Submissions Voting

"Founded by the Spanish guitarist and composer Javi Jiménez, the group consists of a singular musical body that combines the instrumentation and signature of Jazz Manouche, Modern Jazz, Flamenco and Latin-American rhythms.

Based in San Francisco, CA the acoustic ensemble performs a repertoire of original compositions with an emotionally charged sound that is difficult to classify but instantly recognizable.

Barrio’s international roots shine brightly in their music with members from Spain, Quebec, Colombia, France, Brazil and the United States. They are deeply influenced by a wide range of musical traditions, and this is how the group’s unique sound is born.

Barrio Manouche provides a tremendous live experience and transports its audience on a magical journey, with a unique fusion of cultures and musical landscapes... an auditory and visual feast like no other."

Since inception by founding member Timm Walker in 2007, the core unit of BeaufunK has now settled into a lineup of true funk extremists - Frank Acosta (guitar/vocals), Wilson Brooks (drums/vocals), Lorenzo Hawkins (keys), Ric Alexander (of Toni Tony Tone - saxophones/percussion), Timm Walker (bass/vocals). With featured lead vocalist Michael Jeffries (formerly of Tower of Power), the group delivers a powerful funk punch. The name BeaufunK has become synonymous with the funkiest in the Bay Area and beyond. This unit is known to bring crowds to their feet and out onto the dance floor, where they tend to remain.

BIG BLU SOUL REVUE bring the soul of San Francisco to their live shows. With an extreme passion for 60’s and 70’s soul, funk rhythm & blues, the band shares music influences ranging from soul legends like Stevie Wonder , Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers and Marvin Gaye to funk and jazz artists like Sly & the Family Stone, The Meters, Herbie Hancock, Grant Green and many more. Their fresh approach brings a wide array of infectious dance grooves to their high-energy live show. The band’s latest release, Tongue & Groovin’, is available everywhere you get your music.

Blü Egyptian, from Chico, CA, have gained a reputation for their high energy shows with extended multi-genre jams, meaningful songwriting, and entertaining stage antics. Since the release of their debut album in 2021, they have been touring throughout Northern California, Oregon and Nevada. With their latest live release "Goin' Places Fall Tour," they have a big year of touring ahead including Hog Farm Hideaway in June.

Shack-shakin' Country Blues Music ! What do Bonnie Raitt, Charlie Musselwhite and Elvin Biship all have in common ?
They love HowellDevine.

"Arhoolie/Smithsonian Folkways Records' HowellDevine plays The Music with the original feel, intent and spirit, and you can tell they love the music while delivering some real blues in their own way. The singing and playing is never strained and they play with easy confidence...they don't have to prove anything...it knocks me out to hear a group playing such good quality blues today."
~ Charlie Musselwhite (from the liner notes)

"What a pleasure to find a young band that really gets the blues...Deep and true to the roots. Really digging this record and so glad they're on the scene. "
~ Bonnie Raitt

"We love them-they are great!" ~ Elvin Bishop

"A HowellDevine live show is like hopping a train in New Orleans and heading north past Mississippi Hill Country, rollin' past Memphis and Kansas City and arriving in the heart of Chicago. Jump on board the HowellDevine Blues Express next time it pulls into your town." -Chuck Wentworth, Festival Director, Rhythm N' Roots Festival, Rhode Island

" ...listen to the way they tear into Bukka White's "Shake "Em On Down"-- it sounds like a lost unplugged side from Jimi Hendrix circa 1967..."
~ Andrew Gilbert, NPR http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201410171630/d

HowellDevine brings juke joint / shack-shakin' Country Blues to Younger Audiences; MODERN SOUNDS OF ANCIENT JUJU
In the four years that the Bay Area-based Delta/hill country blues trio HowellDevine has been together, they have play with and impressed some of the most recognized names in blues and roots music and signed with perhaps the most legendary roots record label in the world, Arhoolie Records, now part of Smithsonian/Folkways label. HowellDevine was the first new country blues band signed in 27 years! As legendary owner Chris Strachwitz famously says "this ain't no mouse music!" HowellDevine's sexy, shack-shackin' music is broad--attracting audiences that are sometimes close to four generations younger than core songs of the band's repertoire: Robert Johnson, Frank Stokes, Mississippi Fred McDowell, RL Burnside, Sonny Boy Williamson and Muddy Waters' classic works from the 1940s to the 1950s. It's how the band propulsively delivers on their ensemble arrangements of these songs that is making the case across generations. On this CD, five new originals blend seamlessly with "Shake 'Em On Down," (Bukka White), "She Brought Life Back to the Dead" (Sonny Boy Williamson), and "Can't Be Satisfied" (Muddy Waters).

EXCITING ! BRILLIANT PLAYING. FRESH!
“Joshua Howell...plays wicked harp loosely in the Rice Miller tradition, with traces of Little Walter. The fiery Howell plays emotive, straight blues, with sharp and superb guitar sliding & picking...[The rhythm section is] wild, juxtaposing interesting syncopations and jazz beats. Drummer Pete Devine and contrabassist Joe Kyle Jr. are in their own dynamic creative realm, approaching the rhythm in a free, almost avant-garde way—a contrast that gives the ensemble an idiosyncratic edge.” - Frank Matheis (Living Blues Magazine)

"HowellDevine is the real deal. From the moment they took the stage at The Extended Play Sessions, everyone knew they in for something special."
- Bill Hurley, Executive Producer, The Extended Play Sessions (TV), Boston, MA

Pronounced I - KO - YAH-YAH - since 2013, we’ve been flooding dance halls & festivals with the Louisiana-influenced music that gets folks on their the feet – what we like to call “swamp ‘n roll!”
Enjoy a full plate of our favorite New Orleans flavored dance gumbo—blues & boogie, Cajun/Zydeco, R&B, Second Line, and even a lil’ Country—all delivered with a Mardi Gras vibe!

From the San Francisco Bay Area, Iko YaYa’s members are longtime veterans of some other bay area favorite dance bands, including California Cajun Orchestra, SwingThing, CZ & The Bon Vivants, The Poyntlyss Sistars, Medicine Ball Band, Mark St. Mary, The California Blue Runners & The Mangroves.

Jim Scott – guitar
Cheryl McBride – vocals & percussion
Sam Siggins – drums & vocals
Lance Houck – bass & vocals
Andre Nigoghossian – accordion & vocals
Susan Copperman – saxophone

The future of acoustic music, JUBILEE consists of some of the top young award-winning musicians on the acoustic scene today. Known for their relentless groove and breathtaking improvisation, they bring a fresh approach to traditional bluegrass, old-time, and even work their genre-bending magic on a little jazz and funk. JUBILEE has performed at a range of venues including Father's Day Bluegrass Festival, Berkeley's Freight and Salvage, the Gallo Center for the Performing Arts, Ogden Music Festival, and showcases at the International Bluegrass Music Association's World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, NC.

Lady Bianca, is a gospel and R&B vocalist/pianist, artist, and producer with roots in Kansas City, MO and Macon, GA. Raised by a father who taught her Texas Blues piano as a child, Lady Bianca has evolved into an icon in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is widely known as the “Queen of the Blues and Gospel.” With her partner Stanley Lippitt, she has amassed a catalog of over 300 songs, and has produced, arranged and recorded 9 albums, including her recent release, “Lady Bianca Sings, ‘Hold on a Little While longer’, ‘Gonna have a Mighty Good Time” (2020)’, via her own Magic-O Records (“Home of the Mighty Oakland Sound”) label. Lady Bianca has toured the country with her trio and was a featured solo vocalist and pianist in the International Boogie-Woogie Festival in Lugano, Switzerland. In 2015, Lady Bianca represented the Golden Gate Blues Society in Memphis as a contestant in the International Blues Challenge, in the solo/duo category. In 2017, Lady Bianca sang “Oh, Freedom” in the Roots Award-winning film documentary Gina’s Journey: The Search for William Grimes, and was the featured narrative voice in the Oakland-based film documentary Evolution of the Blues. In 2017-2019, Lady Bianca sailed the Caribbean seas on the legendary Blues Cruise #30, #33, and was a featured performer in the Mitch Woods Billboard Lounge aboard ship. She has performed, recorded and toured the world with Frank Zappa, Sly Stone, Van Morrison and John Lee Hooker as a featured vocalist and background vocal arranger. Lady Bianca continues to record and release amazing music. Her ‘records can be heard on Spotify, Pandora and Heart Radio, as well as on local radio stations such as KPFA, KPOO and KCSM. On August 8th 2020, Lady Bianca will appear in a virtual concert, “Can’t Stop the Blues.” August 22, 2021 The Lady will be performing the very first Black Women Blues Festival at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley California.

Web: ladybiancabandzoogle.com

Mandolin Manny and Friends are a modern string band who play original bluegrass, traditional standards, and classic favorites re-imagined through a bluegrass lens. They focus on playing music with high energy, tight vocal harmonies, and with a virtuosic instrument prowess.

Claudia and Bruce have performed at the Freight & Salvage, McCabe's in LA, and music festivals from Boston MA to Hollywood CA. They have more than 1000 gigs under their belt. Claudia is known for her expressive vocals and distinctive and engaging songwriting style. Kaplan keeps it moving with electric guitar and mandolin. Claudia was named Best Musician in the East Bay Express readers poll and has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered, The SF Chronicle, The Boston Herald, Sing Out Magazine and American Songwriter Magazine.

Besides playing with her husband Bruce Kaplan, she appears with GRAMMY WINNER Laurie Lewis, Don Henry in the pop-up band WOrds+ Music and with Katie Dahl and Rich Higdon, Paper Birds.

As the hosts of Point Richmond Acoustic, Claudia and Bruce and well known and liked around Point Richmond and the greater Bay Area.

Radio AFRO-Funk is the innovative sound of Malian N'goni player Mamadou Sidibe (Oumou Sangare, Fula Brothers) and Oakland-based percussionist Bobby Wallace (Bonnie Riatt, Margareth Menezes).
Special Guests:
Kai Lyons - Guitar (Louie Romero, Changui)
Craig "Bravo" Miller - Drums (La Misa Negra)

Nigerian guitar master and singer Adesoji "Soji" Odukogbe has the distinction of being a
member of Fela Anikulapo Kuti's Egypt 80 band during the 1980's. As Fela Kuti's lead
guitarist, Soji draws on an extensive background in Nigerian Afrobeat, highlife, and spiritual
music, bringing a unique sensibility to his West African guitar interpretations. Since settling
down in the SF Bay Area, Soji has been active in the African music scene, and is a founding
member of The Afrobeat Connexion and The Nigerian Brothers, as well as being a supporting
musician for various acts such as The West African Highlife Band and Kotoja. He has recorded
and played with Femi Kuti, Babatunde Olatunji and Orlando Julius Ekemode, among others.
Soji Sai Afrobeat & Highlife is Soji's solo project, featuring a ferocious 10-piece plus
band playing pure Afrobeat a la Fela Kuti - including a smoking horn section, intricate vocal
harmonies, and a dance inducing rhythm section, as well as Highlife and Palm Wine Music. Soji
and the band sets the dance floors afire with a churning, polyrhythmic style that Soji simply
calls, “authentic original Afrobeat like Fela’s type of music, the traditional Afrobeat that
nobody does” in a world of endless Afro-fusions. Mixing in his own originals as well as some
covers of Fela Kuti's visionary music, Soji Sai Afrobeat & Highlife provides a pure
Nigerian Dance Party - guaranteed to get your feet and hips moving!