B.B. King

Prince's 3rdEyeGirl Guitarist Donna Grantis on Trading Solos With the Purple One

To a musician, getting asked to join Prince's band is like winning the lottery. Like Miles Davis, James Brown, or Frank Zappa before him, having been in Prince's band takes a musician to the next level. They are rigorously trained by the absolute best in the business. So how did the young Toronto-bo ... More >>

Mission Bowling Club: Anthony Myint Scores Again

The Melvins' Old Van Is for Sale, But Here Are Five Tour Vehicles We'd Much Prefer

​Remember when you were 12 years old and you'd draw the logos of your favorite bands all over your school books? Well, one time, Kurt Cobain did that to The Melvins' van, leaving behind a little portrait of Kiss (plus logo) which remains to this day on the side of that piece-of-shit '72 Dodge Spor ... More >>

Con Brio on Playing Soul Music, Needing a Van, and the Serendipity of Craigslist

​After just two years on the San Francisco scene, Con Brio has released a full-length album, performed at Great American Music Hall, and played shows all over the city -- but none of that probably would have happened without a Craigslist ad and some serendipity. Somehow, the members of Con Bri ... More >>

Soul Power

Documenting an epic concert in Zaire, Soul Power puts on quite a show

Summer of Salvation

The film snob's guide to the best cinema the season has to offer.

A guide to the best of this year's S.F. International Film Festival

Bobby Badfingers' snappy jailhouse comeback

Bye Bye Blues Fest?

Scott AllenHe's No B.B. King: Tommy Cast As the Merc's Jim Harrington reported yesterday, not has only the 2009 SF Blues Festival has been canceled, but "that cancellation could turn out to be permanent." Harrington quotes event organizer Tom Mazzolini as saying, ""we may well have seen the ... More >>

Ticket to Margaritaville? It'll Cost Ya

Thrill Not Gone After All

Six-string giant Buddy Guy delivers sublime blues

The Blue Man's Group

Johnny Lang, Album Leaf, Jujuba -- ASD's Live Music Picks, June 30

Christmas for in-betweeners at the Black Magic Voodoo Lounge

Hawaii Oh No

The Hawaii West fails as a dive bar, but Bouncer still figures out what makes Gavin Newsom cool

Reps Etc.

Next Best Thing

If you weren't at this landmark blues concert, Lightning in a Bottle will do

Four Best Outdoor Festivals

Blue Year's Eve

Reaves-Phillips breaks it down

Summer Events a Go Go!

What to do, all summer long

The Freeloaders' Handbook

If you ask, they will give. Really.

Best Jukebox

The Ha-Ra

Boogie for a New Millennium

Zakiya Hooker preserves the legacy of her father, blues legend John Lee Hooker, plans her own musical career -- and tries to keep tradition from suffocating both

GIFTS

DVDs | Music DVDs | CDs | Books

Ace of Bass

For over two decades, Lisle Ellis has been expanding the vocabulary of the jazz bassist by adding blues and classical features

Dancing With the Butoh Masters

From their odd sushi bar on a seedy corner of the Mission, world-famous dancers Hiroko and Koichi Tamano try to preserve a bizarre, mysterious art

Music

Dim Sum Diva

Why is R&B veteran Patti Austin making her comeback singing in Mandarin?

Pimps and Players

Fillmore Slim has lived a life of picking, pimping, and prison -- now he just wants to play the blues

Hear This

Guitarist Vince Converse rocks the blues with sassy wah-wah and other effects.

Five Best Places to Celebrate the Sunset

Carnival of Sorts

Monte Carlo Restaurant & Bar

Boubacar Traore

Macire (Indigo)

House Of Tudor

Zmrzlina, Little Jimmy Scott, Hank Crawford, and Jimmy McGriff

Back Door Memories

Tom Mazzolini speaks proudly of his San Francisco Blues Festival. But each musician is proud for a different reason.

Night & Day

Into the Maelstrom

The Rova Saxophone Quartet once again honors the freewheeling spirit of Bay Area jazz improvisers

Hear This

Bluesman's Blues

Paul Pena,who's played with everyone from Jerry Garcia to B.B. King, is coming out of the musical shadows, thanks to the award-winning documentary Genghis Blues. He's also blind, and sick, and entirely tired of living.

Another Crossroads

Former Sister Double Happiness frontman Gary Floyd re-confronts his (and America's) musical roots

Still Giving It Up

Delbert McClinton has something better than a record deal a sound all his own

Night + Day

Riff Raff

Recordings

The Man Who Would Be Ali