The celebrated jazz musician and namesake of SFJazz Center s Lab was ahead of his time when he pulled Billy Strayhorn, an openly gay composer, out of the shadows.
Yoshi Kato February 11, 2021Updated: February 15, 2021, 8:20 am
Piedmont Piano Co. in Oakland hosts a twice-weekly concert program that launched in the midst of the pandemic. Photo: Piedmont Piano Co.
On the first Thursday of January, viewers from as far away as Brazil, Norway and the Netherlands streamed a live jazz concert from Uptown Oakland. Swedish vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Gunhild Carling, a current South Bay resident, was leading her sextet on the Piedmont Piano Co. bandstand as audience members online commented in the chat box.
Toward the end of an energetic performance, Carling reminded the virtual audience, “If you like this music, don’t forget to tip the band. And we appreciate gifts, love letters … with lipstick traces,” she joked, referencing the jazz standard “These Foolish Things.”