Thursday, February 9, 2017

Billy Childs will Feature his Laura Nyro Album to Conclude the 2016–2017 SFP Jazz Series

Next month will begin with the conclusion of the San Francisco Performances (SFP) Jazz Series. Pianist and composer Billy Childs will perform with an ensemble that will include two vocalists, Becca Stevens and Alicia Olatuja, and the members of Quartet San Francisco (QSF). This will be Childs’ second SFP gig, having appeared previously in 2008. QSF has appeared previously in both the Salon Series and the Family Matinee Series. The group was founded in 2001 by violinist Jeremy Cohen, who is also a composer and an arranger. The other members are violinist Matthew Szemela, violist Chad Kaltinger, and cellist Andres Vera.

The title of the concert is Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro, which is also the name of Childs’ album that won a 2015 GRAMMY in the Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals category. Childs selected ten of Nyro’s songs for this album and prepared arrangements for “guest artists.” Each song had its own arrangement for either one or two of those “guests.” These included not only jazz artists such as Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter but also performers from rhythm and blues (Ledisi) and classical (Renée Fleming and Yo-Yo Ma), as well as a diversity of other styles and genres. Stevens is the one performer who also appeared on the album.

This concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 4. The venue will be Herbst Theatre, located on the ground floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. Tickets for premium seating are $60, and tickets are also being sold for $40 and $30. Tickets may be purchased online in advance through a City Box Office event page, which provides a chart showing which sections of the hall are covered by which prices. Additional information may be obtained by calling SFP at 415-392-2545.

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