night

·      27:30  | Closing thoughts

Pull Quote

“Performing alongside mentors is unmatched for learning— from preparing rehearsals to shaping ideas with the band you’re in.” — Jason Hainsworth.

Music Notes

If excerpts of “Rebecca” (Xitlalli Estrella) and “Warlike” (Alan Jones) are used, they appear courtesy of the artists and the RJAM program. All rights are reserved by the respective creators.

Links & Info

Tickets: RJAM *Side‑By‑Side: New Visions* — Friday, November 14, 7:30 p.m., Joe Henderson Lab, SFJAZZ Center.
https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/rjam-side-by-side-new-visions/

Venue Notes

Joe Henderson Lab is located within the SFJAZZ Center (San Francisco). Please check the ticket page for updated door times and policies.

More from SFCM

RJAM and SFCM present hundreds of concerts during the academic year—many free and open to the public—including chamber music, jazz combos, and student recitals across SFCM venues.

Credits

Host & Producer: Steve Roby
Show: Backstage Bay Area — your all‑access pass to the local music scene.
Interview guest: Jason Hainsworth
Production: BackstageBayArea.com

Enjoying the show?

Follow and rate Backstage Bay Area on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Share this episode with a friend and help support live music in the Bay Area.

Episode summary

Music Director and saxophonist Chris Potter joins Backstage Bay Area to preview the SFJAZZ Collective’s tribute to Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer. We talk about why this album matters, how the Collective reimagined its songs for today’s band, Potter’s personal encounter with Shorter, and what new music is on deck.

What you’ll hear

• Why Native Dancer remains a living blueprint for jazz–Brazilian exchange

• How the Collective divided up arrangements and found fresh angles on classics like “Ponta de Areia”

• A rehearsal-room story that captures Shorter’s mix of imagination and precision

• What to expect across the three Miner Auditorium shows (setlist variety, originals, and ensemble chemistry)

• Potter’s upcoming projects and where the Collective heads next

Guest

Chris Potter — saxophonist, composer, and Music Director of the SFJAZZ Collective.

Selected quotes

• “The SFJAZZ Collective comes together every year to workshop new music, and this season we wanted to make a real statement with Native Dancer.”

• “We each brought in arrangements. The original album is so perfectly realized that the challenge was to find our own way through it.”

• “Wayne could ask you to imagine Superman flying over the mountain—and in the next breath correct a single B-flat. That balance guided us.”

• “The feeling on stage is, ‘This is a band.’ Mutual respect, shared history, and material we truly love.”

About the music

• Wayne Shorter’s 1975 collaboration with Milton Nascimento braided Brazilian songcraft with jazz harmony and studio-era rhythm—music built for reinvention.

• The Collective’s program features the full Native Dancer songbook alongside new originals that extend its spirit.

Credits

Host/Producer: Steve Roby — Backstage Bay Area

Guest: Chris Potter

Music: Excerpts as permitted by rights holders

Recording: SFJAZZ Collective sessions & interview

Links & tickets

Event: SFJAZZ Collective — Tribute to Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer

Venue: Miner Auditorium (SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco)

Dates/Times:

• Saturday, Nov. 1 – 7:30 p.m.

• Sunday, Nov. 2 – 3:00 p.m.

• Sunday, Nov. 2 – 7:00 p.m.

Tickets: https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/25-26/sfjazz-collective/

More info: SFJAZZ.org

Episode logline:

Saxophonist—and bassist—Gerald Albright talks origin stories, the punch and polish behind “Living My Best Life,” why the title cut “Full Throttle” opens up onstage, and what listeners can expect when his band hits Oakland.

About our guest

A pillar of contemporary jazz with decades of touring and studio work, Gerald Albright writes and produces with a rhythm-section mindset. He came up on saxophone in South Central Los Angeles, later added bass guitar, and now releases music independently on Bright Music Records. That hybrid vantage shapes sets built on pulse, melody, and forward motion.

What we cover

·      Origins & influences. How a church-lesson pivot put a sax in his hands—“I immediately fell in love with the saxophone”—and why Maceo Parker’s clarity and percussive bite became a lifelong model.

·      Hearing from two chairs. The bass guitar changed how he writes and locks the pocket: “Now I’m in the rhythm section, where there’s the meat and potatoes of the groove… I combine the two to create the best music I can.”

·      Studio craft → stage energy. The gleam and stacked-horn sound of “Living My Best Life” grew from pandemic-era time in the studio: “I learned how to mix my own records… I like to put the horns right up front.”

·      Why “Full Throttle” stretches live. “I wanted the freedom to really stretch out and play… When we play it live, we really get to go full throttle.”

·      What fans can look forward to. A high-energy, audience-involved night that blends burners and love songs, drawn from a catalog spanning 20-plus projects.

·      What’s next. A new, as-yet-untitled EP in the mixing stage—“the music is coming out phenomenal”—with touring to follow.

Featured tracks (discussed in this episode)

·      “Living My Best Life” — stacked horn writing, sleek rhythm bed, and the producer’s ear for space.

·      “Full Throttle” — title track from G-Stream 3 – Full Throttle, built for improvisation when the band opens it up on stage.

The band on these dates

Anthony Brown, Jr. (bass), Colin “CC” Clawson (keyboards), and James “JRob” Roberson (musical director, drums).

Memorable quotes

·      “I immediately fell in love with the saxophone.”

·      “The bass chair put me where the meat and potatoes of the groove live.”

·      “I like the horns right up front—that’s the sound!”

Listen for

·      How Albright connects Maceo Parker’s articulation to his own attack.

·      The way a bassist’s perspective shapes phrasing, form, and set flow.

·      Why new independent releases keep his horn stacks, mixes, and repertoire exactly as he envisions them.

Links & info

Tickets: Yoshi’s Oakland — https://yoshis.com/events/buy-tickets/gerald-albright-10/detail

Gerald Albright — Official site: https://geraldalbright.com/

Credits

Host: Steve Roby — Backstage Bay Area.

Production: Backstage Bay Area Audio.

Canadian vocalist-composer Caity Gyorgy joins Steve for a conversation about craft, collaboration, and why swing still feels newly minted when the writing is sharp and the band listens hard. Known for quicksilver phrasing and original tunes that travel between club intimacy and orchestral sheen, Gyorgy traces the path from early influences to her new string-driven project and previews her San Francisco debut at the Joe Henderson Lab.

What you’ll hear

• How Caity discovered jazz and shaped her sound through singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Abbey Lincoln, Blossom Dearie, Betty Carter, and June Christy.

• Inside Caity Gyorgy with Strings: writing with pianist-arranger Mark Limacher, assembling an all-Canadian orchestra, and channeling arranging touchstones (Don Costa, Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, Henry Mancini).

• Song stories: “That Doesn’t Matter” (a cheeky portrait of friendship and creative trust) and “You’ll Learn” (a cinematic, voice-memo-to-lyric journey).

• What Bay Area audiences can expect at the Joe Henderson Lab: standards from Loesser, Styne, Porter, and Kern alongside Gyorgy’s originals, charted with wit and swing.

Band for the Joe Henderson Lab

Caity Gyorgy — vocals

Mark Limacher — piano

Thomas Heinbach — bass

Aroma Jr. — drums

About the guest

A three-time JUNO winner (pronounced “George”), Caity Gyorgy writes and sings with a composer’s clarity and a bebop musician’s reflexes. Recent releases include the orchestral album Caity Gyorgy with Strings and duo projects with Mark Limacher that showcase her ear for melody and narrative.

Credits

Host & production: Steve Roby / Backstage Bay Area

Editing & mix: Backstage Bay Area

Music excerpts: courtesy of the artist

---

Show Info & Links

Event: Caity Gyorgy — Joe Henderson Lab (SFJAZZ Center), San Francisco

Dates: Nov 7–9, 2025

Set times: Two sets Friday (7:00 PM & 8:30 PM); additional performances across the weekend—see event page for current times and availability.

Tickets & info: SFJAZZ event page

Artist website: CaityGyorgy.com