2005 Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACTS: David Perry/Barbara Webb - David Perry & Associates
(415) 693-0583

The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Announces
Lunchtime Music in the Gardens - The Best of Bay Area Musicians
Thursdays in September, 2005
Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission & Third Streets, San Francisco
12:30- 1:30 pm
FREE!


SAN FRANCISCO, CA. August 9, 2005. The 2005 Yerba Buena Gardens Festival presents Lunchtime Music in the Gardens, September 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29 from 12:30 - l:30 pm.

September 1 features the Josh Workman Quartet playing jazz blues. Workman began playing guitar at age 10 and by 13 was performing in San Francisco's North Beach. He has recorded and performed with D'Vash, The Jazz Passengers and Groove Collective. Returning to the Bay Area in 1995, he joined Indigo Swing and honed in on the jump-blues and early guitar styles of T-Bone Walker, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and Tiny Grimes. In 2004 Workman's debut CD Jumpin' At The Border furthered his growing reputation as a bandleader.

Cascada de Flores performs September 8. This folkloric quartet is dedicated to the exploration, preservation, and dissemination of Mexican and Cuban regional music and dance. Besides emotive guitar melodies, much of the group's repertoire features vocal harmonies that hearken back to the golden age of song in Mexico and Cuba. In addition to guitars and vocal harmonies, Cascada de Flores features flute and zapateado (footwork).

September 15 features the Jang Seven. Jon Jang's musical language is based on the re-contextualization of Chinese folk songs within a contemporary jazz context. The ensemble will perform Jang's Sweet Whisper of a Flower, a song cycle of traditions in transformation, featuring Jon Jang, piano and composer; Wayne Wallace, trombone and music director; Jim Norton, soprano saxophone; Francis Wong, tenor saxophone and flute; John L. Worley, Jr., trumpet and fluegelhorn; David Belove, electric bass; and Deszon Clairborne, trapset drums.

The Maria Marquez Quintet will play world jazz September 22. At the intersection of jazz and world music, singer, composer, arranger and producer Marquez has been credited with possessing a voice between that of Edith Piaf and Nina Simone. Venezuelan-born Marquez has appeared with jazz greats John Santos, Omar Sosa, and has been a member of Wild Mango.

September 29 features Blue Hall of Fame drummer Francis Clay & Friends.
One of the all-time masters of blues drumming, Francis Clay was Muddy Water's drummer on and off for about 15 years. Francis was in the thick of things during the heyday of Chicago blues and played with all the greats. His highly original and immensely propulsive drumming drives numerous recordings by Muddy Waters and others. He can be heard on the acclaimed album "Muddy Waters At Newport." He has toured and recorded with Little Walter, Otis Spann, Clifton Chenier, John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thornton, Lightnin' Hopkins and Jimmy Reed (to name a few) and was a founding member of the James Cotton Blues Band. He has been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, which takes place from May through October, features over 150 events, including classical and jazz concerts, opera, performance art, international music concerts, dance performances, children's programs, theater, visual arts, puppet shows, cultural festivals, and special events.

All performances and events are free and open to the public, drawing an audience of San Francisco and Bay Area residents, tourists, and convention attendees that numbers more than 100,000 each year.

Free Artistic and Cultural Programming in Yerba Buena Gardens is made possible through the generosity of The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency; The Creative Work Fund; The Bernard Osher Foundation; The James Irvine Foundation; The JPMorganChase Foundation; The National Endowment for the Arts; The San Francisco Foundation; The WA Gerbode Foundation, The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation; The Zellerbach Family Foundation; and individual contributions. We gratefully acknowledge pro-bono contributions from MJM Management Group; Steefel, Levitt, and Weiss; Latino Entertainment Partners; LaserCom Design; Moisa & Associates; Pro Piano; The San Francisco Marriott; Sony-Metreon; San Francisco Chronicle; San Francisco Downtown Magazine; and San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Yerba Buena Arts & Events, producer of The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival is located at 760 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. Phone (415) 543-1718; Fax (415) 543-1755; website: http://www.ybgf.org
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Additional Information Links


Festival Calendar

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Destani Wolf
12:30 pm

5 6

Artists Guild
9:00 am

John Handy
1:00 pm

7

Grind 4 the Green
12:00 pm

8 9

TODCO Poets
12:30 pm

10 11

Bayonics
12:30 pm

12 13

Carne Cruda & Santero
1:00 pm

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3:00 pm

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2:00 pm

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Yerba Buena Gardens Festival

produced by Yerba Buena Arts & Events

760 Howard Street
San Francisco CA 94103
Phone: 415 543 1718
Fax: 415 543 1755
info@ybgf.org
www.myspace.com/ybgfestival