This is one of my favorite bands, and they’re perfect for a place like Servino’s Ristorante. They have a really nice playlist which is jazzy and romantic for dinner, and transitions gradually through the evening to latin/ska/salsa that will get you on your feet as you party into the night.

This video is available in various qualities (right-click or ctrl-click to download to your hard drive):

Low bandwidth – Like for your iPhone – 21MB

Medium bandwidth – Like at the Acri or other local hotspot – 32MB

High bandwidth – Like for your iPad – 62MB

Max bandwidth – Like for burning to DVD/Blu-Ray – 275MB

These are all H.264 MPEG-4 files. You can also copy and paste the Flash player above on your website (just click on the video to play, and click once more on the video to get the embed code).

This video is also available on YouTube.

50+ Wineries, food sampling from restaurants vendors, Live Music from The Soulshine Blues Band, Angel Island shore with breathtaking views of Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco skyline, Tiburon, Sausalito and Belvedere Island.

For more information see:
Vino Moda Save Angel Island Wine Festival 2010.

This turned out to be a wonderful wine festival. Despite the very long line early on, things seemed to work out very well. Most people showed up before the event started, but once they got under way with letting people in, the line moved swiftly.

There was plenty of wine through the day. Only a couple of vendors seemed to run out. Note to vendors: don’t ever let this happen.

The weather was amazing again this weekend. Thanks for letting it rain during the week between opening day and the wine festival!

Also, the oyster were really good. They’re the same oysters they serve at the cantina at Ayala Cove.

I’m not sure how much money was raised for the island, but I hope it was a lot. The island is definitely worth it!

The Sausalito Art Festival was a total blast. My favorite moment was watching The English Beat perform. Dave Wakeling and the rest of the band can really put on a show. Somehow they were able to manage a mashup of their hit Sooner or Later along with Tom Petty‘s Free Falling and Pearl Jam‘s Better Man. Tainted Love was also a lot of fun for the 80s fans, as was Night Ranger, while Servino‘s regular Michael LaMacchia performed on the artist stage.

Monday was the Heroes of Woodstock 40th Anniversary Tribute with Tom Constanten, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Canned Heat, and Jefferson Starship.

I was a little disappointed with the food, although the crab cakes were really good, and so was the wine and champagne.

And of course the art was definitely worth spending a day or two to go through and see it all.

As for me, I was too busy enjoying the work of others, so continuing in that spirit, please enjoy the above slideshow of photos submitted to Flickr from various attending photographers.

See you all at the Sausalito Art Festival 2010!

The next party is Saturday, July 18, 2009, from 7pm to 9pm!

Unfortunately, there will be no opera night in August, but opera nights will return again in September.

Be sure to check out her review here.

And check out Paula Bradman’s website.

Sorry, but this post only has 1 picture, taken from my iPhone, and doesn’t come close to doing the lovely Paula Bradman justice. Paula Bradman has more pictures on her website. I hope to get more pictures soon when she performs at Servino’s Ristorante in Tiburon this Saturday, April 4 – 7:30pm to 10:30pm.

Paula Bradman is on of my favorite regular Jazz performers in San Francisco. It’s always a wonderful delight to find that she’s playing at a restaurant where you can make an evening of good food, drink and entertainment.

My first experience with Paula Bradman was about a year ago in front of Servino’s restaurant during the Friday Night Tiburon Street Fair. The street fair in Tiburon, always has a lot going on…and lots of kids running around. It’s fun, but a bit distracting if you’re looking to enjoy the jazz music.

Fortunately, Paula Bradman performs regularly indoors, where I’ve seen her a few times, and really enjoyed her performance.

After her last performance, she handed me a demo CD of her jazz music for review. She did so with the caveat that the first song on the CD was something she didn’t like and wanted to delete (a cover of the Rolling Stones, “Satisfaction”).

I’ve heard her perform Satisfaction live and really like it. However, when Paula Bradman performs, she works the crowd, and provides a specific mood to fit the environment throughout the evening. Being in synch and even better, driving the mood, to me, is key to a jazz performance, and Paula Bradman consistently executes this brilliantly. My guess, is that Paula doesn’t feel that this recording of Satisfaction correctly sets up what she wants the rest of the CD to be. I can’t disagree with this, but would say that it would be a shame to delete this song as opposed to providing it as an extra or bonus track at the end.

The rest of the jazz CD is an absolute delight, as expected by anyone who has seen Paula Bradman live. It lacks the visual feast that is the beauty of Paula performing, and of course the intimacy and interaction with the audience, but makes up for that with the benefit you get from being able to listen and relax to the familiar tracks you can re-listen to over and over…which I find perfect for sailing on San Francisco Bay or hanging on the boat at Angel Island.

Paula Bradman is backed on her CD by a team of talented musicians consisting of Michael Smolens (piano and electric piano), Fred Randolph (acoustic and electric basses), Eric Crystal (tenor, alto, and soprano saxes), and Alan Hall (drums).

It may not be as extensive as the Catalina Jazz Festival in Avalon, but a Paula Bradman performance in Tiburon is a much more special evening not to be missed.