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Black Music Concerts in California

Immerse yourself in Black Music Concerts in California showcasing cultural artistic traditions. These events feature performances, exhibitions, and creative expressions that honor Black heritage while bringing innovative artistic perspectives to the community.
Afro-Filipino Jazz Project at YBG Festival
Afro-Filipino Jazz Project at YBG Festival
FREE concert celebrating Afro Filipinx music roots and traditions only at Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Few artists have appeared at the Festival more frequently than flutist, percussionist and arranger John Calloway. Whether he’s leading his own band, performing in the sextet of longtime creative partner John Santos, or directing the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble of San Francisco, Calloway is a Bay Area icon who’s been at the center of the San Francisco Latin jazz scene for some five decades. But his latest and most personal project yet, the Afro-Filipino Jazz Project, takes his music in a new direction. Founded in 2022 as a creative, interactive space, the Project is intended to bring together Afro Filipinx, African American and Filipino American musicians to explore a broad range of musical styles, with a particular emphasis on jazz idioms, African American roots and traditional and folkloric Filipino music. It’s one component of the larger Afro-Filipino Project, a platform dedicated to highlighting and celebrating, individually and collectively, the art practices and artists of the African American and Filipino American communities whose contributions have profoundly shaped our nation's artistic narrative. For this performance the AFJP features bass star Marcus Shelby, inveterately grooving drummer Deszon Claiborne, Latin jazz piano specialist Murray Low, saxophonist TJ Milan, Conrad Benedicto on kulintang, vocalist and dancer Ting Alvarez and guest vocalist Anna Maria Flechero.

Saturday, 24, 14.00 - Saturday, 24, 15.30 San Francisco, CA _$25

Joe Bataan at YBG Festival
Joe Bataan at YBG Festival
FREE show with the legendary Joe Bataan in San Francisco, only at Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Opening Set from MeloDious Festival favorite Joe Bataan, a Latin music legend since the mid-1960s, returns to the Gardens for his third performance in the past four years. He made an indelible mark as one of the early stars of Fania Records with a seductive combination of doo-wop vocals and boogaloo, one of the era’s defining sounds. Born Bataan Nitollano to a Filipino father and African-American mother and raised in Spanish Harlem, he is the father of the Latin soul sound, crooning hits like “Gypsy Woman” and “Ordinary Guy.” But Bataan never stayed in one groove for long. He went on to expand his sound in the ’70s with his Ghetto Records releases, co-coining the apt moniker “salsoul,” though he adapted to changing currents at the end of the decade with forays into disco and hip-hop (scoring the early rap hit “Rap-O Clap-O” in 1979). Stepping back from performing in the early ‘80s, he largely disappeared from the scene while working as a youth counselor in detention facilities. It’s a dramatic story that he recounts with humor and searing detail in his 2024 memoir Streetology: The Legacy of the Afro-Filipino, King of Latin Soul. Since returning to music in 2005, he’s reclaimed his crown and is still going strong in his 80s, a fact made evident by his triumphant YBG Festival performances. The last time MeloDious appeared at the Gardens the group was serving as house band for Cava Menzies’ glorious CO-LLAB choir in 2024. This year the rapidly ascending Oakland trio presents their own program of eclectic, soulful sounds. Grounded by keyboardist Micaiah, bassist Matthias and drummer Memphis Dempsey, MeloDious draws on a rich musical lineage that spans gospel, jazz, R&B and soul. Since forming in 2016, the band has captivated audiences with dynamic vocal harmonies, inventive arrangements and unmistakable creative chemistry. Their versatility and musicianship have led them to sharing stages with several Grammy Award-winning artists, solidifying their stature within the Bay Area’s vibrant musical ecosystem as stars on the rise. Pre-show music from KALW DJ Marcus at 1pm. In partnership with: KALW Museum of the African Diaspora

Saturday, 17, 14.00 - Saturday, 17, 16.30 San Francisco, CA _$25

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Voices United - Gospel Music WORKSHOP Series & Concert
Voices United - Gospel Music WORKSHOP Series & Concert
Gospel Choir WORKSHOP Series & Concert! All ages, backgrounds, faiths are invited to share in a musical experience of Joy and Community. Ever wanted to sing in a gospel choir? Do you start singing every time you hear "O Happy Day"? Did the movie "Sister Act" or "The Preacher's Wife" make you fall in love with gospel music all over again? This summer, renowned gospel musician and Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir Founding Artistic Director Terrance Kelly is bringing the magic back to Santa Clarita, and you're invited to be part of the music. After a fantastic event last October that brought together old friends, new friends, and people who had never tried gospel singing before, we're back for a three-part workshop and concert series. St. Stephen's Episcopal has once again opened their doors, with Music Minister Josh Wenz co-hosting this joyful community experience. No auditions and no experience necessary. Songs are taught by ear in the Black gospel tradition. You just need to show up ready to sing! EVERYONE WELCOME! People of all ages, backgrounds, and faiths are invited to share in a musical experience of joy and community. Workshop #1 - July 11 Workshop # 2 - Aug 8 Workshop # 3 & Concert - Aug 22 Sign up for the Workshop today! And, please invite your friends and family to come to the show! On Saturday Aug 22, the Workshop Choir will gather at 3pm for Sound Check and a run through of the show before the concert. Doors will be at 6pm and the concert 7pm. Workshop Choir participants need to attend at least TWO of the three rehearsals (July 11, Aug 8, Aug 22 sound check) in order to perform at the concert. This eventbrite listing makes it look like you "select" a workshop date but your registration is for the ENTIRE SERIES and you are welcome at all and expected to participate in AT LEAST TWO rehearsals before performing in the concert.

Saturday, 11, 13.00 - Saturday, 11, 16.00 Santa Clarita, CA _$25

Black Legend Composers Concert
Black Legend Composers Concert
Join the internationally acclaimed Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra in the quintessential celebration of distinguished award winning Black Composers and stellar artists, Dr. James Lee, III, Dr. Dawn Norfleet, Gabriel Irby, Ignatius Sancho & Ulysees Kay.

Sunday, 15, 16.00 - Sunday, 15, 19.30 Los Angeles, CA _$25

46th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast & Concert
46th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast & Concert
It’s time for the 46th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast hosted by Inland Empire African American Churches (IECAAC). This year we will be kicking off the event with a Gospel Concert on Saturday, January 19th, 2026, featuring special guest Pastor Gregory Perkins from The View Church, Menifee, Ca. We are excited about this year’s program delivery and anticipate this annual event to be its usual inspiring community affair.

Monday, 19, 08.00 - Monday, 19, 12.00 Highland, CA _$25

Melba’s Kitchen Big Band Concert And Conversation
Melba’s Kitchen Big Band Concert And Conversation
Welcome to MELBA’s KITCHEN big band an intimate Concert and Conversation celebrating MELBA LISTON’S CENTENNIAL featuring the Melba Liston Research Collective! Join us at the Plymouth Jazz & Justice Church, for a night of incredible music and engaging discussions. This in-person event promises to be a unique experience that you won't want to miss. Get ready to groove to the sounds of the big band tunes chosen especially for this show, and hear new insights from jazz researchers. Mark your calendars and come join us for a memorable evening! Get your tickets early for this limited-seating musical experience. MELBA’S KITCHEN - the all women big band that celebrates Black women musical geniuses Melba Liston, Mary Lou Williams, and their friends - invites you to an intimate evening toasting Liston’s Centennial. The band, cited in Downbeat magazine as “crackling,” presents new arrangements of Liston’s jazz pieces, and hosts conversations with the members of the Melba Liston Research Collective, who dig deeply into Liston’s contributions to the jazz universe.

Friday, 16, 19.00 - Friday, 16, 21.15 Oakland, CA _$25

Fourth Annual Black Music Month Festival
Fourth Annual Black Music Month Festival
Black Music Month Festival is a dynamic, multigenerational festival celebrating Oakland's finest performers in jazz, hip-hop, blues, gospel, Latin, funk, and beyond, presented at Oakland's historic Geoffrey's Inner Circle.

Saturday, 28, 16.00 - Saturday, 28, 20.00 Oakland, CA _$25

Latest Events

Afro-Filipino Jazz Project at YBG Festival
Afro-Filipino Jazz Project at YBG Festival
FREE concert celebrating Afro Filipinx music roots and traditions only at Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Few artists have appeared at the Festival more frequently than flutist, percussionist and arranger John Calloway. Whether he’s leading his own band, performing in the sextet of longtime creative partner John Santos, or directing the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble of San Francisco, Calloway is a Bay Area icon who’s been at the center of the San Francisco Latin jazz scene for some five decades. But his latest and most personal project yet, the Afro-Filipino Jazz Project, takes his music in a new direction. Founded in 2022 as a creative, interactive space, the Project is intended to bring together Afro Filipinx, African American and Filipino American musicians to explore a broad range of musical styles, with a particular emphasis on jazz idioms, African American roots and traditional and folkloric Filipino music. It’s one component of the larger Afro-Filipino Project, a platform dedicated to highlighting and celebrating, individually and collectively, the art practices and artists of the African American and Filipino American communities whose contributions have profoundly shaped our nation's artistic narrative. For this performance the AFJP features bass star Marcus Shelby, inveterately grooving drummer Deszon Claiborne, Latin jazz piano specialist Murray Low, saxophonist TJ Milan, Conrad Benedicto on kulintang, vocalist and dancer Ting Alvarez and guest vocalist Anna Maria Flechero.

Saturday, 28, 16.00 - Saturday, 28, 20.00 San Francisco, CA 0.00

Joe Bataan at YBG Festival
Joe Bataan at YBG Festival
FREE show with the legendary Joe Bataan in San Francisco, only at Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Opening Set from MeloDious Festival favorite Joe Bataan, a Latin music legend since the mid-1960s, returns to the Gardens for his third performance in the past four years. He made an indelible mark as one of the early stars of Fania Records with a seductive combination of doo-wop vocals and boogaloo, one of the era’s defining sounds. Born Bataan Nitollano to a Filipino father and African-American mother and raised in Spanish Harlem, he is the father of the Latin soul sound, crooning hits like “Gypsy Woman” and “Ordinary Guy.” But Bataan never stayed in one groove for long. He went on to expand his sound in the ’70s with his Ghetto Records releases, co-coining the apt moniker “salsoul,” though he adapted to changing currents at the end of the decade with forays into disco and hip-hop (scoring the early rap hit “Rap-O Clap-O” in 1979). Stepping back from performing in the early ‘80s, he largely disappeared from the scene while working as a youth counselor in detention facilities. It’s a dramatic story that he recounts with humor and searing detail in his 2024 memoir Streetology: The Legacy of the Afro-Filipino, King of Latin Soul. Since returning to music in 2005, he’s reclaimed his crown and is still going strong in his 80s, a fact made evident by his triumphant YBG Festival performances. The last time MeloDious appeared at the Gardens the group was serving as house band for Cava Menzies’ glorious CO-LLAB choir in 2024. This year the rapidly ascending Oakland trio presents their own program of eclectic, soulful sounds. Grounded by keyboardist Micaiah, bassist Matthias and drummer Memphis Dempsey, MeloDious draws on a rich musical lineage that spans gospel, jazz, R&B and soul. Since forming in 2016, the band has captivated audiences with dynamic vocal harmonies, inventive arrangements and unmistakable creative chemistry. Their versatility and musicianship have led them to sharing stages with several Grammy Award-winning artists, solidifying their stature within the Bay Area’s vibrant musical ecosystem as stars on the rise. Pre-show music from KALW DJ Marcus at 1pm. In partnership with: KALW Museum of the African Diaspora

Saturday, 28, 16.00 - Saturday, 28, 20.00 San Francisco, CA 0.00

Voices United - Gospel Music WORKSHOP Series & Concert
Voices United - Gospel Music WORKSHOP Series & Concert
Gospel Choir WORKSHOP Series & Concert! All ages, backgrounds, faiths are invited to share in a musical experience of Joy and Community. Ever wanted to sing in a gospel choir? Do you start singing every time you hear "O Happy Day"? Did the movie "Sister Act" or "The Preacher's Wife" make you fall in love with gospel music all over again? This summer, renowned gospel musician and Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir Founding Artistic Director Terrance Kelly is bringing the magic back to Santa Clarita, and you're invited to be part of the music. After a fantastic event last October that brought together old friends, new friends, and people who had never tried gospel singing before, we're back for a three-part workshop and concert series. St. Stephen's Episcopal has once again opened their doors, with Music Minister Josh Wenz co-hosting this joyful community experience. No auditions and no experience necessary. Songs are taught by ear in the Black gospel tradition. You just need to show up ready to sing! EVERYONE WELCOME! People of all ages, backgrounds, and faiths are invited to share in a musical experience of joy and community. Workshop #1 - July 11 Workshop # 2 - Aug 8 Workshop # 3 & Concert - Aug 22 Sign up for the Workshop today! And, please invite your friends and family to come to the show! On Saturday Aug 22, the Workshop Choir will gather at 3pm for Sound Check and a run through of the show before the concert. Doors will be at 6pm and the concert 7pm. Workshop Choir participants need to attend at least TWO of the three rehearsals (July 11, Aug 8, Aug 22 sound check) in order to perform at the concert. This eventbrite listing makes it look like you "select" a workshop date but your registration is for the ENTIRE SERIES and you are welcome at all and expected to participate in AT LEAST TWO rehearsals before performing in the concert.

Saturday, 28, 16.00 - Saturday, 28, 20.00 Santa Clarita, CA 108.55

Rugged Pacific coastline in California: weathered tan rock bluffs covered with red and green ice plant overlook a turquoise cove, with offshore sea stacks, white surf, and deep blue ocean stretching toward a hazy headland under a pale sky.
California's Pacific coastline runs for hundreds of miles where coastal mountains meet the sea — rugged headlands, turquoise coves, and sea stacks along the route from Big Sur and the Central Coast to beaches north and south.
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