SF/Arts Curator Insight

This 14-piece female big band appears at Yoshi’s to celebrate and explore the compositions and contributions of trombonist Melba Liston and pianist Mary Lou Williams, both also arrangers, composers, and black women considered geniuses of jazz who were largely unrecognized for their musical accomplishments. Melba’s Kitchen’s mission is to right that wrong. SFSU’s Dr. Dee Spencer says of the band, “[they are] so astonishing - they are so swinging.”