This summer, Throckmorton Theatre introduces its newest concert series, Twilight Concerts, featuring acclaimed local and national musicians. The Thursday night summer concert series will replace the Throckmorton’s popular Wednesday Noon Concerts for the month of July. Performances are free to the public and will take place in the theatre’s intimate Tivoli room.
Twilight Concert with Le Jazz Hot Quartet
July 5, 2018 at 6:30pm
Musician Bios
Evan Price is a versatile violinist and composer best known for his work with The Turtle Island Quartet and The Hot Club of San Francisco. He studied violin performance and music theory at The Cleveland Institute of Music and holds a BM in violin performance from the Berklee College of Music. An accomplished player of various non-classical genres, he paid early dues as a contest fiddler, winning first place at the U.S. Scottish Fiddling Championship, the Kentucky State Fiddling Championship, and in the 18 and under division of the Canadian Old-Time Fiddle Championship. He also performed with many of his fiddling heroes including Stephane Grappelli, Vassar Clements, and Johnny Gimble. After joining the TIQ in 1997, he spent ten years touring extensively in North America and Europe and recorded five acclaimed CD’s with the group, two of which received GRAMMY® awards for Classical Crossover Album of the Year. During his tenure, the quartet also performed with many notable collaborators including clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, The Billy Taylor Trio, The Ying Quartet, and guitarists Sergio and Odair Assad. He continues to make his name as a leading voice in gypsy jazz, primarily through his nineteen plus years of performing and recording with the HCSF. He also devotes a considerable portion of his time teaching aspiring string players the art of improvisation, doing so in venues ranging from summer camps to the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to his playing and teaching, Evan has contributed compositions and arrangements to both afore-mentioned ensembles and to other groups as well, including Chanticleer, The San Francisco Girls’ Chorus, and the New Century Chamber Orchestra, with whom he also occasionally performs. In 2016, he premiered his Concerto for Jazz Violin and Orchestra with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and released his debut solo album, “Dialogues,” in 2017 on Azica Records. He lives in Mill Valley, CA, with his wife and daughter.
Isabelle Fontaine was born and raised in the French countryside with the voices of Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet, and Yves Montand ringing in her ears. Growing up, she spent endless hours listening to the family’s old records and although she had no intention of becoming a professional musician, she knew she loved singing. During her college years, her life took an unexpected turn when she joined a group of friends and started performing as a vocalist. She abandoned her plans of teaching English and instead started a career, singing and playing the snare drum throughout France, with trips to Spain and over the Alps to Switzerland. During this period, she developed an unconditional love for the Ladies and the Dukes of the Big Band Era, and the great composers of the American Songbook. She was eventually drawn to the gypsy swing of Django Reinhardt and The Hot Club of France, the perfect union of her French cultural heritage and the world of Jazz. Somewhere along the way, she picked up the guitar and applied her impeccable sense of rhythm to the stringed instrument. In 2004 she moved with her family to the San Francisco Bay Area and joined the HCSF in 2009.
A native son of Fresno in California’s central valley, Sam Rocha has been playing string bass since he was introduced to it at age 16. By his senior year of high school, he had received awards for outstanding musicianship from the Reno Jazz Festival and the Fresno City College Jazz Fest and was also offered scholarships by the CalArts and Berklee schools of music. At this time he was leading a youth jazz band known as “The Raisin Babies Jazz Band”, a group of West Coast youngsters pursuing the tradition of New Orleans jazz. Sam has since performed at major jazz festivals all across the United States and Canada. In addition to studying jazz on the acoustic bass, Sam has also extensively studied jazz tuba and sousaphone. He currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area where he is a free lance musician. He also travels with the highly esteemed Blue Street Jazz Band, playing jazz festivals and offering clinics for aspiring young jazz musicians.
Paul Mehling began playing guitar at age six after hearing the Beatles on TV, galvanized into the guitar-era. Steeped in a home full of classic jazz recordings yet keenly aware of pop music he was drawn to the music of Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli. Took up various instruments – mandolin, violin, tenor & plectrum banjo as well as bass (stringed and brass) with varying degrees of success. Began his professional career at 14, playing in any type of situation allowable from the Santa Cruz Symphony to Jake Stock’s Abalone Stompers. Appeared on Austin City Limits with Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks, numerous other appearances as well, toured internationally with Dan Hicks and the Acoustic Warriors. Founder of the Quintet of the Hot Club of San Francisco with 14 CDs in release, celebrating 30 years in 2019. International Association of Jazz Eductors award winner, Paul also has numerous instructional DVDs on Gypsy Style guitar on HomespunTapes. Dubbed the “Godfather of American gypsy jazz” by PBS for his early contributions to spreading this style of guitar playing through his private lessons and instructional DVDs, etc.
