Email Author Sam Prestianni

2001 Stories by Sam Prestianni

• The Week's Can't-Miss Performance

  published December 26, 2001

  Though Sonny Rollins dominates the accolades of the current jazz cognoscenti, fellow tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd merits props as well. At 63,... More >>

• The Week's Can't-Miss Performance

  published December 12, 2001

  In the contemporary world of improvisation, string players rule. Avant-garde trailblazers like bassist Dominic Duval, cellist Tomas Ulrich,... More >>

• Sonic Butoh

  published December 5, 2001

  Blood marks the death march of the cataleptic soul in Cockroach, an Eastern variation on a Kafka-esque nightmare directed by local... More >>

• Buck Wild

  published November 28, 2001

  Q: What's the difference between beer nuts and deer nuts? A: Beer nuts are $2.95, deer nuts are under a buck. It's surprising that this... More >>

• Hear This

  published November 21, 2001

  A so-called "half-breed" of Apache and Irish-American descent, Perea draws his inspiration from contemporary powwows, the popular intertribal... More >>

• Hear This

  published November 14, 2001

  Though you won't find his name in the popular discographical guides to jazz and classical, Fred Frith has influenced countless creative players... More >>

• Hear This

  published November 7, 2001

  Eccentric band leader and multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal embodies a confluence of fertile imagination and striking chops that once... More >>

• Hear This

  published October 31, 2001

  Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of infamous avant-cabaret group Idiot Flesh, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum pushes its music to the extremes.... More >>

• Out of This World

  published October 24, 2001

  The San Francisco Jazz Festival never fails to sponsor at least one or two ear-bending performances during its annual two-week celebration.... More >>

• SF Music Awards 2001

  published October 17, 2001

  It was a strange experience putting this show together in the midst of so much turmoil. The timing was all wrong. I found myself sending out... More >>

• Hear This

  published October 10, 2001

  In the liner notes to Requiem for Jack Kirby, the new album by Gregg Bendian's Interzone, comic book illustrator Mark Evanier... More >>

• Hear This

  published October 3, 2001

  In the early '90s, London six-string slinger Robin Nolan founded an acoustic jazz trio with bassist Paul Meader and percussionist Nema Lopes to... More >>

• Hear This

  published September 19, 2001

  Havana native Orlando "Cachaíto" López has bass in his blood. He stems from an incredible lineage of musicians, with an estimated 30... More >>

• Hear This

  published September 12, 2001

  Known variously as "Swing Street," "Bebop Alley," or simply "The Street," a storied stretch of New York's 52nd Street once teemed with the... More >>

• Top of the Mountain

  published September 12, 2001

  Rova Saxophone Quartet is an inspiration in Bay Area experimental music circles not only because it has performed and recorded widely for two... More >>

• Punk in the Sun

  published August 22, 2001

  There's a bit of irony in San Francisco's inaugural effort to host an all-American version of the U.K.'s infamous Holidays in the Sun punk... More >>

• Hear This

  published August 8, 2001

  Sam Rivers holds a rare place in the hierarchy of contemporary jazz. Since the late 1950s, he has shared stages with legendary figures across the... More >>

• Moore Jazz

  published August 8, 2001

  The Oakland-based Jazz in Flight has outdone itself once again with another exceptional series of concerts for this year's Eddie Moore Jazz... More >>

• Hear This

  published August 1, 2001

  A self-professed guitar geek, Jack West likes to put all the notes in the right places. His clean, melodic riffs and savvy leads convey a... More >>

• Hear This

  published July 25, 2001

  Coming on like a sensual sophisticate with urban panache, poet/songstress Jill Scott embodies the allure of real rhythm and blues. On last year's... More >>

• Hear This

  published July 11, 2001

  Thunderbird Management's misguided press pitch for guitarist Vince Converse suggests that, although the 27-year-old Houston native knows... More >>

• Faun Fables

  published July 4, 2001

  Hailing from the sideshow circus scene in Manhattan, where she dabbled in cabaret-style skits and folk-singer ventures in the '90s,... More >>

• The Ex

  published June 27, 2001

  Since emerging from the wreckage of Amsterdam's first-wave punk scene in the late '70s, The Ex has loudly repudiated the pretensions of rock and... More >>

• Sax Appeal

  published June 13, 2001

  "Wind experimentation has got a bad reputation," says U.K. saxophonist John Butcher, "from players who just demonstrate novel sounds,... More >>

• Hear This

  published May 23, 2001

  Critics have argued that reed player Ken Vandermark has single-handedly revitalized the Chicago jazz scene. While this may be a bit of an... More >>