PAST PERFORMERS
To view a previous SLOfoks artist, click on the link called 'past performers.' You'll find a list of our recent performers and links to more information about them.

Past Performers

Photo of Laurence Juber, at Castoro Cellars, June 21, 2008
by Paul McCloskey
BAKA BEYOND
THE BAKA FOREST PEOPLE are hunter-gatherers from the central African rainforest. They mainly live in South-Eastern Cameroon, but a few also live in Congo and Gabon. Sometimes referred to as Pygmies, they are generally shorter than their Bantu neighbours, but are experts in forest life. They are reknowned throughout Africa for their hunting, musical and dancing skills.

Music is central to their lives. As soon as a baby is able to clap it is encouraged to participate in all the communal music-making. There is music for ritualistic purposes, music for passing on knowledge, stories and the history of the Baka people, and music for pure enjoyment

Martin Cradick & Su Hart of Baka Beyond have been regularly visiting and working with a group of Baka near the Congo-Cameroon border where their lives are changing rapidly. In the time since 1992 that they started working with the Baka from a small village called Banana, they have seen many changes. In 1998 electricity arrived in Moloundu, the nearest town, bringing music and television (mainly French chat shows) to the bars. In 2000 Banana was a tiny village with a few mud huts and Baka mongolus. Now there are several shops, and an influx of Congolese refugees has put extra pressure on the forest.

Baka Beyond Press Release 2008

"If there has to be a definition of world music, this is it!"
Andy Kershaw

Baka Beyond 2008
After 15 years of mixing African and Celtic music in equal measures Baka Beyond have become one of the finest danceable bands, creating the sound of the global village.

Not just a touring band, Baka Beyond have a unique relationship with their inspiration - the Baka Pygmies of Cameroon - sending royalties to help their development projects, and even touring with Baka musicians.

Baka Beyond was founded in 1992 after British musicians Martin Cradick and Su Hart had visited the Baka Pygmies of the Cameroon rainforests after seeing a TV documentary. So inspired were they by their magical rhythms and melodies that they recorded an album "Spirit of the Forest" under the name Baka Beyond which pushed them into worldwide recognition. In order to make sure that the Baka got their fair return for their compositions they also founded the charity, "Global Music Exchange". So started this very positive African - European collaboration.

Since these early beginnings when the term "world music" barely existed, Baka Beyond has evolved into a multicultural, dynamic live stage show and album sales top a quarter of a million copies. Band members hail from Brittany, Cameroon, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Ghana as well as Britain. Each musician brings their own influence and talent to the music creating a unique spectacle and honoring a lesson learned from the Baka people, "everyone to be listened to".

Baka Beyond's years of touring has paid off. The energy of their thoroughly uplifting and seamless blend of African rhythm and Celtic melody defies anybody to sit still. In the summer of 2007 they headlined Edmonton Folk Festival and wowed the 15,000 strong crowd, most of whom were new to the magic of Baka Beyond.

Baka Beyond
PEPPINO D'AGOSTINO & GUEST ARTISTS
Photograph by Paul McCloskey - Peppino D'Agostino
August 2007 ~ SLOfolks Concert at Castoro Cellars~

PeppinoD'Agostino's personal and artistic journeys have certainly been out of the ordinary. He first discovered the acoustic guitar when he was 10 years old and heard his older cousin play in church. His cousin gave him a few lessons, but soon he began teaching himself. Through his teen-age years and into his 20s, he studied all kinds of Irish, Brazilian, folk and classical music. He also absorbed pop and rock music of the 1970s, including the work of progressive rockers like Genesis, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Gentle Giant and Mike Oldfield. At age 23, while serving in the Italian army, he actually went AWOL one night to catch a concert by some acoustic guitarists.

D'Agostino's first album, 'Bluerba,' was released in Italy in 1981. It was a collaboration with Enzo Ponzio and Alfredo Morabito. 'Silk and Steel,' an anthology/collaboration with other Italian guitarists, followed in 1983. In 1985, D'Agostino met his future wife in San Francisco and decided to immigrate to the United States.

"I was a struggling street musician. I also painted houses and sold vegetables to support myself. I started playing on the streets of San Francisco in 1985. I played on Fisherman's Wharf and I also started playing in clubs," said D'Agostino.

An agent saw D'Agostino play and helped him get gigs, which led to a recording contract. He began releasing a string of solo and collaborative albums, including the soundtrack to the Italian film 'Ardena' after director Luca Barbareschi happened to catch one of his performances. The years of struggle finally paid off.

Collaborations are an important part of D'Agostino's career. In addition to his work with Stef Burns, he has performed with the likes of classical guitar master David Tanenbaum of the San Francisco Conservatory and the children's choir VOENA.

KARL PERAZZO
Karl Perazzo, born and raised in San Francisco's Mission District went on to play with the best in Pop, Jazz, Rock and Latin music.

Perazzo, the self-taught musician is currently playing with the New Carlos Santana Band.

He has recorded 5 albums, the last one Shaman being a 1x Grammy winner and the previous one Supernatural being an 11x Grammy award winner.
TERRY MILLER
Honorary Doctorates of Music at the University of Minn., University of Colorado at Boulder and Monterey Peninsula Collage, all of which included courses in beginner music theory, ensemble work, ear & interval training, reading for bass clef, upright and electric bass instruction.

7 year Yamaha clinician with Manfredo Fest.

First year instructor at the (Jazz School) Berkeley CA.

Former instructor for Lamorinda Summer LASF Jazz Camp, current staff instructor for the LASF school district, current instructor for The Hill-barn Theater Rock Camp with Greg Sudmeyer "Foster City", (etc.)