The annual can’t-miss jazz festival joins REDCAT to present electrifying solo vocal music from Theo Bleckmann, a jazz singer and composer of prodigious gifts and eclectic tastes. A collaborator with artists such as Laurie Anderson, John Zorn, Bang on a Can All-Stars, and Meredith Monk, the Grammy-nominated vocalist has given brilliant, seriously playful interpretations of material ranging from Las Vegas standards to songs by Charles Ives. Bleckmann’s set is followed by bassist-composer Todd Sickafoose, known to many fans as Ani DiFranco’s longtime collaborator, and his band Tiny Resistors. Sickafoose debuted the Tiny Resistors lineup in 2008 with a critically cheered recording of the same title. The tightly knit group, performing here alongside a string quartet, brings a thoroughly original, compelling style: buoyant, groove-laden jazz played with the muscle and whimsy of an indie-rock orchestra.

“[Sickafoose is] a captivating improviser, imaginative composer, and master of collaboration.” —San Francisco Chronicle