Spirit of ’75 series continues with Ken Okada Group

Kuumbwa Jazz is continuing to celebrate 50 years of bringing eclectic music and cultural performances to Santa Cruz with its Spirit of ’75 concert series. This Thursday, the venue will play host to the Ken Okada Group.

Born in New York and raised in Brazil and Japan, bassist Okada began playing bass for the Keio Light Music Society at Keio University in Japan while himself a student at the University of Tokyo. He moved to the Bay Area in 2002 and now resides in San Jose and continues to perform a fusion of American and Japanese jazz while also taking inspiration from video game soundtracks and contemporary big bands. After jamming with 13-year-old drum prodigy YOYOKA, Okada decided to assemble a band of his own. Consisting of guitarist Hristo Vitchev, Grammy-nominated pianist Murray Low and Grammy-winning saxophonist Ben Torres, the Ken Okada Group have put out two albums and will be performing at Kuumbwa Jazz with YOYOKA on drums.

The concert is 7 p.m. Thursday at Kuumbwa Jazz, 320 Cedar St. Doors open at 6. Tickets are $19.75 at the door and in advance and $10 for students. For more information, go to KuumbwaJazz.org.

Keith Greeninger, Nina Gerber join forces

Songwriter Keith Greeninger and guitarist Nina Gerber will perform together for an intimate show at Kuumbwa Jazz Saturday.

Based out of Santa Cruz, Greeninger plays a mix of Americana, folk and soul, has performed at events such as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado and the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas and has had songs played on KPIG. He records music and produces for others at his Wind River Studios in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

He will be joined by Gerber, who began her career by performing alongside San Francisco folk singer Kate Wolf. She has played guitar for a variety of other musicians including Nanci Griffith, Karla Bonoff, Greg Brown, Chris Webster and more. If hearing the combination of Greeninger’s words and Gerber’s music is not enough, the concert will also feature a performance by the Wolf Jett Duo, a pair consisting of Chris Jones and Jon Payne whose music is a blend of Ry Cooder and The Black Keys.

The concert is 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Kuumbwa Jazz, 320 Cedar St. Doors open at 6:45. Tickets are $38.59 for regular general admission and $59.79 for Gold Circle members. For more information, got to KuumbwaJazz.org.

FELTON

Old 97’s hitchhike to Felton for concert

Even amid country music’s low points, alt-country has been there to remind people that there is a lot more to the genre than just “Hey, I got a truck.” This subgenre has a pretty large fanbase in Santa Cruz County where alt-country pioneers Old 97’s will be coming to Felton Music Hall Saturday.

Formed in the wake of the early ’90s Nashville boom, Dallas quartet Old 97’s were part of a movement to bring country back to its roots with more traditional instrumentation and themes that spoke to the working class. Their 1994 debut “Hitchhike to Rhome” brought a blend of folk and rock music and a cover of Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” that has remained a live staple for the band. The band kept on trucking through the ’90s and up to the present day, scoring top 10 adult album alternative hits with “Murder (or a Heart Attack)” and “King of All the World” and having songs featured in shows like “Scrubs” and “Veronica Mars.” They also played the alien rock band Bzermikitokolok and the Knowheremen in “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” with Kevin Bacon singing lead on the song “Here It Is Christmastime.” Their latest album, 2024’s “American Primitive,” features appearances by Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Scott McCaughey of The Minus 5. Opening will be Grey DeLisle, a singer-songwriter and voice actress extraordinaire whose voice has been heard on everything from “The Simpsons” to “Scooby Doo” to “The Fairly OddParents.”

The concert is 8 p.m. Saturday at Felton Music Hall, 6275 Highway 9. Doors open at 7. Tickets are $46.29 in advance, and seating is available on a first come, first served basis. This is a 21-and-older show. For more information, go to FeltonMusicHall.com.

SANTA CRUZ

Crepe Place pays sonic tribute to Gábor Szabó

The music of Hungarian jazz guitar legend Gábor Szabó will live on with a special concert at The Crepe Place Tuesday.

Szabó was born in Budapest and moved to America amid the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 where he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Having played guitar since he was 14 and developed a love of jazz, he parlayed that into a career where he blended jazz with avant-garde styles. He composed the soundtrack of the movie “Repulsion,” worked with the likes of Charles Lloyd and Tony Williams, and his song “Gypsy Queen” was incorporated into Santana’s hit cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Black Magic Woman.” Szabó died in 1982.

Mattson guitarist Jared Mattson and High Pulp drummer Bobby will be joining forces for a concert that pays tribute to Szabó. The evening will feature a mix of live improvisation, breakbeats and Szabó’s sampled licks, woven together with ambient remixes and rare archival recordings of Szabó’s voice for a night of psychedelic jazz and storytelling.

The concert is 8 p.m. Tuesday at The Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave. Doors open at 7. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. This is a 21-and-older show. For more information, go to TheCrepePlace.com.

This week’s calendar was compiled by Nick Sestanovich.