L i v i n g    in    W~a~v~e~s

Manhole Music is an independent record label formed on the Stanford campus in 1979 to release the first pressing of Take Me Home, a vinyl album now collected as a psychedelic folk classic. The label has grown to include a dozen artists in jazz, folk and psychedelic rock. 

Circle back! 

Rolling Stone Magazine chose a duo from this box set to premiere in April, and in May Relix premiered the FOBs backing Bob Weir on "Jack Playin' Jane" - a 28 minute weave of Bob's and my guitars through Bob's compositions Jack Straw and Playin' in the Band, ending with Dylan's Queen Jane Approximately.

All 22 tracks are now streaming worldwide on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Pandora etc.

To find all the details plus high-quality downloads, visit ManholeMusic.com

Deep Dives by Bert & Izzy

Before the pandemic, a latin jazz quintet I co-led with esteemed Puerto Rican pianist/producer Izzy Tanenbaum brought 8 entirely different shows to a dinner theater in Northern CA. With the energy of latin and the harmonic palette of jazz, we honored songwriters ranging from Joan Baez to Stevie Wonder to Sting to Leon Russell to Izzy himself. Highlights have been collected into a live album available as CDs and downloads at ManholeMusic.com, and available for streaming on all major platforms.

Bert & Izzy Videos from Mar 6 2020   (our last Deep Dive concert before the pandemic)

Most people who know about Herb Alpert think of a kind of smooth mariachi he created in the early 60s, inspired by music he heard at a Tijuana bullfight. But he also created the most successful independent record label in history, with a roster that will blow your mind! Below you can hear our renditions of two tunes released on A&M Records (stands for Alpert and Moss).

Joan Baez' Diamonds and Rust

Sting's Shape of My Heart

Bert's Brew:Stanford and Psychedelia

There’s a current in music that arguably got its start on the Stanford campus in 1960, when Ken Kesey was a grad student there. This concert, performed to a packed Campbell Recital Hall on the Stanford campus in Oct 2019, laid out the evidence for that argument. The performance featured the work of amazing Stanford visual artists projected on the wall behind us. Tapping the photo opens to our mid-concert rendition of Strawberry Fields Forever, with the aerial photographs of Stanford classmate George Steinmetz.

Bert & Izzy's  Deep Dive series:

The Wonder born Stevland

Stevie Wonder survived an incredibly difficult childhood to become one of the most successful songwriters of all time. So many of his tunes sound great in a latin style that Izzy and I had a hard time keeping the show under two hours. Stevie's vocal style is nearly untouchable, and Joan Baez who attended this show whispered to me it was a bit odd watching a white boy try to sing his songs. But what goes around comes around - the next night she went to the Stones concert where Mick Jagger was doing much the same. And the hit single Stevie wrote in 1965 - Uptight (Everything's Alright) - was inspired by Satisfaction!

Latin Jazz Standards

My latin jazz partner Izzy Tanenbaum has the deepest rolodex of latin artists that I know. For this performance of latin jazz standards, we were joined by Julius Melendez (from the Santana band) on trumpet, Carlos Ramirez on vocals and hand percussion, and Hazel Bermudez on vocals, along with the latin sax & flute specialist Tod Dickow (who our friend Smith Dobson was kind enough to introduce to us). 

For video of our Latin Jazz Standards show tap here

The Blue Note Catalog

Blue Note Records was started by two Ashkenazi Jews who escaped Berlin in the late 1930s and settled in New York City with the mission of finding the heart of jazz, which they found among African-Americans who were writing their own music. Starting in the late 40s with the great Thelonius Monk, they amassed a catalog of bebop, hard bop and post bop recordings that are still growing in popularity a half a century later. SmithDobson V, having recently performed an all-Monk show at SFJazz, was primed to join us for this show - tap here for three of the Monk tunes we performed

Carlos Santana

Another of our heroes who got his start in Tijuana, Carlos grew up playing a bit of mariachi fiddle and a lot of R&B guitar. After following his parents to Northern CA, he was discovered by Bill Graham and catapulted into worldwide fame with his band's unforgettable performance at Woodstock. 

For video of our Santana show tap here

Latinbaum - Izzy's tree of latin jazz

Our first Latin Deep Dive focused on Izzy's own journey from Puerto Rico to Colombia and Boston and now - lucky for us - to the Bay Area. Featuring Charlie Channel on bass, Tio Pabon on congas, and the incredible Curt Moore on drums. 

Bert's brew featuring Tommy Occhiuto

In 1959, tenor saxophonist Lester Young died from "alcohol use disorder". His bandmate Charles Mingus wrote an elegy, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. Tommy blew our minds and got radio airplay with this beautiful rendition we performed at a place called SharePath. This live recording also features Chris Cortez on drums, Charlie Channel on bass, Jansen Verplank on keys, and yours truly on guitar.

Channeling Chet Baker

In 1950, a 20 year old Army Band trumpeter living in SF's Presidio and playing after hours in the tenderloin was asked by Charlie Parker to fill in for Miles Davis on Parker's west coast gigs. The rest is history.

Tap Doug Klein's photo to play video:

Dark Side of the Moon performed by a trio

2017's total solar eclipse inspired the trio of guitarist Bert Keely, drummer Larry Marcus, and pianist Roger Bourland to perform Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon from start to finish with nothing pre-recorded but an alarm clock and a cash register. Here's a sample of how it was done live at Angelica's Bistro in Redwood City CA. 

Photo by Lex Passaris (from the Hollywood show)

Deep Tracks

In addition to albums released by various ensembles at manholemusic.com,  you can find several solo recordings by just Bert:

Cinema Paradiso (Main Theme)

Jimi Hendrix' Angel

Steely Dan's Black Cow