Oakland Jazz Choir live at the Hillside Club

The has been singing and bringing innovative, and unique vocal jazz to the Bay Area since 1992. Oakland born and bred, we are one of just a few community jazz choirs in the nation singing cool original, and standard jazz material in a distinctive choral jazz setting.

We are excited to be back at the beautiful Hillside Club in collaboration with vocalist, Stephanie Crawford!

Stephanie Crawford is an internationally acclaimed singer, and that rare bird: a black trans vocal musician in the exceedingly straight jazz world. Born in 1942, she grew up in Detroit, Michigan during the Golden Age of modern jazz. Always a lover of music, she did not, however, sing in public until she was 36, after working on a Chrysler assembly line and as a short-order cook, and earning a bachelor’s degree in painting from Wayne State University. Along the way, at age 26, she also underwent a new “male to female gender reassignment surgery” offered by the University of Michigan.

Having studied with renowned bop pianist Barry Harris in New York, she migrated to Paris for several years, performing and teaching at prestigious schools of music, various festivals, and venues such as The Duc des Lombards, The Sunset, New Morning, and a host of other establishments, winning the Django D’Or award for Best International Jazz Vocalist. In New York, she has performed in such famed venues as Wigstock, The Pyramid, Sweet Basil, The Blue Note, Jazzmania, and Barry Harris Jazz Cultural Theatre, among others. She is a sublime interpreter of the American and Brazilian songbook, performing in the classic jazz vocal tradition of Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, and Betty Carter.

General Admission: $30 ($33.85 on eventbrite)

Students and Seniors: $20 ($23.18 on eventbrite)

Hillside Club Members: $15 ($17.85 on eventbrite, with promo code). If you need the code contact Ellen at [email protected]

Children under 12 are admitted for free.

Doors open at 7pm