McQuarry, Kleinman & Smith Trio at the Cadillac Hotel
18/10/14 23:52
Keyboardist Steve McQuarry, bassist Craig Kleinman and drummer E. “Doc” Smith will be bringing their brand of electric jazz and fusion to the Cadillac Hotel on Friday, September 19th @ 12:30 pm. The MKS Trio will be performing the music of Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Catalyst, Jaco Pastorius and Billy Cobham. Concerts at the Cadillac is a free concert series open to the public. The purpose is to provide high-quality music for the residents of the Cadillac Hotel and San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. Everyone is welcome. Dedicated to the power of music to uplift and inspire.
The Cadillac Hotel is also home to the Patricia Walkup Memorial Piano, a meticulously restored 1884 Steinway Model D concert grand piano. The case is of Indian Rosewood and the old growth spruce soundboard is the piano’s original. The piano spent its first 70 years or so in a castle in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It was shipped from New Haven, Connecticut, to the Cadillac Hotel in June, 2007. This beautiful instrument is maintained on a regular basis by Shawn Skylark (Registered Piano Technician, Piano Technicians Guild).
McQuarry grew up in a home filled with his Mom’s piano playing, in Denver Colorado. He studied at the Eastman School of Music, University of Colorado at Denver, Berklee School Of Music, University Of California San Diego and Alexander University. He is an active member of the Audio Engineering Society (AES), the performance rights organization, Broadcast Musicians, Inc. (BMI), the Electronic Music Foundation (EMF), the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC), the Society For Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) and Chamber Music America (CMA).
McQuarry has performed with distinguished artists such as the late Dizzy Gillespie, Clare Fischer, Louie Bellson, Red Rodney (Charlie Parker), Tom Scott, the late John Cage, Laurie Anderson, Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting, Herbie Hancock, Frank Zappa), Nathan East (Eric Clapton, Herbie Hancock, Bob James), Bill Rich (Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles, Taj Mahal), the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Billy Cobham.
McQuarry and Kleinman met a dozen years ago, during their days of playing clubs in and around San Diego. After both relocated to the Bay Area, they reunited and sought out a project that would allow each to explore McQuarry’s electric jazz keyboard wizardry, as well as the fusion music of Miles Davis, Jan Hammer, Weather Report’s Joe Zawinul and Jaco Pastorius and Billy Cobham. McQuarry recommended Smith, a like-minded soul from his work with bassist Edo Castro, and after a few sessions, the McQuarry, Kleinman & Smith trio was born.
In addition to this recent project, McQuarry leads several ensembles, including his critically acclaimed Resonance Jazz Octet, (which will make it SF Jazz Center debut on October 18th); the Stephen McQuarry Trio with Resonance alum Ted Burik and Greg German; an all-horn and woodwind ensemble; an electric quartet with Resonance’s Michele Walther on electric violin, Burik and Smith; and is composing and recording on his indie label, Mandala Records as well as working on orchestration projects in the film community. McQuarry explained that someday you might even find him “on a pink sand beach with Sherre eating a conch salad…”
McQuarry, Kleinman & Smith Trio
Cadillac Hotel, 380 Eddy Street, SF @ 12:30 pm
Admission: Free
Here's a video from the performance...