Did you miss the SJ Jazz Center opening night? You can still listen to it.
The center's acoustics is unique, as KQED's Cy Musiker recently reported...
The Robert N. Miner Auditorium in San Francisco's new $65 million SFJAZZ Center is the first concert hall in the United States built just for America's native musical form-- and that presented some special challenges to acoustic designer Sam Berkow.
He says the hall needs to accommodate a wide range of styles--from solo piano with very light amplification all the way to bold, brassy big bands...
Pretty much every surface has some sound-enhancing trick up its sleeve, including the acoustical canopy, like a big rigid sail, above the stage.
"There are really only three things you can do with sound." Berkow explained. "You can absorb it, you can redirect it, or you can diffuse it. And the canopy does all three."
Berkow and his crew had set the canopy at just the right angle earlier that day, positioning it so it would reflect and diffuse sound evenly to all 700 seats in the hall.
The goal might best be described as giving each listener the feeling they're in an intimate jazz club, minus the clinking cocktail glasses. Full article
Okay, so you maybe you won't feel like you're in an intimate jazz club while you're listening on the web, but still, check out the performers!
The lineup Wednesday night...
- Bill Cosby, Master of Ceremonies
- McCoy Tyner
- Chick Corea
- Esperanza Spalding
- Joshua Redman
- Joe Lovano
- Bobby Hutcherson
- Mary Stallings
- John Handy
- Pete Escovedo
- Eric Reed
Plus...