Howard Wiley: California Love

Having been mentored by Bay Area great Jules Broussard and sharing formative bandstand experiences with the likes of Clark Terry, Jason Moran, Orrin Evans, and Lauryn Hill, Berkeley-born saxophonist and composer Howard Wiley is a constant presence on SFJAZZ stages and venues around the country as both a bandleader and collaborator with former Tower of Power and Santana organist Chester Thompson, Ethio-folk vocalist Meklit, and as drummer with jump-blues chanteuse Lavay Smith’s Red Hot Skillet Lickers. He’s released a trio of masterful solo recordings, including two that were inspired by Dr. Harry Orster’s famous field recordings of spirituals performed by Angola Penitentiary inmates in the 1950s, and has performed SFJAZZ Hotplate tributes to Ornette Coleman and Coleman Hawkins.