Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your instrument. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art.

Hailing from the free-form jazz and improvised hip-hop roots of San Francisco, Alphabet Soup came a long way before having a chance to play at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Fronted by the duo MCs of CB and Blake, their politically charged rantings flow to the background of Wilbur Krebs (lead bass), Sammy Biggers (bass), Kenny Brooks (saxophone), Dred Scott (keyboards), and Jay Lane (drums and formerly of the Charlie Hunter Trio and Sausage). With their album collection including Davis, Coltrane, KRS-One, and Public Enemy, Mammoth Records took notice and released their 1998 debut "Layin' Low in the Cut."

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Grammy-nominated singer/song-writer, Carla Helmbrecht, began her love affair with music at the age of eight. A native of Wisconsin, Carla was raised in a large music-loving family and had an inherent desire for music.

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Soulful, swinging, and stylish, the music of San Francisco-based jazz singer Clairdee epitomizes jazz’s empowering imperative. More than a masterly interpreter of lyrics with a lustrous, velvety tone, she embodies the tradition’s twinned legacy of standing for social justice with glamor and guts.

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Hella Fitzgerald is a deluxe party band based in California, specializing in vintage jazz and swing, classic soul and funk, 90's and contemporary songs.

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Jazzaholics is a trio of world-class musicians who are based in the San Francisco Bay Area. This exciting modern jazz trio is comprised of Steve Carter on Piano, Dennis Smith on bass and Al Marshall on drums.

Lavay Smith is an American singer specializing in blues, jazz, and swing. She tours with her eight-piece "little big band", Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers.

An award-winning guitarist and composer, San Francisco based Lloyd Gregory is a well-established musician whose style is smooth, soulful, melodic, flowing and immediately charismatic. His extensive R&B roots add a distinct texture to his styling. Gregory is a master of both acoustic and electric guitar.

He's been playing with the band for 15 years, and his wonderful arrangements, energetic stage persona, and superb musicianship are part of what makes our band so unique!

"The black Liberace," Ricardo Scales' nickname, only tells part of the pianist's story. Like the real Liberace, he wears flashy attire on-stage when he launches into a set that showcases his incredible versatility. What the nickname doesn't tell you is that the pianist has a determination as tough as steel, and he needed every ounce of it to ever make it to the stage in the first place.

Sister Swing is a fresh, exciting trio of singers which has captured the sound of the girl groups of the 1930s and 1940s, and brought it to the 21st century. Heavily influenced by the 3 part harmonies of groups like the Andrews Sisters and the Boswell Sisters, Sister Swing brings a new sound to an old style.The three ladies, Leigh Hannah, Valerie Marston and Paula Chafey-Merrill, genuinely have a good time on stage and that transcends to their audience.