The Tenderloin Museum presents Free Press Music in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District.
Thursday September 22, 2022
Performance 6-7pm; Block Party from 5-8pm
Dodge Place, San Francisco, CA 94102
Free! Outdoors!
Free Press Music is a Filipina American led San Francisco based music collective with roots in soul, jazz, blues and improvisation. Vocalist/songwriter Christie Aida and her group conjure a deep and dynamic repertoire that constellates sounds from around the globe. Singing in Spanish, Tagalog, English and French, Aida deftly interweaves her wide ranging influences to create a delightful and surprising mix of classics, deep cuts, and original numbers. Those originals often are informed by her sensitivity and advocacy for community organizing, social justice, and housing as a human right. As such, the stories, struggles, and everyday life experiences of Tenderloin and SOMA residents, in particular Filipinos and other communities of color, crop up in FPM’s music; for example, the narrative of the Tenderloin Museum’s physical home, the Cadillac Hotel, is the subject of a song “Reality House.” The song celebrates the residents and the history of the Cadillac, including one resident who practices harm reduction by using Narcan regularly to help others in crisis.
The notion of the “collective” also features prominently in Free Press Music’s artistic practice, and for each performance the group assembles from an impressive and extensive roster of local musicians, poets, and improvisers. For Free Press Music’s Sounds of the Tenderloin show at Dodge Alley, Christie Aida will be joined by frequent collaborators Dave Mihaly (percussion/guitar) and Billy White (piano). Mihaly is known for his drum and percussion work with Jolie Holland and the SF improvisational collective Mushroom; he is also a bandleader, composer and songwriter for the Shimmering Leaves, and has also collaborated on songwriter for Free Press Music (www.davemihaly.com). White is a keyboardist, composer, producer, electronic musician and songwriter. Born in San Francisco, he graduated from UCLA's jazz studies program, where he studied under Kenny Burrell and earned a B.A. in Ethnomusicology, and has since accumulated a long list of performing and recording credits collaborating with a who’s who in jazz, R&B, and beyond; White also composes for film, musical theater, and in 2010 released an album of original jazz compositions (www.billywhitemusic.com).
This performance is one of several Thursday night activations organized by the TLCBD to transform Dodge Place, a neglected alleyway in the Tenderloin, into a healthy and aesthetically positive community experience for nearby families and seniors. These Thursday happenings are pilot activities for more permanent community-led physical improvements including a living green wall, planter boxes, murals, and colorful design and lighting elements. Join us and the residents/neighbors of Dodge Place to reclaim this alleyway for the community, socialize with friends, and hear the stirring, eclectic sounds of Free Press Music!
All are welcome at Dodge Place on Thursday, September 22nd from 5-8pm, with the musical performance from 6-7pm. Free to attend; food & drink by Shovels Bar & Grille available for purchase.
Tenderloin Museum’s Sounds of the Tenderloin series animates the neighborhood’s undersung cultural history through live performances that explore, deepen, and complicate participants’ understanding of Tenderloin history while supporting local working musicians and creating accessible cultural activities for the neighborhood residents. Support for this event and TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series generously provided by Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.