Special Event

September 20 — Royal Crown Revue

• sold out

OK all you Filoli Retro-swingers!! Put on your gangster threads and prepare to be royally entertained by the highly energetic and swinging Royal Crown Revue. Since exploding out of L.A.’s underground scene in 1989, Royal Crown Revue's unique combination of swing, jump, jive and jazz has yielded a dream career in the music industry. Behind the timeless voice of Eddie Nichols, RCR has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious venues, from the Hollywood Bowl to Radio City Music Hall. They can now add Filoli to that list!

Royal Crown Revue
This well-regarded band features vocalist Eddie Nichols, guitarist James Achor, bassist Veikko Lepisto, tenor saxophonist Mando Dorame, baritone saxophonist Bill Ungerman, trumpeter Scott Steen and drummer Daniel Glass. Debuting in 1991 with the LP Kings of Gangster Bop, the group was almost the first to catch the wave of swing-era nostalgia that crested during the latter half of the decade. With 1995's Mugzy's Move, Royal Crown Revue made their major label debut, signing to Warner Brothers. 1997's live album Caught in the Act generated the cult hit “Barflies at the Beach.” The following year's The Contender featured the single "Zip Gun Bop (Reloaded)." Walk On Fire, which appeared in 1999, featured the Revue's tightest presentation with vintage instruments including original "44" ribbon microphones. Tours of Japan and Australia were successful and the Royal Crown Revue celebrated by issuing the live effort Passport: Live In Australia in 2001.

RCR has also worked with a stunning variety of top artists – from James Brown to Bette Midler to Gene Simmons. And the band’s music – in particular the breakout track “Hey Pachuco!” - has been featured in countless motion pictures, television shows, and commercials.

"Royal Crown Revue takes the swing style made famous by Louis Jordan and updates it with the best elements of jazz and rock." — The Los Angeles Times

"The new swing movement has it charlatans and trend-hoppers, but Royal Crown Revue is clearly in it for the long haul, emanating a deep knowledge of mid-century American macho in clothes, manner and music." — The New York Times

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June 21 — Benny Green and Bucky Pizzarelli

Filoli is proud to present two masters of jazz - pianist wizard Benny Green playing with famed guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. It’s not every day that two such accomplished musicians come together in a duet setting on the Filoli stage. Do not miss this wonderful collaboration. Although generations apart—Green is 46, Pizzarelli 83—each shares a delicious expression of swing jazz. Green, a disciple of Oscar Peterson (among others) who gained youthful experience with the likes of Betty Carter and Art Blakey, is especially adept at thoughtful illumination of both jazz standards and pop tunes. One of the grand masters of jazz guitar, Pizzarelli, who favors the seven-string guitar, has been a force on the jazz scene since the early 1950s, in later years frequently appearing with his son and fellow guitarist, John.

Benny Green
Born in New York in 1963, Benny Green grew up in Berkeley, California, and began classical piano studies at the age of seven. Influenced by his father, a tenor saxophonist, his attention soon turned to Jazz. Green followed his lineage playing with Eddie Henderson as a teenager before working with Betty Carter between 1983 and 1987. He then joined Art Blakey's band and remained a Jazz Messenger through late 1989, at which point he began working with Freddie Hubbard's quintet. In 1993 Oscar Peterson chose Green as the first recipient of the City of Toronto's Glen Gould International Protégé Prize in Music. Shortly thereafter, Green replaced Gene Harris in Ray Brown's Trio, working with the veteran bassist until 1997. From that point on, Benny resumed his freelance career. He recorded for Criss Cross and Blue Note in the 1990s. In 2000, his debut recording on Telarc Jazz entitled Naturally was released, which featured bassist Christian McBride and guitarist Russell Malone. With the 2002 release of Green's Blues, Benny returned to his roots and updated the tradition with an exciting solo collection of jazz standards by Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, and George Gershwin, among others, with his highly personal style. Benny followed with the 2003 release on Telarc, Jazz at the Bistro, a duo recording with guitarist Russell Malone, dedicated to the memory of the late jazz bassist Ray Brown. He cites key influences as Art Tatum, Erroll Garner, Hank Jones, Ahmad Jamal, Phineas Newborn, Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson. Now 46, an Oscar Peterson protégé, Green summarizes his approach to jazz as “…to just swing and have fun, and share those feelings with the audience … and if I'm able to convey that, then I feel like I'm doing something positive.”

“Green is a young classicist, and one of the better ones playing the piano: he plays funky and hard, and breathes not only be-bop but Oscar Peterson’s virtuosic effusions as well.” – The New York Times

Bucky Pizzarelli
John Paul “Bucky” Pizzarelli (born January 9, 1926) is a veteran of nearly six decades of touring and studio sessions as a popular American classical swing jazz guitarist and banjoist. Exposed to music early through his professional musician uncles, the New Jersey native became a self-taught master of the banjo and seven-string guitar. A fixture in jazz studios since the early ‘50s, the legendary Bucky has been called “the complete jazz musician.” He worked for NBC as a staff man for Dick Cavett (1951) playing with Doc Severinson’s band and also with Bobby Rosengarden at ABC in 1952. The list of big bands and vocalists with whom Bucky has performed and recorded reads like a veritable Who's Who of Jazz. One of the era's most solid rhythm players, Pizzarelli was in high demand, playing and touring with Benny Goodman, Les Paul, Zoot Sims, Bud Freeman, and Stéphane Grappelli, and, later, recording with George Van Eps, Carl Kress and George Barnes. In the 1970s, he performed in duo with George Barnes and worked with Zoot Sims, Bud Freeman, and Stéphane Grappelli. Since the 1980s, he has often performed and recorded with son, guitarist/vocalist John Pizzarelli. He also has performed with his other musical offspring, bassist Martin Pizzarelli and classical guitarist Mary. Bucky plays classical guitar himself and is now Emeritus faculty of William Paterson College. His superior mastery of the seven-string guitar is unparalleled. The beloved guitarist has developed a very personal style that sets him apart. He lives in Saddle River, New Jersey, with his wife, Ruth.

“His effortless phrasing and mellow tone are the epitome of cool, swinging jazz guitar.” — Mike Flynn, Jazzwise

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July 12 — The Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra Plus Special Guests
A Special Tribute Celebrating the 100th Jazz at Filoli Concert

• Sold Out

Since its first concert in 1991, Filoli has now presented 100 jazz concerts. To celebrate this centurion accomplishment, Filoli presents a very special concert featuring the big band sounds of the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, under the smart direction of Marcus Shelby, a talented artist who is no stranger to Filoli. Marcus will treat us with an outstanding array of music, featuring a number of special guest artists chosen from past Filoli performances. We invite you to sit back and enjoy this very special and momentous concert!

Marcus Shelby
Born in February 1966, Marcus Anthony Shelby has been playing the acoustic bass for 23 years. In this time, he has built a diverse and accomplished biography. Shelby was bandleader of Columbia Records and GRP Impulse! Recording Artists Black/Note and is currently the Artistic Director and leader of The Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, The Marcus Shelby Septet and the Marcus Shelby Trio. In addition, Shelby holds an instructor position at the Berkeley Young Musician Program, San Francisco State University and the Stanford Jazz Workshop and is the 2006 Fellow in the Resident Dialogues Program of the Committee for Black Performing Arts at Stanford University. As the 1991 winner of the Charles Mingus Scholarship, Shelby’s studies include work under the tutelage of composer James Newton and legendary bassist Charlie Haden. Recent honors include the City Flight Magazine 2005 award as one of the “Top Ten Most Influential African Americans in the Bay Area."

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August 2 — The Barbara Morrison All-Star Band

• sold out

Filoli is proud to bring to our stage for the first time, Barbara Morrison and her All-Star Band. Ms. Morrison can be as playful as Ella, as thoughtful as Sarah, as naughty as Etta ...and has gained a national following with her big personality and delicious sense of swing (L.A. Times). Equally striking is her ability to belt out down-home, soul-stirring blues. Ms. Morrison tours extensively across the United States, Western Europe the Far East, “Down Under,” and has performed at renowned blues and jazz festivals around the world including Montreaux, Nice, Carnegie Hall, North Sea, and Monterey, wowing audiences with her band. We are very grateful that her list of venues now includes Filoli.

Barbara Morrison
Born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Barbara Morrison recorded her first radio appearance in Detroit at the age of 10. She is now a veteran in the music industry, having performed with a virtual "who's who" of the jazz and the blues worlds; a list that includes legends like: Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, James Moody, Ron Carter, Etta James, Mel Torme, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Jimmy Smith, Johnny Otis, Dr. John, Terence Blanchard, Joe Sample, Cedar Walton, Nancy Wilson, Carlos Santana, and Keb' Mo. Ms. Morrison also guest stars with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra and Doc Severinsen's Big Band.

Barbara has been featured on over 20 recordings, dazzling fans from traditional jazz and blues to gospel and pop. Her melodic voice, with its two-and-a-half-octave range, is known worldwide, as are her rich, soulful and highly spirited interpretations of both familiar jazz / blues classics and original contemporary tunes. Her impassioned renditions of old and favorite torch songs are nothing short of breathtaking. Barbara also has a number of notable film and television appearances, such as the movie sound track for The Hurricane (starring Denzel Washington), Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Duke Ellington and Johnny Otis's CD “Ooo Shoo Be Dooo,” the hit NBC TV comedy The Naked Truth, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Dennis Miller Show.

Feel-good factor from jazz's new real-deal super star! — Glasgow Herald

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August 16 — Buster Williams "Something More"

• sold out

Filoli is extremely pleased to present the renowned jazz bassist, Buster Williams. His big, deep, resilient and inventive playing has made him the bassist of choice throughout the jazz world. For Filoli, the “Something More” quartet will include Bennie Maupin, reeds (Buster's bandmate from Herbie Hancock's sextet); Patrice Rushen, keyboards (considered one of the world's top jazz pianists); and Cindy Blackman, drums (one of the busiest artists since leaving Lenny Kravitz last year). After hearing “Something More,” the Filoli audience will leave “Wanting More” from Buster and these great musicians.

Buster Williams
Buster Williams is a prodigious artist whose playing knows no limits. He has played, recorded and collaborated with jazz giants such as Art Blakey, Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Chet Baker, Chick Corea, Dexter Gordon, Jimmy Heath, Wynton Marsalis, Sonny Stitt, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Nancy Wilson, Miles Davis, the Jazz Crusaders, Ron Garter, Woody Shaw, Sarah Vaughan, Cedar Walton, Sonny Rollins, Count Basie, Dakota Staton, Freddie Hubbard, to name a few.

Charles Anthony Williams, Jr. (nickname: Buster) was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1942. His father, Charles Anthony Williams, Sr., was a bassist. "He would prepare my lessons for me,'' Buster recalls," and when I got home from school I was supposed to practice, then he would listen while he was eating his dinner. I had to play it right or hear about it.” He told me, “You'd better be serious!” And Buster indeed was serious. In 1959 he began working with Jimmy Heath whose quartet included Sam Dockery on piano and the legendary Specs Wright on drums. At the age of 17, he began playing with Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt. Then came a gig in Wilmington, Delaware with the Garald Price Trio. Dakota Staton heard the trio and hired them on the spot. In 1962, he moved on to work with singer Betty Carter, and then Sarah Vaughan, who took him on his first European tour. He was 20 years old, on the French Riviera, and meeting musicians who would figure heavily in his future—Miles Davis, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, George Coleman, and Tony Williams.

Buster Williams has been able to flourish through many periods of changing jazz fashions. The jazz-rock generation knew him as the mobile anchor of Herbie Hancock's exploratory "Mwandishi" Sextet from 1969 to 1973. Since the 1980s he has been known for his solid, dark tone and highly refined technique on the acoustic bass. After almost 30 years as a sideman," says Buster, "I decided it was time to take the plunge, step up to the front, play my music, and express my concept of a cohesive musical unit. I've served my apprenticeship under many great masters and feel that it's my honor and privilege to carry on the lineage that makes this music such an artistically rich art form...” Since the inception of "Something More'' in 1990, the group has had numerous tours of Europe including the first International Jazz Festival in Moscow, tour of Japan and Australia, and countless engagements throughout the U.S.

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August 30 — The Bobby Hutcherson Quartet

• Sold Out

In Jazz at Filoli’s 18-year history, Bobby Hutcherson has performed four times, including our very first season in 1991. We are so very happy to welcome him back for our 2009 season. And, why not? Easily one of jazz's greatest vibraphonists and always a Filoli crowd favorite, he remains one of the most advanced masters of his instrument. Expect to be dazzled once again by this wonderful performer, along with his quartet entourage of highly-talented and consummate musicians.

Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson epitomized his instrument in relation to the era in which he came of age the way Lionel Hampton did with swing or Milt Jackson with bop. Hutcherson helped modernize his instrument by redefining what could be done with it—sonically, technically, melodically, and emotionally. In the process, he became one of the defining voices in the so-called "new thing" portion of Blue Note's glorious '60s roster. Hutcherson gradually moved into the mainstream. Robert (Bobby) Hutcherson was born in 1941, in Los Angeles. As a boy, he tinkered with the piano. But it all clicked for Bobby in his teens when he heard a Milt Jackson record. He then saved up enough money to buy his own set of vibes. By age 21, he'd played with Don Cherry and Charles Lloyd and made his recording debut on Curtis Amy's Groovin’ Blue. He joined the Al Grey-Billy Mitchell Sextet. After a booking at New York's legendary Birdland club, Bobby wound up staying on the East Coast after word about his inventive four-mallet playing started to spread. He was invited to jam with some of the best up-and-coming musicians in New York: hard boppers like Grant Green, Hank Mobley, and Herbie Hancock, but also forward-thinking experimentalists like Jackie McLean, Archie Shepp, and Eric Dolphy. Through those contacts, Hutcherson became an in-demand sideman at recording sessions, chiefly for Blue Note.

His first shot as a leader came with 1965's Dialogue, featuring some of the hottest young talent on the scene—most notably Freddie Hubbard. In 1967, he returned to LA and started a quintet with tenor saxophonist Harold Land. Their sound was a different vein than the early sixties, but produced excellent results. In the 70’s, he returned to modal bop and formed a quintet with trumpeter Woody Shaw, playing at that summer's Montreux Jazz Festival. In 1974, he re-teamed with Land and continued to record for Blue Note. Adding the marimba to his repertoire, Bobby remained active throughout the '80s as both a sideman and leader. He spent much of the '90s touring, particularly with the great pianist McCoy Tyner. He debuted on Verve records in 1999 with the well-received Skyline. In 2003 he was a special guest with the Herbie Hancock trio. Bobby still performs with his quartet, mostly in the San Francisco Bay area where he resides, but also in Europe.

"Bobby hears and feels a lot of things that are beyond the limits of jazz. Also, he's a very warm person—direct and candid—and that comes through in his music” — Herbie Hancock

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