L i v i n g    in    W~a~v~e~s

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Back from New Zealand and Denver, settling into the side man rotation:

Weds eves Bert's at Max's of Burlingame playing trumpet with the Four Corners Jazz Ensemble. He also occasionally appears there on Mondays in the house band for Chris Cortez's Afterglow Jam, and on Thursdays in Michael Bee's Syncopation Quintet. 

On occasional Thursdays he sits in on trumpet at Woodside's Pioneer Saloon, with Dave Dolengowicz's BAJIC for which he has recorded and mixed two studio albums.

The 3rd Friday of some months Bert plays trumpet and guitar with John Harris's Sidewinder at Ocean Ale House SF (and occasionally does a bit of jazz singing).

On Saturdays he can often be found playing jazz trumpet at San Carlos' Cask or in San Francisco at historic locations Sheba Lounge, Comstock Saloon, and The Royale. 

For the latest schedule info get in touch via bzbert@msn.com

recent Shows:

For most of Feb and the first week of March, Bert was in New Zealand! On Weds Feb 26 at the Nikau Cafe in Pohara he played and sang in a guitar duo with host extraordinaire Dave Schorr on upright bass. On Thurs Feb 27 at the Roots Bar Open Mic in Takaka he played a Gibson SG in the house band, with Dave Schorr on electric bass. On Fri Feb 28 at the Nikau Cafe he sat in on trumpet with Craig Denham's amazing Riwaka High Rollers.

Thu Feb 6 Bert played guitar in a jazz duo with Charlie Channel at Donato Enoteca, Redwood City.

Sun Feb 2 Bert was at the Ocean Ale House on trumpet and guitar with Joe Newman's UltraCombo - a jazz band that draws from the amazing catalog of music created for video games.

Mon Jan 26 Bert and John Capobianco played horns together in the house band for Chris Cortez' jam at Max's of Burlingame.

Sunday Jan 12 Bert played trumpet with JD's "Down By Law" at SF's Barebottle Brewing Co.

Jan 11 and 12 in the superb Serra HS music room he recorded Tim Price's wind quintet arrangements of classic ragtime tunes for an upcoming album. 

Jan 10 he played SF's Sheba Jazz Lounge as a guitar trio with Jeff Stratton and Michael Bee. The audience and owners loved the opening tune Cream's "White Room" and the closer ELP's "From The Beginning". A very inclusive jazz lounge indeed!

On New Year's Eve he sat in on trumpet with the R&B group Friends of Ken, at the Alameda Elks Club.

Dec 28 and Nov 30 he led a guitar trio at the Cask Wine Bar with drummer Michael Bee and bassist Stephanie Lee.

Dec 27 he played trumpet twice in SF - first at the Ocean Ale House with John Harris's Sidewinder, then at The Royale, a historic and charming bar in the Tenderloin.

Dec 21 he played trumpet for a roomful of ballroom dancers at Rossmoor's Event Center.

Dec 15 he was in studio recording an album for Joe Newman's Ultra Combo.

Dec 1 he appeared briefly on trumpet at Jeff Saxton's Andrew Speight Memorial Jam in Burlingame, then at the Ocean Ale House on trumpet and guitar for Joe Newman's UltraCombo.

Nov 23 he played trumpet at SF's historic Comstock Saloon with Mark Patron's What's Cookin'.

Nov 17 he played trumpet at the Beach Chalet with Mark Patron's What's Cookin'. 

Nov 16 Bert was at Vino Locale, in a jazz guitar duo with bassist Charlie Channel.

Nov 13 he played at State St. Market Los Altos, in a jazz guitar duo with bassist Charlie Channel. 

Nov 9 he played at San Carlos' Cask Wine Bar in guitar trio with Michael Bee and Stephanie Lee.

Oct 27 he put on the multi-genre show "It's About Time" for an enthusiastic crowd of 200 at Stanford's Campbell Recital Hall.

Oct 12 and Oct 23 he guested a bit on trumpet with Michael Zisman's Americano Social Club, at Sutter Creek's Shake Ridge and SF's Blush! Wine Bar.

Oct 10 he played in a jazz guitar duo with bassist Charlie Channel at Donato Enoteca, Redwood City. 

Sep 28 BertsBrew played a 50th birthday party serving up requests that ranged from Bob Marley to Louis Armstrong to Louie Louie, plus Pat Metheny and the Grateful Dead.

Sep 21, Bert finished his second annual summer residency at his favorite peninsula restaurant, Flea Street. This year the weekly Sat 5:30-7:30pm "porch concerts" featured Susan Esterly's wonderful vocals, Tony Bove's harmonica and musicology, and a first ever collaboration with the young bassist Alia Tu and drummer Zack Wilhite, both of whom developed their chops at the Reikes Center. Highlights were a night of Steven Stills, one of Crosby and Young, one of Dylan, and one of piano crooning (Billy Joel, Sting, Elton John)

Sep 14 he and Larry Marcus revived their Dark Side of the Moon rendition for another 50th birthday party in Hillsborough, this time teaming up with the Floyd mavens Greg and Tiffany Studley and Steve Ginsberg.

Sep 1 Bert played guitar and trumpet at with Joe Newman's UltraCombo, exploring the vast catalog of video game music. They also found time to record at Bert's house for submission to a video game music contest: Dahlia Noire. It won the contest. They also performed VGM on Sat Sep 7 at GAME OVER OAKLAND, at 7th West.

Aug 11 and July 14 Bert played trumpet in a jazz quartet from 2 to 5pm at Barebottle Brewing, Cortland ave in SF. The afternoon of Aug 9 he channeled David Gilmour playing Dark Side of the Moon for a VC pool party. 

August 7 and 8 Bert was in Princeton NJ to appear in an advertising shoot playing mellophone in a college marching band uniform. Sun Aug 4 he was at the Ocean Ale House, in the house band for Joe Newman's monthly VGM Jam. 

July 8 Bert sat in with Olivier Franc at Village Monge in Paris. On Sat June 29 he sat in with PaperPlanesband.com at a wedding in Provence. Weds June 26 Bert again played in Paris with Larry Browne, backing vocalists at Puzzle and closing the world famous Cave de Huchette at 2am with a rousing rendition of Out of Nowhere. 

June 13 he provided atmosphere with his guitar in a jazz duo with bassist Charlie Channel at Donato's in Redwood City, and again on Saturday June 15 at Vino Locale, Palo Alto. On Sunday June 2 Bert was on trumpet and guitar for Joe Newman's Ocean Ale House VGM Jam. 

In May Bert sang and played guitar for a wedding in Carmel, played trumpet at SF's Comstock Saloon and Ocean Ale House with Mark Patron's What's Cookin'. In March he appeared in guitar duo with the young slide master Taylor Goss at the Wine Gallery San Carlos (here's a sample of how that went down Mercury Blues), played trumpet and guitar with John Harris' Sidewinder at the Ocean Ale House SF (video here The Preacher -> Sandu).

Feb 13 Bert and Leo were back at the Wine Gallery for their annual Valentines show, this time exploring Pat Metheny's Phase Dance among others, here's an audio recording of the entire show: Valentines.mp3. 

Each Saturday eve last August and September, Bert brought special guests to perform with him on the front porch of one of the peninsula's finest restaurants, Flea Street! This was the first time in its 40 year history that Flea Street has offered live music in addition to Eloy's cocktails and Jesse and Bryan's gourmet cuisine. We'll do it again in 2024 - pick up a drink inside at the bar, then find a seat on the porch or enjoy the music while you dine indoors or out - with gorgeous fall weather the windows will be open. 3607 Alameda de las Pulgas in Menlo Park.

On Sat July 29 2023 Bert & Izzy were reunited for the first Deep Dive Concert in 3 years - a private celebration of Stevie Wonder. The all star band featuring Edgardo Cambon, David Pinto and Emilio Davalos was spectacular! Here's a sample: Another Star.mp3 

On Fri July 14 at 11:30pm, and 10am the next morn, Bert helped Joe Newman bring his "West Coast VGM Jazz Jam" to the MAGWEST festival in San Jose, in full costume playing music from video games.

On June 30, the Bert & Leo jazz duo returned to the Wine Gallery San Carlos, exploring the music of Gordon Sumner aka Sting. 

On Sat June 24 Bert performed classic rock on guitar with Dream Spirit for a block party in Menlo Park.

On Memorial Day May 29 Bert played a Christine McVie tribute on guitar with Dream Spirit, as part of Hillsborough's Memorial Day celebration. 

On Fri May 12 the Bert and Leo duo covered 10 piece bands with just two pairs of hands in a show titled "Earth, Wind, Fire, Blood, Sweat, Tears, and Chicago!" Having just lost Gordon Lightfoot and Bert's first guitar teacher Frank Fullerton, they added a tribute you can hear here:
If You Could Read My Mind

Then Sat May 13, Bert played rock guitar at Woodside's Pioneer Saloon, substituting for the great Jack Foster on harmony vocals and rhythm guitar in Dream Spirit.

On April 21 as you may have heard on KCSM Jazz91, Israel Tanenbaum released a new Tour de Force album "Impressions". Since his most recent previous album was the pre-pandemic "Deep Dives" by Bert and Izzy, we thought April 29 would be a good day for a Bert & Izzy duo at the Wine Gallery.

On Fri Feb 17, Bert's Brew feat. Taylor Goss rocked the Quarter Note Bar & Grill in Sunnyvale. Here's a sample of how Taylor & Bert's guitars take flight: 

This year St. Paddy's Day fell on a Fri (Mar 17). Bert and pianist Leo York dove into the catalogs of Irishmen Van Morrison, U2 and Thin Lizzy.

Also on Sat Feb 11 at the very cozy Wine Gallery, 890 Laurel St. in San Carlos, pianist Leo York and Bert riffed and crooned to a full room preparing for a Happy Valentines Day.

On Nov 3 Bert's Brew was invited back to the Almost Famous Wine Company in Livermore - this time we dove deep into the catalog of songs Bert's college bandmate John Triska has written over the years but never arranged or performed with a band!

John is so fun, here's a video sample:

The September Wildwoodstock backyard festival in Woodside was more fun than any of us could possibly have imagined! And it was nicely recorded! Mixing is in process.

For a huge retirement community in Monterey,  Megan joined Bert's Brew on Aug 21 to perform 'songs from every decade you can remember'. The community includes centenarians, so we started with a tune from 1905!"

Bert's Brew is a rotating roster of great musicians performing in multiple genres.

"On Thursday June 9 we brought two very special sets to the Pioneer Saloon stage in Woodside: first at 8pm North Texas State saxophonist and composer Dave Dolengewicz led a quartet through his blistering jazz originals and some tasty standards, then from 9 to 11 I crooned my way through a preview our Park Lane concert.

Memorial Day weekend we were in Sonoma for a birthday party and Livermore for a wine festival. The setlist celebrated our fallen musical heroes, with some magic moments as Taylor Goss and I spent over ten minutes exploring where Duane and Gregg Allman took Dickey Betts' masterpiece "In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed". Here's a link to our recording. Then while we were vamping on Gregg's Sweet Melissa, somewhere around 3pm the trumpet found my hand for a stirring rendition of Taps. 

On Thu Apr 21, also in Livermore, we did a whole night of originals - many that have not been performed since Take Me Home was released in 1979, and others that have never been heard! It was something of a career retrospective, with Charlie Channel, Spencer Gump, Tim Price, and John Triska! Plus young Stanford guitarist Taylor Goss sittin' in. Check out the video here"

Then on Sat Apr 23, pianist Tim Price, bassist Jeff Saxton, drummer Spencer Gump and I entertained Earth Day celebrants for 4 hours on San Francisco's Ocean Beach! Hope to do that again next year.

26yo drummer Drue Wilson has been kicking (b)ass on tunes twice his age. He certainly did this at the historic Pioneer Saloon in Woodside CA on Feb 26!

Mikel Bee's Four Corners Jazz Ensemble - anything but square - performed two nights at Max's of Burlingame. The recording and video are pretty nice too, tap the poster to listen:

Also at the Pioneer, last December we paid tribute to the man who reinvented electric blues."

recent Press: 

American Songwriter podcaster Adam Lisicky interviewed Bert for Bringin' it Backwards. Bert's weave of tech and music is full of surprises, give it a listen:

"Bringin' it Backwards" Interview