MISSION: MUSIC

Published 08/17/2010

This week from PFR blog: August Newsletter.

August 17, 2010 - Monthly Newsletter: Agency, Best of..., and Farmers Market

This month we added two more local awards to our list. Meklit Hadero was named one of three "Best Indie Acts of 2010" by San Francisco Magazine alongside The Dodos and Thao Nguyen. The review accompanying the award called On a Day Like This... "an absolute joy of a debut album". The Bay Guardian called us "Best Mission Music Evangelists" in their "Best of the Bay" issue.

From the beginning we've been thinking about the label's mission as a supplier and supporter of locally grown music - 15 of our 18 artists are from the Bay Area. Now we have a regular stand at Mission Community Market - a new market that takes place every Thursday on Bartlett street (between 21st and 22nd) dedicated to featuring local farmers and businesses. We collaborate with the organizers to bring three bands to play one-hour sets between 4 and 7pm.

Out this month

Brass Menazeri || Vranjski San (reissue) || CD, Digital || Buy or listen

"Best International Band of 2008 Award" - SF Weekly

Bosnian gems mingle with Bollywood bangles, while Rromani (Gypsy) hits mix with super-fly funk. Thanks to dreamed melodies and down-and-dirty bass lines, Brass Menazeri has been packing Mission bars with a heady mix of Balkan perfection and Bay Area eccentricity, of serious chops and serious joy, for years.

Mercury Falls || Quadrangle || CD, LP, Digital || Buy or listen

This album sits somewhere between avant-garde jazz, instrumental indie rock and pop electronica. The ambient compositions of Patrick Cress (saxophones) and Ryan Francesconi (guitars) are tied together by inventive digital manipulation and Tim Bulkley's amazing drum set work. The record was born out of a live collaboration and took several years of studio work to develop. The result is sonically stunning and surprisingly easy-listening.

Check it out if you like Slint, Tortoise, or John Zorn.

CD release show with Dave Mihaly's Ensemble on September 16. Visit the show page.

Upcoming Shows

Aug. 18 - The Nice Guy Trio - 111 Minna Gallery - hearitlocal.com

Aug. 21 - Pete Devine presents "The First Annual Jug Band Jubilee" featuring Devine's Jug Band, Kally Price, Maria Muldaur, Lavay Smith, Jewels Brussard and more at Freight & Salvage - Tickets

Aug. 27 - Brass Menazeri - Ashkenaz - 9pm

Aug. 28 - Marcus Shelby w/Howard Wiley's The Angola Project - 1:00-2:30pm - Yerba Buena Gardens Festival - FREE

Aug. 29 - First Monthly Klezmer Brunch at Porto Franco Art Parlor with Daniel Fabricant, Jeanette Lewicki, Peter Jaques, Aaron Kierbel, and Darren Johnston - details, video, and tickets.

Sep. 2 - Marcus Shelby Trio - 7:30-10:30pm - Cafe Claude
Sep. 3 - Seth Augustus - Revolution cafe
Sep. 4 - Billy White - Red Poppy Art House

Sep. 4 - The Nice Guy Trio with Strings, featuring Mads Tolling and Anthony Blea on violins, Dina Maccabee on viola, and Mark Summers on cello - Yerba Buena Gardens Festival - 1pm - FREE

Sep. 15 - Brass Menazeri - SF Jazz Summerfest at Levi's Plaza, Embarcardero

Sep. 16 - We present the two CD releases: Mercury Falls and Dave Mihaly - Make-Out Room - event page

Sep. 22 - Brass Menazeri - Benefit for Briana Waters - Rickshaw Stop

Sep. 24 - Mark Growden - The Living Room, New York City (tell your NYC friends and share on Facebook)

Sep. 25 - Marcus Shelby Trio - 11:00am - SF Jazz Family Matinee - Herbst Theater
Sep. 30 - Patrick Cress' Telepathy - Revolution Cafe - 8:30pm - FREE

Regular and out of town shows

Every Wednesday night catch Gaucho at Amnesia bar (853 Valencia St. SF) 8-10pm with great contemporary jazz sessions at 11pm.

Every Thursday night come see us at the Mission Community Market. We'll have a booth, sell discounted CDs and feature local and touring musicians. Bartlett St. at 22nd St., San Francisco. 4-7pm

Mark Growden is touring the East Coast for the first time in many years. Check out his schedule here.

Some other news and previews

Mark Growden just finished recording Saint Judas Solo - a solo version of his latest album. It's available for pre-sale in several packages for $10-60 here.

Gaucho's new album featuring Tamar Korn is complete. It'll come out in October with a CD release party on October 16 at JCC in Berkeley.

Aaron Novik's album is almost ready for manufacturing. We're looking at a November release date.

The Nice Guy Trio with Strings will come out some time in 2011. Darren Johnston has a couple of quintet albums in the works as well.

Thank you for reading,
Porto Franco Records

July 29, 2010 - Monthly Newsletter

Dear fans, friends and supporters,

As another eventful month closes we'd like to share with you some of our news and music. If something in this letter or our catalog speaks to you, please help us spread the word - tell your friends, put it on facebook, tweet... it all helps us tremendously. Now, the news:

Out this month:

Dave Mihaly's Shimmering Leaves Ensemble featuring Ara Anderson (trumpets, sousaphone) and David Boyce (saxophones) Eastern Accents in the Far West. Recorded by Lemon DeGeorge (Academy Award nominated documentary "Genghis Blues") in his tiny Bernal Heights studio, this is a beautifully sparse album of Mihaly's compositions with two covers (Neil Young and Wizard of Oz). The album falls best under the free jazz category, but it's unusually tuneful and melodic for the genre.

Buy CD or Download. Free download 3 songs here.

Other news:

About a year ago we met with Marcus Shelby to discuss doing something together. We signed earlier this summer and recorded a big band album with the working title "MLK: The Soul of the Movement" featuring special guests Faye Carol, Kenny Washington, and Howard Wiley. We're still working on mixing and are finishing the recording of one of the tracks today. For now, you can hear two songs streaming here.

Mission gets its own farmers market - we provide the music. The Mission Community Market is only in its second week. It's largely a farmers market but it also showcases other local business and organizations. We are helping the market create an music program. Come by on Thursdays between 4 and 7pm.
Today:
Indianna Hale (4pm)
Seth Augustus (5pm)
Classical Revolution(6-7pm).

Coming out in August:

Mercury Falls - Quadrangle. Featuring Patrick Cress, Ryan Francesconi, Eric Perney and Tim Bulkley. See their tour schedule. Next Bay Area show at Jazz School on August 1.

Brass Menazeri - Vranjski San. We are reissuing this 2008 title with all new artwork. Stay tuned for more news from Brass Menazeri and check out their shows in August at Amnesia in SF and Ashkenaz in Berkeley.

Shows:

Every Wednesday Night - Gaucho at Amnesia Bar, SF
July 31 - Mark Growden - American Steel, Oakland
August 1 - Kally Price - Amnesia, SF
August 1 - Mercury Falls - Jazz School, Berkeley
August 1 - Meklit Hadero - Stern Grove, SF
August 2 - Dave Mihaly with Ara Anderson and David Boyce - Make-Out Room, SF
August 5 - Billy White - Puppet's, New York
August 5 - Marcus Shelby Trio - Cafe Claude, SF
August 6 - Seth Augustus - Revolution Cafe, SF
August 6 - Marcus Shelby Hot 5 - Red Poppy Art House, SF
August 8 - Brass Menazeri - Amnesia Bar, SF
August 13 - Dave Mihaly's Neo Hoonsut Society, Revolution Cafe, SF
August 14 - Mark Matos & Os Beaches - home from tour (with link to the tour page)
August 18 - Hearitlocal.com launch party with The Nice Guy Trio
August 21 - Devine's Jug Band, Kally Price and Her Jazzing Blues Hounds - also Maria Muldaur, Lavay Smith, Toshio Hirano - Jug Band Jubilee at Freight and Salvage, Berkeley
August 27 - Brass Menazeri - Ashkenaz, Berkeley
August 28 - Marcus Shelby w/Howard Wiley - Yerba Buena, SF
August 29 - Klezmer Brunch with Jeanette Lewicki, Peter Jaques, Daniel Fabricant, Rob Reich

And on tour - check out their websites for dates and cities: Mark Matos & Os Beaches, Mark Growden, Seth Augustus, Mercury Falls

Internships:

We are looking to fill several intern positions: graphic design, online PR and marketing. If you'd like to work with us or help in any way, please write to peter@portofrancorecords.com

Thank you for reading. Sincerely,
Peter Varshavsky on behalf of the PFR Team.

July 8, 2010

A couple of new videos and shows coming up

Last time we promised a big announcement. We're going to hold it for now and will try to bring it next week. In the meantime there are some shows coming up.

1. House Concert and Cocktail Party at Chez Dolic & Ukrainska
3342 Grand Ave. #3, Oakland, July 10.

Peter Jaques and Briget Boyle (of Brass Menazeri) will play their first ever duet. Sergei Skarupo will demonstrate his guitar and vocal wizardry. The concert is benefitting the Ukrainska family's patriation & unification (i.e. plane fare). July 10. $15-30 Suggested donation. No one turned away. Please RSVP to clarionette+chanteuse@gmail.com. Hear Briget sing and Peter play truba (mostly out of the frame on the left in the closeups) in this live video.

2. Kacey Johansing is back from a tour of Europe. She'll be joining Ramon & Jessica at Red Poppy Art House on April 17. I just edited a video from Ramon & Jessica's recent show at Hotel Utah. This song has been stuck with me for quite a few months now. Show page and details.

3. Mark Matos & Os Beaches are going on their first tour to visit both West and East Coasts. They're kicking the tour off with a vinyl release show at Cafe du Nord on July 14. Show page and details.

4. There is always more going on. Seth Augustus is playing at Revolution Cafe on July 9. Mitch Marcus Quintet is conquering the scorching New York, and is returning to the magical Beery House in Seattle, WA. For more information on these and other shows check out our The Latest page.

June 29, 2010

A couple of videos from Bimbo's. Meklit announces a Stern Grove show.

Just a bit over a month ago we videotaped and recorded the entire On a Day Like This... CD release show at Bimbo's 365 Club. Here are a couple of my favorite videos and a link to download the recording of the entire concert for free in exchange for your email address. The download also includes the amazing set by Quinn Deveaux and the Blue Beat Review.

Meklit will play at Stern Grove on August 1st at 2pm opening for Rickie Lee Jones. Here's a little blurb:

Songstress stylings at Stern Grove Festival
Vocalist Rickie Lee Jones continues to resonate with fans over a career spanning thirty years. The "Duchess of Coolsville" has amassed multiple GRAMMY's and iconic status with her unique sound.
Local favorite, singer/songwriter Meklit Hadero opens the day with musical tales influenced by her Ethiopian heritage and jazz.

We'll try to send another update with some big news this week. Stay tuned.

June 24, 2010. Record Label Brunch and Fair and other shows this week.

Thursday, June 24 :: Seth Augustus at Bollyhood Cafe :: 9pm :: $7

Seth will play a solo set opening for The Blind Willies. Fresh off the mini tour of the Northwest with Brass Menazeri and Mark Growden, Seth is recording his second album for PFR to be release this fall.

Sunday, June 27 :: Record Label Brunch & Record Fair :: 11am - 1pm :: FREE

For a couple of hours on a late Sunday morning, over a dozen Bay Area rock/punk/noise/metal/indie labels are bringing music & merch to the Absolutely Kosher offices in Emeryville to hang out, meet the public and promote & sell our wares at discounted, wholesale and blowout prices. We'll have bagels & beverages for sale and while our pinball machine still needs repairs, you can play pool on our newly donated pool table. This is a way for you to meet the hard-working people around the Bay who struggle to find and invest in great music for your enrichment and enjoyment. It's also a rare opportunity for us to meet and talk with the music loving community in a low-key environment. If you're a musician, it's a great time to drop off your demos and get to know the people you'd like to work with. Expect giveaways and great deals!

Participating labels include:
1-2-3-4 Go!, Absolutely Kosher, Alternative Tentacles, American Dust, Antenna Farm, Broken Rekids, Chocolate Covered, Gold Robot, Lefse/Waaga, Misra, Porto Franco, Prank, Ralph America, Seismic Wave, Slumberland, Three Ring, Tricycle, tUMULt, Zum

DIRECTIONS:

Absolutely Kosher located at 1501 Powell Street, Suite H in Emeryville, just over the Bay Bridge from San Francisco. The building itself is actually under the Powell Street overpass on Horton Street, just down the block from the Amtrak station. If you're on Powell Street coming from either direction, you'll need to take a right on Peladeau and loop back around under the overpass. From the freeway, that's a right on Peladeau, quick right onto Haruff, and another quick right onto Horton, then a left into the lot under the overpass. From the East Bay, take a right on Peladeau, a left onto 59th Street, and another quick left onto Horton, then a rightt into the lot under the overpass. Drive to the back of the lot. Our building is the brick building on your left and our entrance is at the rear of the building by the train tracks. You will likely not have access through the building since it will be Sunday. For a not terribly professional visual presentation of how to find our office once you're close by, watch the YouTube video below.

If you don't have a car or prefer not to drive, you can also take BART to the MacArthur station in Oakland and catch the free Emery-Go-Round Shuttle (Hollis line) to either the Amtrak Station (closest) or 59th & Hollis (walk down 59th to Horton and hang a left).

Sunday, June 27 :: Devine's Jug Band at Amnesia :: 9pm :: $7-10

with Pokey Lafarge, Frank Fairfield. Frank sings and plays a banjo, fiddle, and guitar. I've been a fan of his recently released 7'' single and an album on Tompkins Square label out of New York. Check out his page at mypsace.com/frankfairfield

Tuesday, June 29 :: Mark Matos & Os Beaches at Elbo Room:: 9pm :: $7

MM&OB just finished recording a new album with producer Eric Moffat (Marcus Shelby, Meklit Hadero) and are going on their first US Tour with shows on both coasts. The album drops early next year. In the meantime enjoy their set and Buxter Hoot'n on Tuesday.

May 29, 2010.

Another full moon brings us another episode of the local podcast Chasing The Moon produced by Brian Berberich, filmed by Elijiah Pahati and recorded by the seemingly omnipresent Scott McDowell at Hyde Street Studio C. The premier at the Blue Macaw on Mission and 22nd was a lovely show produced by Jessie Woletz of Seaweed Sway with Helene Renaut (myspace) Dina Maccabee (Jessica), Jessie Olsen (Ramon) and Indianna Hale (myspace). I put up some pictures from the show on our Facebook Gallery. To explain the ton of links in the post - I'm a fan of everyone who was involved in the show and are excited to share their music. It's been a while since I updated the blog. I have a hard drive full of live videos shot over the last couple of months, but the label work is keeping me from editing and posting all of it. More coming soon.

April 9, 2010.

I shot this a couple of months ago at Hotel Utah in SOMA, San Francisco. I'd never before been to the venue, and it was the first time I was seeing the quirky lo-fi pop duo Ramon and Jessica live, although their last CD Handyman's Honeymoon (CD Baby) had been on repeat in my mind for a while. Ramon and Jessica (Jessie Olsen and Dina Maccabee) are some of the busiest musicians around with their other projects, and they rarely play shows together, and you'd be remiss to not check them out next time they do. We're working on setting up a few small shows in the summer. We'll announce them on Facebook and our website. In the meantime check out Dina's upcoming album Who Do You Suppose You Are?, and Jesse's album Ojito. Another video from this show is coming soon.

April 5, 2010. For this Monday I'm pulling up one of my favorite tunes by Darren Johnston. This version was performed by The Nice Guy Trio at Yoshi's SF last November with Sameer Gupta sitting in on tabla. Video by BayTaper He recorded another great version with his quintet CD Edge of the Forest available on iTunes. Video by BayTaper.

March 28, 2010. My friend Helena just sent me a link to Wolf Larsen's myspace (myspace.com/wolflarsenmusic) page. It's got some beautiful songs and this video interpretation of Billie Jean. I've been meaning to post some videos not directly associated with Porto Franco, and I think this will be a good beginning.

March 25, 2010. Yesterday Meklit joined Allison Keyes for an interview that was aired nationally on the NPR show "Tell Me More..." read the story and listen to the interview here, and enjoy the new video of Meklit's song "Leaving Soon" shot by Salvatore Fullmore.

March 22, 2010. This is a bit of a delayed update - SxSW threw our schedule for a loop - last Tuesday, on March 16, 2010, we signed Kacey Johansing with her upcoming album Many Seasons. We will release the album in San Francisco in May, and nationally soon after. Check out her video shot and recorded by our friends at Chasing The Moon podcast. Kacey will be next playing at the New Parish in Oakland for Sean Hayes' album release concert on March 24.

March 10, 2010. A lot of things are happening for Mark Growden this month - his new album *Saint Judas* is being released nationally on March 16, with a release party at Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles (info). Right before that he's playing a 5 show weekend at Porto Franco Art Parlor on March 11-14 (there are about 10 tickets left, and they'll go in a day or two - info and tickets), and tomorrow Mark is recording a solo demo of his upcoming album that will take him in a very different direction from the accordion driven Saint Judas. I'll be shooting video of the entire session. A few days ago Mark and Portland-based animation artist Christiane Cegavske (Blood Tea and Red String - YouTube Trailer), released a new stop motion animation video for the song Coyote. The video is featured below with a bonus of two live recordings from his show at Cowell Theater in November 2009.

March 03, 2010. The big post today is Seth's new video and CD release show this Thursday and Friday. Seth Augustus' album To the Pouring Rain is coming out again. It was originally released in 2007 to support Seth's European touring, but didn't see much distribution or support in the US. We've been fans of and friends with Seth for a few years, and it's our pleasure to help get this work the recognition it deserves.

Come celebrate the release with us at Porto Franco Art Parlor this Thursday and Friday. We are showing artwork by Seth, Heather Horter (artist responsible for the monotype of the buffalo on the cover) and posters by Naxoprod - Seth's friends and collaborators in France.

Go here for more details and here to buy tickets ($10 advance, $13 at the door).

Monotyping is a somewhat unusual printmaking process. An artist paints an image on an non-absorbent (usually metal) plate, and then uses a press to create prints of that painting. With each pressing, paint leaves the plate, so only 1 to 4 prints of each image are made before the plate is no longer usable. Such small editions make the process stand out among other printmaking methods, most of which were developed to produce large quantities of identical images. More on wikipedia

March 1, 2010. Click here to download "First Day of Spring" by Billy White. His debut album First Things First is coming out on March 16.
Feb. 27, 2010. This week had big news for Meklit Hadero: we received a huge shipment of beautifully packaged CDs from Stumptown in Portland and got ready to promote the album's April 20th release. In the following months, we (Meklit, Paul Waters, and the rest of PFR team) will regularly create and post short episodes with Meklit's music, interviews and events. You can follow them here or on their own YouTube channel. Check out On a Day Like This album page to hear a couple of songs, including only this week - "Float and Fall". Here are the first three episodes (featuring Sparlha Swa, Sila and the Afrofunk Experience, MamaCoAtl, and Lale Shafaghi):


Feb. 24, 2010. Today's treat: two HD (check out the full screen versions) video clips from Tamar's first appearance with Gaucho at Amnesia Bar a couple of months ago. Check them out at that bar any Wednesday night 8-10pm. 853 Valencia St. Album page

Feb. 23, 2010. I finally started going through some of the video I shot over the last few months. These four are from Mark Growden's last show at Porto Franco Art Parlor in February. Mark's coming back for a five show run on March 11-14 to celebrate the national release of his new album Saint Judas. For folks in LA, the release show will be at Hotel Cafe on March 16. See Mark's calendar here. Tickets for Porto Franco Art Parlor shows are available on brownpapertickets.com.