July 3, 2003

Two members of SFSU’s Jazz and World Music Studies faculty will perform at this weekend’s Fillmore Street Jazz Festival -- located on the same San Francisco street where legends such as Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday and Charlie Parker played more than 50 years ago. Admission is free.

The Hafez Modir Quartet, led by Assistant music Professor Hafez Modirzadeh on tenor saxophone and featuring Lecturer Akira Tana on drums, will perform from 2:40 to 3:25 p.m. Saturday on the Ellis Street Stage. The performance coincides with the release of the quartet’s new CD, “Dandelion.”

Modirzadeh, co-director of the Jazz and World Music Studies Program in SFSU’s School of Music and Dance, has spent the last two decades combining genres of jazz and world music. He leads the SFSU student Creative World Ensemble, which incorporates musical styles from many corners of the world, from the United States to Europe to the Middle East.

Tana, recognized for his ability to ignite rhythm sections with his drumming, has performed with such jazz giants as Lena Horne, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, James Moody, J.J. Johnson and The Manhattan Transfer.

The Fillmore Street Jazz Festival spans 12 blocks of Fillmore Street from Jackson to Eddy and runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The festival features three stages of nonstop music, more than 300 arts and crafts booths and a wide selection of food and beverages.

-- Matt Itelson

1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132    (415) 338-1111
Last modified July 3, 2003, by the Office of Public Affairs