When you think about the circus, you might imagine aerialists gliding through the air, acrobats flipping across the stage, juggling clowns and a top hat-wearing ringmaster keeping it all together.

But at Circus Bella, the music is far from an afterthought. Each year, the Circus Bella All-Star Band — featuring Bolinas drummer Michael Pinkham — performs original compositions by musician and bandleader Rob Reich, while highlighting the performers onstage.

“I have to split my attention between playing the music and marking what happens in the ring, like if there are clowning bits or when our juggler throws the club really high and catches it, I want to mark that event,” said Pinkham, who has been a part of the band since the circus’ early beginnings in 2008. “Some of the music is rhythmically challenging, which I love. Sometimes there are elements of rock and of fusion, but it’s very cinematic. It’s familiar, but it’s also so unique.”

The next stops for Circus Bella’s 16th annual Circus in the Parks series are San Francisco, as part of the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival (today at noon, Saturday at noon and 2:15 p.m.); San Bruno City Park (June 28 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.); and Menlo Park’s Burgess Park (July 4 at noon and 2 p.m.). For more information about the free shows and to see the full schedule, go to circusbella.org.

“I’m really proud of this company. I’m so happy to be a part of it,” Pinkham said.

‘Beautiful dance’

Pinkham, a longtime professional musician and a regular at Smiley’s Saloon in West Marin, doesn’t like sticking in one lane with music. Over the years, he’s played, recorded and toured around the world with many artists including Joan Baez, Peter Rowan’s Big Twang Theory, Linda Tillery, the Oakland Symphony, the San Francisco Mime Troupe and Bay Area klezmer band Kugelplex, where he met Reich, a founding member of the band.

“Are you interested in playing with the circus?” Reich asked him after they started playing together — and the rest was history.

“He would lead the band, and he would also let me lead the band when it was appropriate. We had a beautiful dance that we did there during the shows,” said Pinkham of the Circus Bella shows.

Musical beginnings

Pinkham grew up in a musical family. His parents are both musicians, and music came naturally to his brother, who picked up playing instruments easily. For Pinkham, nothing quite clicked until he was 16 years old and sat down on his friend’s drum set.

“He showed me the real basics, and it was like wildfire after that. Something in my brain woke up. It was intoxicating. After that, it’s pretty much all I could think of. My parents went and bought me a drum set within a month and set me up in the garage,” said Pinkham, who grew up on the East Coast and later in the East Bay with influences that included the Beatles and the Allman Brothers Band.

But he felt a special connection to the drums when he listened to a vinyl of “Are You Experienced,” the debut album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

“Mitch Mitchell, the drummer, I heard him, and I thought it was beautiful, amazing and so emotionally charged. That was the first time I ever noticed drums,” he said.

Honoring his legacy

Last month, a few days before the band’s rehearsal for the season, the band — and the rest of Circus Bella — received shocking news: Reich had unexpectedly died while at a resort in Ukiah. He was 47 years old.

“It’s been extremely difficult for all of us,” Pinkham said. “He was a beautiful man inside and out. He was such a great bandleader. We all became very close friends. We toured together. We hung out together. We’re devastated. This is going to be a very challenging season.”

While Reich had written some new music for the shows, not everything was complete. With the season moving forward — driven to honor Reich in the process — they completed the music with him on their mind.

“That first rehearsal was very challenging. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but we’re trying to honor Rob and his legacy and play his music,” he said. “I know he would want us to want to persevere, but we’re definitely having to dig deep.”

“We can’t think of a more fitting tribute than continuing to play his music and share his spirit with our audiences,” the circus said in a statement.

And they’ll do that every time they take the stage over the next few weeks — just like he would have wanted.