Jazz

I met Freddie Hubbard many years ago backstage at the Clearwater Jazz Holiday. A few people warned me that he could be an asshole. He was a sweetheart.

My favorite yearly music bash, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest, just announced its lineup for 2009 and I'm stoked about Aretha Franklin headlining the second weekend, April 30-May 3, which I annually attend. I've never seen the Queen of Soul and can't imagine a better place than the Big Easy for it to finally happen.

Raphael Saadiq and Dr. John are both on tour at present, peddling different brands of regressively delightful music to packed, loyal audiences. The Doctor (Mac Rebennack, to get technical) and Saadiq (né Wiggins) wear their influences on their sleeves and dress in full-on vintage: Rebennack in voodoo regalia, Saadiq in a chickadee-yellow suit and oversize horn-rims.

The distinction, of course, is that the Saadiq's throwback pose is provisional; the Doctor's is dynastic.

Another sign that the recession has been going on a lot longer than a month: Two local record stores are going bye-bye. In fact, Open Mind Music -- which moved to Market Street a couple years back in the hopes of staving off extinction -- is already gone, having shuttered its doors last month. (The store will apparently sell its remaining underground hip-hop, freaky techno, and oddball rock at the Other Shop on Divisadero and online.) Now comes the news that the 24th Street location of Streetlight Records is going kaput after the holidays.

The Deal: 31-year-old releases second studio effort as 14-song, double CD.

The Good: You can't complain about a lack of material here - the first disc is nine songs lasting roughly 50 minutes; the second disc is five tracks and runs just under 20 minutes. Yamagata's smoky vocals evoke plenty of emotion and her songwriting is superb. I started to give up on "Little Life" as a slow and sleepy number, but two minutes in Yamagata's vocals really kick in and the song gets a new life. "Sunday Afternoon" is a nine-minute epic that goes from lone piano moments to kicked-up choruses full of strings and heartfelt singing to a brief moment of exploratory instrumentation reminiscent of Pink Floyd. It's no wonder why she's worked with artists such as Ray LaMontagne, Ryan Adams, Jason Mraz, Connor Oberst and Mandy Moore. The musical layers add just the right flavor when needed - found in the form of string sections or horns. Her voice goes well with the whispered style of LaMontagne on "Duet." The second disc is five songs - including a few more upbeat pop songs that show her diversity as a singer, songwriter and artist. Yamagata can set a mood in slower songs and bring the right energy for the faster ones.

Sometimes I wish the world was organized differently. Like, why can't all the bands that play this week get together at the end -- maybe Sunday night -- for a big jam? I'd love to hear what El Guincho would do with McCoy Tyner on a tune by Pylon.

Though he never reached quite the stature of first-tier soul stars like Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, Overton Vertis "O.V." Wright is recognized as one of the great semilegendary voices in classic soul music.

Wright, who passed away in Memphis on November 16, 1980, is remembered for classic deep-soul recordings such as "That's How Strong My Love Is" (later covered by Redding and the Rolling Stones), "A Nickel and a Nail," and "Motherless Child" (sampled, to great effect, by Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ghostface Killah), all products of a long career that started with local indie Back Beat Records before Wright began working with producer Willie Mitchell's Hi Records in the '70s.

Usually, it's pretty hard to get San Franciscans to come over to Oakland. They figure they've got pretty much the same stuff over there (save for, um, the outrageously high murder rate), so why bother to risk a DUI or the ridiculously early last BART train? How about this for a reason? A multitude of quirky art galleries, loose open container laws, and a free burlesque show featuring a bevy of bodacious broads and a wild New Orleans-style marching band.

That's what you get with Oakland's Art Murmur and the First Friday Follies.