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July 9, 2008
Last month I had the great honor and pleasure of entertaining guests at a fundraiser event for the upcoming Avon Breast Cancer Walk in San Francisco. The event was held by Pam May and Mechel Henry at Mint Leaf Wine Bar and Bistro in Berkeley’s “Gourmet Ghetto”. I have known Pam for a few years now through our mutual membership with the Oakland Chamber of Commerce; we first met when Pam won one of my CD’s at a chamber event.
It was truly a pleasure to be a part of such a worthwhile event at a truly fabulous venue. I had never been to Mint Leaf, but upon arrival, I realized why it garnering such rave reviews. The venue features a few “self-serve” wine stations; you use a pre-paid card to select which wine you would like to sample, the machine then dispenses about an ounce or so of that selection. The wines, as if they were purchased by the glass or bottle, have different prices, usually running in the $1 to $3 range from what I saw. Greg, the “Wine Guy” was fantastic guide as to what wine to try. The atmosphere and decor at Mint leaf is great, and while I didn’t have anything to eat, the food smelled wonderful!
While performing I met a talented friend of Mechel’s named Rigel Stuhmiller. Rigel is a fantastic illustrator and printmaker…and since I had her take a couple photos for me, talented photographer as well! 
Thanks also to personal friends Veronica and Kim for stopping by to support the wonderful cause and listen to some jazz guitar! Thanks!
Thanks again to Pam and Mechel! I wish you all the best on your walk and I, like many others hope there can be a cure to cancers of all kind - sooner rather than later.
Stay “Tuned” and thanks for reading
-Terrence
Filed under: Gigs, Uncategorized |
July 3, 2008
Cafe Claude, a quaint French bistro located in San Francisco on Claude lane between Union Square and the Financial District has, for the past twelve years, served as one of San Francisco’s most consistent Jazz venues. My trio’s have been fortunate enough to perform at Cafe Claude on a regular basis for the last 7 or 8 years and I have to say, it’s always a pleasure working a venue and having it feel like home.
The Trio’s (Terrence Brewer - Guitar, Brandon Essex - Acoustic Bass and Micah McClain - Drums) last performance at Claude, on Saturday June 21, 2008 turned out to be a more of a treat than usual. As we were loading-in and setting up a gentleman sitting at the bar said he was a photographer and asked if he could snap a few shots. Ken Holden turned out to be, not only a great guy, but a fantastic photographer. Ken specializes in fine art photography, but did us the honor of dabbling in some “commercial” photography that night! I told Ken he could snap as many photos a he wanted as long as he would share a few with me for my blog…after a little persuading he agreed I’m happy to share those photos with you all..
Thanks Ken!
Stay “Tuned” and thanks for reading
Filed under: Gigs |
July 2, 2008
On Tuesday, July 1, 2008 the Terrence Brewer quintet was giving the opportunity to perform at San Francisco’s historic Intersection for the Arts. Located in the Mission district, Intersection for the Arts is San Francisco’s oldest alternative non-profit art space (est. 1965) and proves to be an amazing venue for capturing the beauty, and creativity of jazz in an intimate setting.
I first spoke with program director Kevin Chen in 2006 after the release of my first two records, The Calling: Volume One and Two. At that time I inquired about Intersections Jazz composers residency. Kevin mentioned the position was filled for the next two years, but Intersection was producing a show in conjunction with San Francisco’s famed De Young Museum and asked if I would interested in performing. The DeYoung show proved to be that start of a great friendship/partnership between Kevin and I. From day one Kevin proved to be a fan of me and the music I wrote and for that I am truly greatful!!
After the De Young concert I inquired about performing at Intersections performance space. Since Intersection only produces “Jazz at Intersection” once a month slots are limited, but Kevin committed to get the group in as soon as possible…and he lived up to the commitment. The quintet (Kasey Knudsen - Sax, Jarrett Cherner - Piano, Brandon Essex - Acoustic Bass, Micah McClain - Drums) had one of those shows that reminds us all why we do this!! From the moment we arrived Intersections staff/personnel (Josh - Sound/Lights, Phil - “The Jazz Intern”, Chida - /Director of Communication/Front of House, Art - Intersection live music archivist, Scott Chernis - Photographer) made sure we had everything we needed to have a great show. It is truly a pleasure to work a venue and have a mutual respect between the artists and the venue!! The capacity crowd was energetic and hip - just the way we like ‘em!
I look forward to working with Kevin and the folks at Intersection again in the future. Check back to this post in the future as I hope to add some professional photos from Scott Chernis and audio of the concert.
Stay “Tuned” and thanks for reading
Terrence
Filed under: Uncategorized |
July 1, 2008
One day, out of the blue, I received a call from famed San Francisco Bay area jazz/blues guitarist Eric Swinderman. Eric wanted to know if I was interested in playing a show with him at Anna’s Jazz Island, one of the SF Bay areas fantastic jazz listening venues located in downtown Berkeley. Anna’s is a venue I have played for many years and enjoy working - Eric is a great guitarist with an outstanding reputation and following, so I, of course, said “YES!”.
The strange (and wonderful) thing about the call was that I didn’t really know Eric…we have lots of mutual music friends and we had heard each others names tossed about in the Bay area media/jazz community, but we had never met…never so much as spoken. I knew Eric and I were going to hit off the moment he called me; see he was interested in the same thing I’m interested in - THE MUSIC! It’s not about ego, it’s not about playing with the same guys you always play with and playing the same tunes you always play…nah, it’s about the beauty of creating something new. Eric called a guy (that’d be me) he didn’t know, but had heard good things about and said, “Let’s make some music!”
I was sold…:-)
[Side note...and funny story] Eric first heard about me through Cat (my manager/publicist/wife). She saw him performing with his trio at an event, walked up to him and requested the Stanley Turrentine song “Sugar” and then she said if you don’t know “Sugar” play “Cheesecake” by Dexter Gordon…Eric said he was a little stunned; musicians don’t usually get “obscure” and interesting requests like that from the general public. She then handed him a copy of my first record, The Calling: Volume One, and said, “this is my husband, he plays jazz guitar and manage him”. Eric said he just about tossed Volume One in the pile of CD’s us musicians always get from random folks at random events…but, he took it home, gave it a listen, and liked what he heard. A few years went by and he was listening to KCSM. I was giving an interview that day promoting my latest record, QuintEssential, and my upcoming CD release at Yoshi’s Jazz house in Oakland. Eric put two and two together and made the call…
We set the band lineup (amazing players), Ruth Davies - Bass and Deszon X Claiborne - Drums. Eric and exchanged a few emails, phone calls, and had one short rehearsal at his house. Eric’s a great guy, laid-back, humble, funny; it was a real treat hanging with someone who was such a class player and a nice guy. We had a wonderful show - fantastic turn-out and, more importantly, the music was happenin’! There was definite synergy on stage between Eric and I. Our styles are similar (both finger-style) players, but different enough we compliment each other.
Eric and I have spoken a few more time and we are planing to make some music again soon, with another performance in the not-too-distant future.
Photos by Cat, the “Annie Leibovitz” of the iPhone
Minor Crisis - Eric Swinderman from In Pursuit of the Sound
The Way - Terrence Brewer from The Calling: Volume One
Stay “Tuned” and thanks for reading
Filed under: Uncategorized |
June 30, 2008
On Friday, May 16, 2008, my good friend (and recording engineer extraordinaire) Stephen Hart hosted an amazing birthday bash which also served as a grand opening for his new sound stage/rehearsal space/recording facility known as Bay Area Sound Studios or B.A.S.S..
I first met Stephen while he was working as the Chief Engineer for the legendary and world famous Fantasy Studios in Berkeley; a job he held down for over a decade. Stephen and I became fast friends as we worked on recording, mixing, and mastering QuintEssential, the third album on my Strong Brew Music record label. Stephen has an amazing list of folks he has recorded…a whose-who of the rock, pop, and jazz worlds…Santana (Shaman), Tony Bennett & Bill Evans, White Stripes, David Bowie, En Vogue, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Albert King, Issac Hayes, Steve Cropper/Booker T./Duck Dunn, John Lee Hooker, J.Garcia & Merle Saunders, Henry Kaiser, Brandi Shearer, Patti Austin, McCoy Tyner…to name just a few!! I was honored to have his wisdom in making this record; his, almost, three decades of recording knowledge made the process easy…and the record sounds amazing!
Stephen’s mixing/mastering space is called The MixRoom. The MixRoom also serves as the control room when making studio recordings or live sessions in one of the two largest studio spaces at BASS.
Along with my trio (Tim Campbell - B-3 Organ and Micah McClain - Drums), Adam Theis’ band ‘Super Taster’ performed. Along with the happening music was great food and lots of good friends. All-in-all it was a great night..:-)
And I have to give a “shout-out” to Brad Dollar, Stephen’s assistant; Brad keeps everything on-track and moving in the right direction…plus, he portrays the “voice-of-God” rather convincingly! Brad, tell your sister Karen to get me the pictures from that night so I can include them in the blog…shame on her!!
Blues For Katie from the album QuintEssential
5 O’Clock from the album QuintEssential
Thanks for reading!
Filed under: Gigs, Music |
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