Howard Wiley Quartet // Poet Tongo Eisen-Martin

Oakland tenor saxophonist Howard Wiley returns to the festival with his soul-charged, Hammond B-3-powered quartet, a tough, sinewy combo that blends jazz, gospel, and funk with state-of-the-art grooves. A commanding improviser, Wiley has earned national renowned recording and performing with an array of heavyweights including Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Lauryn Hill, Jason Moran, and Hammond B-3 organ greats Chester Thompson and Doug Carn. His quartet features bassist Marcus Phillips, who’s been touring recently with Jennifer Hudson, drummer Dante “Taz” Roberson, and organist LJ Holoman, a sought after studio player with recording credits that include Mary J Blige, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Nas, and The Game. The City of San Francisco’s 8th Poet Laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin, brings his passion for social justice to the opening recital. A poet, movement worker, and educator, he was nominated for a California Book Award for his 2015 book of verse Someone’s Dead Already. His latest curriculum on extrajudicial killing of Black people, “We Charge Genocide Again,” has been used as an educational and organizing tool throughout the country. And his latest book, Heaven Is All Goodbyes, published by the City Lights Pocket Poets series, was shortlisted for the Griffins Poetry Prize and won a California Book Award and an American Book Award. This event will be outdoors, at Elephant in the Room patio.