About This Event
Friday, November 17th
Doors: 7pm / Show: 8pm
$30 in advance / $35 day of the show
21+
ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO
A celebrated singer and songwriter, Alejandro Escovedo has as eclectic a background and body of work as any rock artist of his generation. As comfortable performing with a string ensemble as he is with an amped-up power trio, and as likely to bare his soul in his lyrics as he is to display some serious rock & roll swagger, Escovedo had already played an important role in punk (with the Nuns), roots rock (the True Believers), and alt-country (Rank & File) before he launched a solo career that's seen him work with everyone from John Cale to Bruce Springsteen. Beginning with 1992's Gravity, Escovedo's music has been consistently literate, ambitious, and eclectic, with 2001's A Man Under the Influence exploring different genres and approaches from track to track, while 2008's Real Animal and 2016's Burn Something Beautiful focused on passionate, guitar-based rock & roll. 2018's The Crossing (and its 2020 Spanish-language counterpart La Cruzada) told a richly detailed story of the immigrant experience.
Alejandro Escovedo was born in San Antonio, Texas on January 10, 1951, one of 12 children. His family was steeped in music: His father played in mariachi bands and swing combos both before and after he emigrated from Mexico to the United States. Alejandro's older brother Pete Escovedo is a jazz artist and studio musician; he was a member of Santana and founded the group Azteca. Another older brother, Coke Escovedo, also worked with both jazz and Latin groups, enjoyed a solo career, and was a member of Santana and Malo. Pete's daughter Sheila Escovedo became a pop star as Sheila E. Alejandro's younger brother Javier Escovedo founded the early Los Angeles punk band the Zeros. And another younger brother, Mario Escovedo, played in the hard rock outfit the Dragons.
MATT JAFFE
After cutting his teeth on open mics around the Bay Area, San Francisco songwriter Matt Jaffe was discovered by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads. Together, they produced his first album at the age of 16, cementing Matt's dedication to music. Soon, he formed a band, dropped out of college, and has not looked back.
Since then, Matt has cowritten with Chuck Prophet and Tom Higgenson of Plain White T’s, crisscrossed the country opening for Blues Traveler and Alejandro Escovedo, and recorded half a dozen albums alongside luminaries of the Bay Area music scene. Inspired by the great lineage of rock n' roll, he marries literary lyrics with the undeniable urge to dance.
Matt has served as musical director for experimental theater, collaborated with poets on genre-bending spoken word, and curated residencies among fellow songwriters. Having had seizures since 2015, Matt also uses his music to unite local and national epilepsy communities. Matt has just released his sixth album, White Roses in the Snow, and is in the process of finishing its followup for release in 2023.