Inspired by many world musical traditions, the pickPocket ensemble inhabit a country all their own. Original and fresh, the pickPocket ensemble create a contemporary chamber café music that moves both body and soul.
"The band's meditative sound has been described as 'cafe music without borders.'
Truth is that you would be hard-pressed the world over to find cafe music of this quality!”
-Dai Woosnam, Folkworld
Special opening set by Doralice!
Tickets are $30 GA, $25 for OCA members. OCA is wheelchair accessible. Refreshments for sale, art gallery open during intermission.
From the street corner to the concert hall, the pickPocket ensemble have created a unique and original contemporary chamber cafe music. Based in Northern California, we have toured internationally and released 6 CD's of original music. Our music has been featured in several films and on NPR and public television.
To listen to the pickPocket ensemble is to embark on a journey. Speak to audience members after a performance: one will have been to Bogota, one to Prague, one to Paris. Yet for all its wide-ranging inspirations, thepickPocket ensemble's music remains intensely personal and immediately engaging, an invitation to listen in on an intimate conversation.
Rick Corrigan
(accordion, piano, composition) has been an electronic music composer and film composer, with several scores for experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage to his credit, and has produced live film and sound performances with filmmaker Paul Lundahl at San Francisco's Exploratorium and SF's Cinematheque.
Chloe Allen
(violin) has performed in a wide variety of styles including classical, folk, pop, rock, jazz, hip-hop, metal, circus, burlesque, punk, and Gypsy Swing. She has played with the Albany (NY) Symphony, the Binghamton (NY) Philharmonic, pop music group Here Here, and is a member of the SF Blind Cafe Orchestra.
Yates BrownYates' guitar, banjo, bass, and sitar playing appear on over 30 recordings, including 7 solo albums, with live performances including Spoleto Festival USA. He performs regularly with the traditional Arabic orchestra ASWAT and has toured with progressive rock group Ventid. Currently, he composes for and performs with the new chamber ensemble Doralice.
John Slattery(percussion), a Chicago native, has worked in wide-ranging musical settings for over 25 years, appearing on records and tours with pop, hard rock /metal, jazz / fusion and blues groups. Notable performances include those with Cyclone Temple and Tools of Ignorance. He is thrilled to bring his diverse experience to the pickPocket ensemble.
Colin Williams(double bass) grew up listening to his mother sing jazz standards as she rocked him to sleep. After picking up the bass in high school, he moved to New Orleans to study music. Around midnight, you could see him lugging his upright on the streetcar back to the dorms. Evacuating just before Hurricane Katrina, Colin now lives in Nob Hill and teaches music at the Bay School of San Francisco in addition to starting a band with the grandson of Clifford Brown. But you can still see him lugging his bass home on the cable cars, humming Gershwin under his breath.Matthew SoutherMatthew Souther began playing trumpet at age 11, and has toured with indie folk group Il Gato. He studied at Bennington College, where he composed a mini opera, song cycles and miscellaneous chamber music, and played in the student brass quartet.
Yates Brown
Yates' guitar, banjo, bass, and sitar playing appear on over 30 recordings, including 7 solo albums, with live performances including Spoleto Festival USA. He performs regularly with the traditional Arabic orchestra ASWAT and has toured with progressive rock group Ventid. Currently, he composes for and performs with the new chamber ensemble Doralice.
John Slattery
(percussion), a Chicago native, has worked in wide-ranging musical settings for over 25 years, appearing on records and tours with pop, hard rock /metal, jazz / fusion and blues groups. Notable performances include those with Cyclone Temple and Tools of Ignorance. He is thrilled to bring his diverse experience to the pickPocket ensemble.
Kurt Ribak
Kurt is a graduate of the Berklee College of music, where he developed his love of jazz and composition. His band the Kurt Ribak Trio has performed at Yoshi's and SFJazz, as well as the Freight & Salvage, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, and others. His recordings can be heard on KCSM-FM, KPFA, KKUP, PRI, and other jazz stations.