Events for Tuesday, November 11 - Saturday, November 22

"Darling, I love you to death!" This sentence, sung by Mariam on M'Bife Blues, takes on all the more meaning since 4 April 2025, the date of the death of the man with whom she has built a life: Amadou. "With you, darling, life is beautiful… Life is so good"., she insists on "Sabali," a […]

Sasha Dobson returns to her hometown with a plentiful and heartfelt body of original music. With twenty-five years of experience on tour and on the New York City jazz and singer-songwriter scene, she’s toured numerous times with Norah Jones as her guitarist and back-up vocalist, and also with their collaborative band Puss n Boots (a […]

When asked what kind of music he composes, renowned Santa Cruz artist Jon Scoville answered with a twinkle in his eye, “Good music, I hope!” Scoville’s co-conspirator, Tandy Beal, expanded: “Jon is a rare composer who can get you up dancing, bring you to tears, feel the mystery of it all, scratch your head and […]

Get ready for a sonic explosion of music with The Tom Ralston Band - it's gonna be a wild ride! Keyboardist and singer Tom Ralston is best known in Santa Cruz as a businessman and artist behind Tom Ralston Concrete. But as a musician, he’s been making music for years, fronting his big 15-piece band performing a […]

“A Brazilian-born genius with a blistering voice" (JazzTimes), Rio-born Claudia Villela has developed a reputation as a singularly unique singer, pianist and composer, lending her five-octave voice to work with jazz luminaries including Kenny Werner, Michael Brecker and Toots Thielemans. Villela began singing professionally as a teen and eventually moved to the Bay Area. A […]

Kristen Strom is a renowned Bay Area saxophonist and educator. She is on the faculty at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, West Valley College, and the Stanford Jazz Workshop, where she teaches saxophone and jazz improvisation. In Strategies for Jazz Improvisation she will explore several dynamic ways to approach musical improvisation. The class will introduce […]

Twenty years on from winning the Danny Kyle Open Stage Award at Celtic Connections, Breabach remain securely ranked amongst Scotland’s most skilled & imaginative contemporary-folk acts and at the forefront of the burgeoning traditional music scene. The band unite deep roots in Highland and Island Gaelic tradition alongside progressive musical influences and have cultivated a […]

Kuumbwa Jazz's Spirit of '75 Series celebrates our 50th anniversary with performances by local artists and $19.75 tickets commemorating our founding year. Carolyn Sills booked her first show in Santa Cruz in the winter of 2010 and has been playing throughout the county ever since, from Don Quixote's and Joe's Bar to The Crepe Place, […]

An accomplished group of Dylan aficionados will be performing the iconic Bob Dylan album “Blood on the Tracks” and the timeless “Desire." This special evening benefits Housing Matters, Santa Cruz County’s largest nonprofit creating pathways out of homelessness. Your attendance supports programs like Rebele Family Shelter, which has helped hundreds of families with children find […]

A fun night of dancing and acoustic Grateful Dead-inspired music from Matt Hartle, Larry Graff, Joe Craven and Dan Robbins. Painted Mandolin will be joined by the Mojo Navigator Trio with Page Brownton, Al Astrella and Beth Ann La Barba performing old timey Americana. There will be space for dancers and sitters alike! A benefit […]