“Bringing the Unity back in the Community” is the tagline for a series of musical days to be presented at the Moose Lodge, with the first one happening on Saturday, July 7. Local promoter, Bo Sapper, producer of the Harmony Festival which is taking a year off, has partnered with James Hahn and Gabriel Salkin to present a day of live world music and DJ’s on indoor and outdoor stages, food and wine, massage, crafters, a children’s area, community awareness and much more. The event, billed as the Musical Market, is bringing some amazing names from the reggae world with the headliner being Sister Carol from Kingston, Jamaica and is known as the “Black Cinderella” and “Mother Culture,” Carol is a Grammy nominated singer, DJ, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur, educator and humanitarian. Next on the bill is Junior Toots, son of Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals fame. Although Toots has the reggae gene, he has stepped out of his father’s shadow, creating his own style and energy, combining the sounds of roots reggae, hip-hop, ska, dancehall and rhythm and blues. Locals Midnight Sun Massive are also on the bill along with a new young rising star Joshua Hales. Sonoma-grown Hales has been a singer-song writer for most his life, but over the last few years has grown to be one the most progressive reggae artists in the bay area. DJ’s Selecta Rah Rah, Irie Sounds International are also on the bill, along with many more. The event is family friendly and kicks off at 4 p.m. Advance Tickets can be found at Sonoma Old School and the Sunflower Caffe and for more info, point your browser to www.themusicalmarket.com.
There is a big show at the Shop on Saturday, July 7, that features local teen rock acts Handshake and Stroke of Luck. The singer-songwriter and band leader of Stroke of Luck, Ari’ El Encarnacion has been an avid member of the Sonoma Valley High School music department throughout his entire high school career. Encarnacion has been chasing his musical dreams ever since he could crawl, learning to play the piano, saxophone, clarinet, guitar, percussion and is a vocalist as well. Recently, Encarnacion has shown a great interest in composition and has already put together a small portfolio of his musical achievements. He has benefited the community by working as a volunteer percussion teacher at Sonoma Music Arts School for the past year and has also been a high school counselor assisting musical instruction on percussion and saxophone with the Jazz Plus Middle School “Summerjam Band Camp” for the past two years. The show starts at 7 p.m. and tickets will be available at the door, and a portion of all ticket sales go to Sonoma Valley Teen Services.
Wildflower Weed just returned from the Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival in Laytonville with an impromptu performance on the Arlo Hagler stage that had the crew and festival goers wanting more. “…the sound, the setting and everything was amazing!” said singer-songwriter for the band, Mary Bennett.
BackTrax will be in the tasting room at Sebastiani Winery and Vineyards tonight, July 6, for a 6 p.m. show. Food from Mongo’s Barbecue will be available, along with wines by the glass or bottle. There is no cover.
The Sunflower Caffe has Two Friends tonight, July 6, as part on the monthly artists reception. Headed up by Bob Edmondson of JoyRide, the duo plays a variety of acoustic classic rock. Showtime is 5 p.m.
Murphy’s Irish Pub welcomes the Sonoma Mountain Band tonight, July 6, for an 8 p.m. show. Saturday, July 7, it’s the guitar picking of Andrew Freeman, also for an 8 p.m. show. Sunday, July 8, it’s an early start for pub favorites Sean Carscadden and Marty O’Reilly, kicking off at 6:30 p.m. There is no cover for any of the shows at the pub.
Michael L. Castle will be on the beer garden stage at HopMonk Sonoma on Sunday, July 8, for a 1 p.m. show. There is no cover.
Steiners Tavern has Levi Lloyd and the 501 Band tonight, July 6, kicking off at 10 p.m.
It’s not too late to sign up for Sonoma Jazz Camp. At the camp, “campers” will dive into the basics along with advanced jazz repertoire. The basics of jazz theory will be touched on as well as improvisation in a fun friendly environment to encourage creativity. The two-week session will culminate in a professional performance at the Hanna Boys Center Auditorium. For this public performance, students will learn the basics of playing a live show from every angle, including performance techniques, set design as well as sound checking. The program has assembled an amazing group of instructors, including bassist Andrew Emer, who is the camp director, former jazz camp student pianist Jake Barrett, guitarist Isaac Carter, vocalist J Kevin Durkin, drummer Alex Aspinall, and saxophonist Roger Glenn. The day-camp runs for two weeks, beginning July 30, held each day from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. For sign-ups and more info, call 373-0700 or point your browser to www.SonomaValleyJazzSociety.org.
The Plaza Bistro welcomes jazz legends Mad and Eddie Duran to the back room tonight, July 6, for a 7 p.m. show. Saturday, July 7 it’s Dan Zemelman on piano. With him that night will be Zach Ostroff on bass, Malachi Whitson on drums and Rose Armin Holland on vocals. That show also kicks off at 7 p.m. and there is no cover either night.
Showcase the Band will be at the Moose Lodge on Sunday, July 7, for an afternoon of polka and dance music. Showtime is 5 p.m.
Local Jim Fitzgerald will be part of the 40th anniversary presentation of the Kitchen Cut-ups where he will be playing guitar and providing vocals for the show that includes singing, dancing and comedy with a 15 – piece band, 15 soloists, and 14 dancers. The line-up includes past stars from the show that has been going strong since 1972. The show goes off at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park on Saturday, July 7, at 1 p.m. There will also be shows on July 10, 12 and 14. For tickets and more info, call 588-3400.
The Whiskey Thieves will be on the road to Sebastopol on Saturday, July 7, at HopMonk Sebastopol for a 10 p.m. show.
Jason Bodlovich will be on the road to Petaluma for a show at Brixx on Saturday, July 7, for an 8:30 start.
Gator Beat will be at the Rio Nido Roadhouse in Rio Nido on Saturday, July 7, kicking off at 6 p.m.