Beth Custer Ensemble
Black Olive Babes

The Beth Custer Ensemble’s diverse array of projects—from musical theater productions (Ballad of Pancho & Lucy, Le The, and June in a Box, all with collaborator Octavio Solis) to silent film scores to avant-pop compositions—fluidly blend the group’s influences of jazz, funk, and Latin rock. Featuring the crème de la crème of Bay Area musicians, including drummer Jan Jackson (who plays with Grammy-nominated Will Bernard), guitarist David James (The Coup, Spearhead), iconic pianist Graham Connah, bassist Mark Calderon (The Meters, Roots), and, of course, Beth Custer (Club Foot Orchestra, Clarinet Thing), the band bursts forth with a genre-defying repertoire.

Black Olive Babes, a new project led by Juliana Graffagna—a seventeen-year veteran of the premiere women’s vocal ensemble KITKA—kick off the evening with a mix of concert and dance tunes derived from Albanian, Romani, Greek and American traditions, showcasing a catalogue that jumps effortlessly from the American ballad Wayfaring Stranger to the Albanian standard Valle Korcau.