Fillmore festival boasts strong lineup
The Fillmore Jazz Festival isn’t the oldest, boldest, biggest or best jazz festival in the region, but in a musical tradition where timing is everything, this free neighborhood event has cornered a particularly apt holiday. An Independence Day mainstay, the 36th Annual Fillmore Jazz Festival takes over Fillmore Street between Jackson and Eddy streets for two days of music — fog or shine.
With outdoor stages offering simultaneous acts this weekend, the Fillmore Jazz Festival ensures that America’s signature art form is readily available to people looking for inspiring sounds to celebrate the nation’s birth. Presented by the Fillmore Street Merchants and Improvement Association, and produced by Steven Restivo Event Services, the event has slimmed down this year to two stages, but the quality of the music hasn’t diminished.
Drawing primarily from the Bay Area’s deep pool of talent,
the festival offers a great way to catch a favorite artist or get acquainted with an unfamiliar player. There’s not a weak act on the program, but here are five highly recommended sets. Never Weather In recent years, the festival has showcased artists associated with the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley. This edition kicks off with Never Weather, a stellar quintet that focuses on the picaresque, incidentfilled compositions of Oakland drummer Dillon Vado (a conservatory graduate). Featuring tenor saxophonist Aaron Wolf, trumpeter Josh D Reed, bassist Tyler Harlow and guitarist Justin Rock, the band bristles with bright young improvisers.
10:30 a.m.noon Saturday, July 6. California Street Stage.