Cassandra Wilson, Vieux Farka Toure, Renee Wilson & The Marcus Shelby Trio Added to Yoshi's SF Lineup

Caruso, a classically-trained vocalist with a master's in electro-acoustic music, brings an affinity for funk, 60s pop, and vocal harmony in order to create melodies "that people can put in their pocket and take home with them." Not your usual frontwoman, she also records and produces the band's albums, provides song arrangements, and tinkers with music technology, using a MIDI controller which connects to her laptop on stage. Jacobsen, a self-taught guitarist and also a prolific songwriter, adds Talking Heads-inspired guitar hooks to the mix as well as his love for wordplay. Drummer Adam Wadenius, in his attention to rhythmic detail, adds subtle, rhythmic shifts "so that the listener won't see what's coming next," which keeps their live sound moving dynamically. And Munoz, Odd Owl's bassist, is also a musical Swiss Army knife, playing guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, lap steel, harmonica, jaw harp, mandolin, and even spoons.

Foxtails Brigade presents an ornate kind of chamber pop, intricate violin and cello arrangements are anchored by Laura Weinbach's intricately played classical guitar and pitch perfect vocals. But underneath the simple melodies lie an impeding darkness, a lyrical landscape populated by shadowy and bizarre characters, rife with hints of rot, aging, and death.

RENEE WILSON & THE MARCUS SHELBY TRIO
Fat Tuesday, Feb 12, 8pm
$22
Tickets on sale Thu, Dec 13, 10am

Proud New Orleans native Reneé Wilson began her professional acting career portraying Raelette Pat Lyle in the Academy Award-winning film Ray, with Jamie Foxx. She has been seen on television, film and stage and recently co-produced and directed Crepe Covered Sidewalks, a documentary film about Hurricane Katrina and her family's experiences with the storm over past five years. Reneé also recently released her debut CD, Voodoo Queen (Foxy As Roz/2010), and "I Was The One" marks the first music video from this album. Currently, Reneé lives in San Francisco and is screening her film at festivals around the country, composing and performing music and working on a tribute piece to one of her biggest influences, Ms. Lena Horne.

CASSANDRA WILSON
Thu-Sat, Feb 21-23
$45 8pm; $36 10pm
Tickets on sale Thu, Dec 13, 10am

Cassandra Wilson is a jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. Described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack who has expanded the playing field" by incorporating blues, country and folk music into her work. She began playing piano at six, guitar by the age of twelve and was working as a vocalist by the mid-'70s, singing a wide variety of material. After moving to New York City in the early '80s, Cassandra met saxophonist Steve Coleman and became one of the founding members of the M-Base Collective. She signed with Blue Note Records in 1992 and released a landmark album titled Blue Light 'Til Dawn (Blue Note/1993), which would pave the way for a new generation of jazz singers seeking an approach and repertoire that challenges the supremacy of the American Standard songbook. Wilson has continued interpreting in fresh and creative ways vintage blues, country and folk music up until the present day. Her awards include: two GRAMMYs, theDjango D'Or, The Edison Music Award, a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail, and the 2012 Echo Award for Jazz. She also performed one of the leading roles in Wynton Marsalis' Blood on the Fields (Sony/1997), the first jazz work to receive a Pulitzer Prize.

All performances are at Yoshi's San Francisco, 1330 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94115. For tickets and more information (or to make dinner reservations) call 415-655-5600 or visit www.yoshis.com/sanfrancisco.