Your Favorite Beatles Hits: A Jazz Performance

Get ready to groove on a fresh twist on many of the Fab Four’s classics with the Beatles Jazz Connection. Celebrate their most iconic tunes spun through a kaleidoscope of musical styles. Think bluesy vibes, rock energy, slick fusion, funky grooves, vibrant Brazilian rhythms—and yes, plenty of that smooth, soulful Jazz. These bold reinterpretations celebrate just how timeless and endlessly adaptable The Beatles’ music is. 

We all grew up loving their songs and the great music. The songs seemed so simple and were fun to sing along with.  It’s amazing how deep the musicality was and the musical evolution The Beatles experienced over a few years was unlike that of any other group.   

So, here’s to enjoying these bold new interpretations!

Jeff Sanford on sax, clarinet and flute 

Bay Area aficionados appreciate Jeff as one of the hardest working horn players around. He has played gigs around the world with Castles and Concerts in Egypt, Cambodia, Ireland, Austria, France, the Caribbean, with the SF and Napa Valley Symphonies, and has played with Billy Valentine, Regina Carter, Perry Como, Eddie Fisher, and Tootie Heath. Locally he is known for his work as leader of the “Jeff Sanford Cartoonjazz Band.” He has been playing and teaching in the Bay Area for almost fifty years including teaching big band at the JCC in Palo Alto as well as Bay Area wide private lessons. Jeff enjoys all genres of music on saxes, clarinet, flute and has a vast library of arrangements. 

The spark that lit a fire for Jazz in Christian Beining at the age of 17 in his native town Freiburg, Germany, came from the guitar of Wes Montgomery. From that inspiration he went on to study guitar first at the Swiss Jazz School in Bern. He then later refined his playing at the Berklee School of Music in Boston and the Musicians Institute’s GIT (Guitar Institute of Technology) in Hollywood. Further studies were with Ted Greene, Joe Diorio, as well as bass teacher, Bob Magnusson.
Christian was on the faculty of the Musicians Institute in Hollywood for eight years and taught music clinics in France, Germany, and Brazil. He has recorded and performed with many well-known musicians like Randy Porter, Bob Magnusson, Jim Plank, Harvie Swartz, John Guerin, Frank Gambale, Mike Shapiro, Putter Smith, Carlos Niehues, Lorca Hart, and currently with Paul McCandless of the legendary jazz group “Oregon”. 

Kendrick Freeman has a background in both drum set and hand drums, having studied with American drumset artists and musicians from Ghana, Congo and the Caribbean, with an emphasis on the traditional music of Haiti. His flexibility has allowed him to work in various settings with singer/songwriters, jazz and new acoustic artists, and in the dance world. He has toured and played with Peter Rowan, Alison Brown, David Jacobs-Strain, Joe Craven and Rob Ickes among others and has worked with Blanche Brown’s Haitian dance company Group Petit La Croix, and Portsha Jefferson’s Oakland-based Rara Tou Limen. 

Kendrick was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant (1980) for study with drum set artist George Marsh. He has also received support from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts as part of his 11-year apprenticeship with Haitian master drummer Daniel Brevil. Aside from The Beatles’ Jazz project, recent bookings include composer Mariah Parker’s ensemble, Parisian singer Mimi Pirard’s Sonomusette, quartets with Ricardo Peixoto and Brian Pardo, the original bands Wolf Run and Trimates, a quartet with Lowell Levinger backing up Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and freelance work in jazz, Latin jazz and roots Americana settings. 

Tom Shader is an acoustic bass player raised in the Detroit area. As a youth he played classical music and studied the violin, viola, cello, string bass, and voice. His early professional career was dedicated to playing the electric bass, with which Tom explored many of the rock/pop genres. Since jazz and the acoustic bass have become Tom’s passion, he has had the privilege of performing with many fine musicians including Steve Allen, Henry Mancini, and Michael Bublé. In addition to being a mainstay at many North Bay and San Francisco jazz clubs, Tom has made regular appearances at some of the area’s popular jazz festivals, including Russian River, Cotati, Benicia, Monterey, Mammoth Lakes, Morro Bay, and the Sacramento Jubilee.