Sounds of the Tenderloin — Tenderloin Museum

Sounds of the Tenderloin — Tenderloin Museum Sounds of the Tenderloin Photos from  the Tenderloin Times Photograph Archive at the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library (L-R): “Zazu Pitts Memorial Orchestra performance at Boeddeker Park” Andrew Ritchie, 1985; “Janice Kind playing piano at Blue Lamp piano bar” Greg Gaar, 1986; “John Phillip Souza Memorial Band performance at Boedekker Park” Andrew Ritchie, 1986. The legacy of live music runs deep in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, and the Tenderloin Museum’s “Sounds of the Tenderloin” program series animates the neighborhood’s undersung cultural history through live music. As our community emerges from covid-19, “Sounds of the Tenderloin” aims to bring the Tenderloin community and San Francisco community together through live performances that explore, deepen, and complicate participants’ understanding of Tenderloin history while supporting local working musicians and creating accessible cultural activities for the neighborhood’s incredibly diverse and often low-income community. Known as San Francisco’s historic nightlife district, the Tenderloin is where the city’s cultural underground surfaces in the work-a-day affairs of formal and informal performance spaces, from gilt theaters to intimate jazz clubs, (in)famous studios, and after-hours speakeasy venues. Famously, the Tenderloin’s Blackhawk Jazz Club hosted many of the city’s most iconic jam sessions and live recordings; independent, artist-oriented Wally Heider Studios fomented the groovy, synergistic “San Francisco Sound” of the ‘60s & ‘70s; the California Labor School hosted community folk music hootenannies to boost the visibility of organizing and educational efforts; the opulent Great American Music Hall--formerly Sally Rand’s Music Box--conjures a timeless grandeur that reveals the captivating and transformative potential of performance. Less famously, the Tenderloin has been and continues to be home to all stripes of working people, whose music has been a vital part of their everyday lives and identities, and whose musical practice courses through the TL’s singular tapestry of bars, hole in the walls, and street corners. “Sounds of the Tenderloin” was initially made possible by a generous gift from Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and TLM seeks to invoke the great festival’s spirit when creating accessible experiences that foster community connection in response to the long-lasting, isolating effects of the pandemic. In 2023, TLM received a grant funded by the Specified General Fund for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment, to produce a second season of Sounds of the Tenderloin, with the majority of these grant funds going to local artists, organizers, and small businesses. Stay tuned to this page for upcoming Sounds of the Tenderloin programs as well as an archive of past events from this series! Upcoming Events May 14, 2026 2nd Thursdays at Dodge: Sruti Sarathy May 14, 2026 Thursday May 14, 2026 At Dodge Alley (Turk & Larkin St.) Free to attend | No registration required Sruti Sarathy shares an evening of traditional South Indian melodies on the Carnatic violin and the mridangam, spanning traditional raga, improvisation, and original songs. Live music and local businesses animate the Tenderloin’s Dodge Alley every 2nd Thursday of the month, with support from the TLCBD & SFOEWD. Tenderloin Museum continues the 2025-2026 season of “ Sounds of the Tenderloin ” programs with another “2nd Thursdays at Dodge Alley in collaboration with the TLCBD. This month, we welcome Sruti Sarathy , a leading Carnatic musician with a soulful, imaginative approach to Indian violin. Born and raised in the Bay Area as a diaspora kid, Sarathy began her training in the South Indian Carnatic music as a prodigious three year old. Her lifelong practice in this classical tradition formed the basis for a decorated career as a performer, composer, researcher, and interpreter. She regularly performs at top Carnatic music gatherings in the Bay Area and across both the United States and India; she is also a prolific collaborator, most frequently as a composer-performer for dance and theater pieces. Now, she splits time between California and Chennai, so we are lucky to have her talents on the streets of the TL! $15 vouchers for food/drink at nearby businesses first come first serve! May 14, 2026 Past Events Apr Apr 9, 2026 2nd Thursdays at Dodge ft. Poets of the TL Apr 9, 2026 2nd Thursdays at Dodge ft. Poets of the TL Thursday April 9, 2026 At Dodge Alley (Turk & Larkin St.) Tenderloin Museum continues the 2025-2026 season of “ Sounds of the Tenderloin ” programs with another “2nd Thursdays at Dodge Alley in collaboration with the TLCBD. This month, we present an evening of poetry (and a bit of accompanying jazz!) in honor of National Poetry Month and in celebration of Finding Our Way Home: Mary TallMountain in the Tenderloin at TLM. Over roughly two “sets,” this month’s show will feature readings and performances by: Kitty Costello - Mary TallMountain’s literary executor, friend, and fellow poet Kim Shuck - Cherokee Nation poet, weaver, bead work artist, and 7th Poet Laureate of San Francisco Jesse James Johnson - author of Mine is a Community of Misfits and Outlaws and recipient of the most recent Mary TallMountain Award Joel Yates - poet, Tenderloin advocate, and Skywatchers/ABD Productions Lead Artist Nazelah Jamison -  poet, emcee, vocalist, and recently named the 2026 Janice Mirikitani Poet Theologian in Residence at Glide Memorial Church Adrian Arias - multi-disciplinary artist, poet, and performer and creator of two recent large scale murals in the TL: River to the Sky and Indigenous Forever Charles Curtis Blackwell - poet, playwright, painter, and dean of the TL art scene Devorah Major - writer, performer, educator, and 3rd Poet Laureate of San Francisco Perform with two master musicians: Sandra Poindexter (Violin) & Donald Griggs (Trumpet) Free to attend | No registration required $15 vouchers for food/drink at nearby businesses first come first serve Apr 9, 2026 Mar 12 Mar 12, 2026 2nd Thursdays at Dodge: Cascada de Flores Mar 12, 2026 Thursday March 12, 2026 At Dodge Alley (Turk & Larkin St.) Free to attend | No registration required Live music returns to the Tenderloin’s Dodge Alley in 2026! Cascada de Flores share an evening of song and story, drawing on their vast repertoire and curiosity for the multitudes of Mexican music and its cross cultural reverberations. Música from the heart: song, dance, and story for all ages. $15 vouchers for food/drink at nearby businesses first come first serve! Mar 12, 2026 Dec 11 Dec 11, 2025 2nd Thursdays at Dodge Alley: Diana Gameros, Salma Al Assal, + POSADA! Dec 11, 2025 Thursday December 11, 2025 At Dodge Alley (Turk & Larkin St.) Free to attend | No registration required | $15 vouchers for food/drink at nearby businesses first come first serve TLM teams up with Movement , a local “musical discovery platform” highlighting immigrant musicians, to present a special musical encounter between master musicians for 2nd Thursdays at Dodge Alley. Fresh off the release of her latest album Volver a la Luz, singer songwriter Diana Gameros will share original songs and Mexican classics with her longtime collaborator multi-intstrumentalist Patrick Wolff. Sudanese vocalist Salma Al Assal shares a set of aghaani banaat mixed with reggae and soul (rescheduled from November). The TL’s La Voz Latina organizes early Posada festivities for the holiday season! Dec 11, 2025 Nov 13 Nov 13, 2025 POSTPONED: 2nd Thursdays at Dodge Alley: Salma Al Assal with Désirée Dorsainvil Nov 13, 2025 POSTPONED DUE TO RAIN! Thursday November 13, 2025 | 5-8pm At Dodge Alley (Turk & Larkin St.) Free to attend | No registration required $15 vouchers for food/drink at nearby businesses first come first serve TLMteams up with Movement a local “musical discovery platform” highlighting immigrant musicians, to present a special musical encounter between master musicians for 2nd Thursdays at Dodge Alley. Our November program features Salma Al Assal , a renowned Sudanese vocalist who specializes in aghaani banaat –a repertoire of party music performed by women for weddings and other celebrations. Al Assal–whose name translates to “Sweet Honey Salma”--fuses traditional Sudanese sounds with reggae and American soul to create a rousing, original style sure to bring joy to the streets of the TL! The Tenderloin has been home to a large and multitudinous diaspora from the Arab world going back to the 1960s, and at present sports the only explicitly Sudanese restaurant in the Bay Area (Z Zoul). TLM is thrilled to bring a star of the Arab music scene for a free, outdoor concert for the Tenderloin community. Al Assal will be joined by a special musical collaborator from a different musical tradition, Désirée Dorsainvil, a Haitian-American multimodal artist with roots in acting and dance. she is currently moving through new forms ~ singing, writing, filmmaking and motherhood. Nov 13, 2025 Oct Oct 9, 2025 2nd Thursdays at Dodge Alley: Los Calderones with Prasant Radhakrishnan Oct 9, 2025 October 9, 2025 | 5-8pm At Dodge Alley (Turk & Larkin St.) Free to attend | No registration required $15 vouchers for food/drink at nearby businesses first come first serve TLM teams up with Movement , a local “musical discovery platform” highlighting immigrant musicians, to present a special musical encounter between master musicians for 2nd Thursdays at Dodge Alley. Los Calderones , a band featuring Cuban brothers Obrayan & Dayron Calderon, perform with a special guest, the Carnatic jazz saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan Oct 9, 2025 Sep 11 Sep 11, 2025 2nd Thursdays at Dodge Alley: Mr. Lucky & the Cocktail Party Sep 11, 2025 Thursday, September 11, 2025 | 5-8pm At Dodge Alley (Turk & Larkin St.) SF, CA 94102 Free to attend | No registration required Equal parts performance artist and classic crooner, Mr. Lucky is a fixture of the San Francisco music scene who honed his craft at iconic Tenderloin rooms like the Blue Lamp, Club 181, Curtain Call, Sound of Music, Hyde Street Studios, and original Original Joe’s. Come see the legend live with his band the “Cocktail Party” during the happy hour at Dodge Alley. Sep 11, 2025 Jul 26 Jul 26, 2025 Silent Film in the Tenderloin ft. Club Foot Quintet at GAMH Jul 26, 2025 A special Sounds of the Tenderloin program at the Great American Music Hall explores the silent film era in the neighborhood, featuring Richard Marriott’s Club Foot Quintet performing original scores to two short films by Buster Keaton: “One Week” and “Day Dreams” (a premiere!). This plus presentations on the Tenderloin’s film exchanges by Kathy Rose O’Regan of SF Film Preserve and on Market St. Movie Marquees by Jim Van Buskirk and SF Neon. Club Foot Quintet is comprised of: Chris Grady - Trumpet Mark Yee - Baritone Sax David James - Electric Guitar Kjell Nordeson - Percussion Richard Marriott - Euphonium, Trombone & Compositions Saturday July 26, 2025 | Doors 7pm Show at 7:30pm At the Great American Music Hall | 859 O’Farrell St. SF, CA 94109 $20 GA / $35 Reserved Seating | Purchase via See Tickets TLM Members get $10 Off Jul 26, 2025 Jul 16 Jul 16, 2025 TLM 10th Anniversary: Howard Wiley & Friends at GAMH Jul 16, 2025 Tenderloin Museum turns 10 on July 16, 2025! To celebrate, TLM invited composer, arranger, bandleader, and saxophone great Howard Wiley to organize a musical tribute to the neighborhood featuring an intergenerational revue of legendary Bay Area performers. This extraordinary gathering of musicians will highlight how the TL has shaped the Bay Area’s music scene and pay homage to iconic venues like Black Hawk Jazz Club to GLIDE Memorial Church to Hyde Street Studios and the Great American Music Hall itself. Special guests include the Bay Area’s queen of the blues and gospel Lady Bianca Thornton ; multi-talented rapper, pianist, producer, and frequent Wiley collaborator Kev Choice ; Fillmore jazz legend and saxophonist John Handy ; poet, activist, educator, and SF’s 8th poet laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin ; the poet, public theologian, and current Minister of Celebration at GLIDE Memorial Church Marvin K. White , the legendary GLIDE Ensemble choir featuring vocalist Ashling Cole ; and vocalist Lavay Smith and pianist Chris Siebert , who have regularly featured Wiley in their swingin’ big band the Red Hot Skillet Lickers for over two decades. Wednesday July 16, 2025 | Doors 7pm + Show 7:30pm at the Great American Music Hall | 859 O’Farrell St. SF, CA 94109 Tickets $20 GA / $35 Reserved | Purchase via See Tickets TLM Members get $10 off any ticket Jul 16, 2025 May 17 May 17, 2025 Refugee Stories at SEAACC's 4th Annual Multicultural Spring Festival May 17, 2025 TLM is honored to collaborate with the Southeast Asian Arts and Culture Coalition (SEAACC) at their 4th Annual Multicultural Spring Festival for a special performances of the classic Vietnamese opera Hào Khí Việt Nam – “The Indomitable Spirit of Vietnam”--by Khoi Nguyen & Kim Chi paired with a presentation on diaspora in the TL! Saturday, May 17, 2025 | 10:00am-4:00pm TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin series presents “Refugee Stories” ft. performances by Khoi Nguyen & Kim Chi from 12:30-1pm At the Tenderloin Recreation Center | 570 Ellis St. SF, CA 94109 Free to Attend | No registration required May 17, 2025 May 15 May 15, 2025 Any Other Way: the Jackie Shane Story film screening May 15, 2025 In celebration of Empowerment Month , the TenderloinMuseum joins SF’s Transgender District to screen Any Other Way: the Jackie Shane Story (2024). This innovative documentary film profiles a Black trans R&B singer whose immense talent and uncompromising authenticity drive an inspiring story about the transgender experience, visibility, and legacy. Film Screening & Community Gathering in collaboration with the Transgender District At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 Doors at 6pm | Film Screening at 6:30 sharp! Register to attend via Humanitix May 15, 2025 May May 8, 2025 Sounds of the TL: The Alaya Project in Concert ft. Diana Gameros May 8, 2025 The Alaya Project explores the sonic connections amongst Carnatic Indian classical music, jazz, and funk. On May 8, the Oakland based trio performs their original compositions at TLM and traces the musical lineage that informs their groovy, cross-cultural sound from Chennai to the TL! Ft. special guest vocalist Diana Gameros! Thursday May 8, 2025 | 6:00 - 7:30 PM At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 Register via Humanitix May 8, 2025 May May 3, 2025 “Indigenous Forever” Mural Celebration & Walking Tour ft. Adrián Arias May 3, 2025 A new mural by the visual poet Adrián Arias honors Indigenous resilience and presence in the Tenderloin. Join us on May 3rd for a “Murals of the Tenderloin” Walking Tour followed by a gathering at the Phoenix Hotel that dedicates “Indigenous Forever” through music, dance, poetry & community. Saturday May 3, 2025 | 2pm walking tour, 3:30pm celebration at the Phoenix! 2-3:30pm “Murals of the Tenderloin” Walking Tour with the artist leaves from the TL Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 $15 / $10 TLM Members | Register to attend via Humanitix 3:30-5:30pm Mural Celebration ft. LoCura, La Mezcla, & more at the Phoenix Hotel | 601 Eddy St. SF, CA 94109 Free to Attend | No registration required May 3, 2025 May May 2, 2025 Concerts at the Cadillac: Lady Bianca May 2, 2025 The Bay Area’s “Queen of the Blues and Gospel” Lady Bianca cut most of her deep discography in the TL at the historic Hyde St. Studios; on May 2, the Grammy-nominated vocalist/pianist, songwriter and producer brings her live set to the people of the TL with a Concert at the Cadillac! Friday May 2, 2025 | 1-2pm At the Cadillac Hotel | 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 (next door to TLM!) FREE! No registration required! May 2, 2025 Apr 23 Apr 23, 2025 Club 181 Live! ft. Veronica Klaus & the Tammy L. Hall Quintet Apr 23, 2025 The story of a quintessential TL nightclub comes to life with a one-off spectacle at the Great American Music Hall. Michael Flanagan surveys Club 181’s epic history live-on-stage via special guest interviews, performances, & rare archival material. SF jazz star Veronica Klaus headlines with a set in homage to her time under the 181’s lights. Wednesday April 23, 2025 | Doors at 6pm Show at 7pm at Great American Music Hall | 859 O'Farrell St, San Francisco, CA 94109 Purchase via See Tickets Apr 23, 2025 Feb 20 Feb 20, 2025 Charles Curtis Blackwell’s Tender Musical Tapestries Feb 20, 2025 To mark Black History Month at the Tenderloin Museum, Charles Curtis Blackwell has organized an evening of poetry and jazz that features new, improvised work intertwined with a tribute to his friend and fellow poet Q.R. Hand. Presented as part of TLM’s Sounds of the TL series Tender Musical Tapestries features Blackwell in concert with a trio of improvising musicians–Sandra Poindexter (violin), Kash Killion (cello/bass), and Donald Griggs (trumpet)--plus special guests. Thursday February 20, 2025 | 6-7:30pm At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 Blackwell is a painter, playwright, and poet who is a pillar of the Tenderloin arts community–his visual art practice has long been centered at the Hospitality House Community Arts Program, and he has organized several “happenings” at the TL Museum that showcase his interdisciplinary approach and invite audiences into dialogue about the Black experience. Jazz often manifests in his work, whether as figurative gestures in his paintings, the rhythm of his verse, or the formal fluidity of his performances. Hand was a virtuoso poet whose verse was infused with the spirit of jazz and imbued with Black liberation politics–a positionality he termed the “Black Radical Stance.” Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Hand moved to San Francisco in 1970 and was a fixture in the poetry cafes and Bohemian enclaves of North Beach and later the Mission District, where he lived and worked as a community health worker. What is less known is that, for a time, Hand was a resident of the Cadillac Hotel, the building in which the Tenderloin Museum is located and the first SRO to convert into what is now known as permanent supportive housing. Blackwell and Hand performed together many times over the years and share in a lineage of Black radical jazz-inflected poetry that extends into the present. Blackwell will be joined by special guests to pay homage to the life, verse, and legacy of their friend Q, as well as to celebrate his posthumous volume, Out of Nothing , published November 2023 on Black Freighter Press. The poet, activist, and educator Tongo Eisen-Martin who, as Co-founder and Editor of Black Freighter Press, shepherded Hand’s final book into existence, describes Out of Nothing as  “a Sistine Chapel of a book” and Hand as “a biographer of humanity, a really selfless genius.” Performing poetry with live musicians has been a vital aspect to the creative practices of both Hand and Blackwell; Tender Musical Tapestries will feature three legends of the Bay Area jazz scene Sandra Poindexter (violin), Kash Killion (cello/bass), and Donald Griggs (trumpet). TLM is honored to host these superlative talents in the Tenderloin and to learn about the work and legacy of Q.R. Hand, one-time resident of the museum’s building and a titan of the SF poetry scene. This program is made possible by support from the Specified General Fund for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment, with additional funding from the Tenderloin Community Benefit District & SF Office of Economic & Workforce Development. $10 Suggested Donation | Register via Humanitix Feb 20, 2025 Jan 24 Jan 24, 2025 Concerts at the Cadillac: San Francisco Recovery Theatre Jan 24, 2025 Tenderloin community arts institution SF Recovery Theatre debuts the 2025 edition of its beloved, perennial production A Night at the Blackhawk for a joint “Concerts at the Cadillac” and “Sounds of the Tenderloin” program. At the Cadillac Hotel | 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 Friday, January 24, 2024 | 1:00 - 2:00pm SF Recovery Theatre is a grassroots Tenderloin performing arts organization composed mainly of people in recovery that aims to provide a space where people of different cultures, races and religious backgrounds can feel valued and safe. Led by artistic director Geoffrey Grier, SFRT has regularly produced a show called “A Night at the Blackhawk,” a tribute to the music and culture at the Tenderloin’s famed jazz club that gives audiences a front row seat to the jam session. For the 2025 edition of the show, Grier leads a revue featuring vocals by Eric Ward, Vernon Medearis, Gayle Rosemond, and Sherrie Taylor, with music by Dave Austin and Trio d’Swing! Free! All welcome & no registration required! Jan 24, 2025 Dec Dec 5, 2024 Hyde Street Studio Sessions: Anthony Blea & John Santos Dec 5, 2024 Experience an intimate live performance inside the historic Hyde Street Studios with violinist Anthony Blea & percussionist John Santos, two of the Bay Area’s preeminent practitioners of Afro-Cuban traditions. At Hyde Street Studios | 245 Hyde St, San Francisco, CA 94102 Thursday December 5, 2024 | performances at 6:30pm & 8:30pm As part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series, the Tenderloin Museum presents another installment “Hyde Street Studio Sessions,” an intimate live music experience that gives music lovers and history buffs alike the opportunity to experience a local legend perform inside the iconic recording studio (formerly known as Wally Heider Studios) that is responsible for the “San Francisco Sound.” On December 5, 2024, violinist Anthony Blea and percussionist John Santos lead a Latin jazz quintet for two hour-long sets of music and storytelling, recounting their experiences recording at the TL’s historic studio. As two of the Bay Area’s preeminent practitioners of Afro-Cuban traditions and masters of Latin jazz, Blea and Santos have been musical collaborators for decades both on and off the record. Their collective recording credits at Hyde St. Studios are vast and stylistically diverse; however, for this installment of “Hyde Street Studios Sessions” the duo will undoubtedly focus on two records cut at Hyde St. by Orquesta Batachanga. La Nueva Tradicion (1982)and Mañana para los Niños (1985) mixed traditional rhythms with contemporary sounds and significantly influenced the Bay Area’s Afro-Latin music scene. The Orquesta Batachanga / Hyde St. Studios connection came to TLM’s attention thanks to Josealberto “Beto” Salazar, longtime Tenderloin resident and co-host (with his father Alberto) of the superlative Discomovil Salazar , a weekly radio show on Psyched! Radio SF that features “tropical music from all over the world.” So, we’ve asked Beto to lead a conversation with Blea & Santos during each set to get the history of Orquesta Batachanga recording at Hyde St. in the 1980s and to trace their influence into the present. Not only will audiences be up close and personal with these Bay Area musical luminaries, they will also get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at an active recording studio and the dedicated crew of engineers and musicians that create and sustain musical community in the heart of the Tenderloin. Nestled in what was historically San Francisco’s entertainment district, Hyde Street Studios has been an active recording studio for over 50 years, and throughout that time has stood as a bastion for working musicians, creative collaboration, and independent artistry. Blea, Santos, & their band will play two (separately-ticketed) sets on the floor of Studio A , Hyde Street’s main live room that drips with vintage vibe and resonates with over 50 years of musical history. The venue is unique, site-specific, and, given the nature of the space, close quarters–there are only 20 seats available for each set! Click here to learn more about John Santos and here for more on Anthony Blea This program is made possible by support from the Specified General Fund for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment. Seating is limited | Tickets $40 via Humanitix Dec 5, 2024 Sep 20 Sep 20, 2024 Concerts at the Cadillac: Mr. Lucky & the Cocktail Party Sep 20, 2024 “The dean of postmodern lounge jazz swing singers” Mr. Lucky brings his ace group of local luminaries–The Cocktail Party–to the Tenderloin for a Concert at the Cadillac Friday September 20, 2024 | 1:00 - 2:00pm At the Cadillac Hotel | 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 Mr. Lucky has been a character on the San Francisco music scene for decades. Pierre Merkel got his start as a lounge singer haunting the strip of bars that served the after-theater crowd in the “Tenderloin heights” such as the Curtain Call and the Blue Lamp . At those bygone joints, Merkel would sing jazz standards in a sharkskin suit while mixing martinis onstage, and thus Mr. Lucky was born. His act “tunes up” the Great American Songbook with an energy informed by performance art as much as Ellington and Mancini. His popularity took off from out of the underground during the swing craze of the 1990s, and Mr. Lucky has performed at practically all of San Francisco’s iconic venues–Bimbo’s 365, Club Deluxe, Flower Piano, etc.--except (until now) the Cadillac Hotel! Mr. Lucky’s longtime band, “The Cocktail Party,” was assembled in 1998 by Bay Area legends J. Raoul Brody and Ralph Carney. Today, the group features some of the Bay Area’s best musicians: Joshua Raoul Brody: 'The Maestro' on piano, Michael Groh: humming on guitar, Randy “Ring-a-ding” Odell:  swell on drums, Joe Quigley:  eclectic bass (Lisa Loeb’s ‘Stay’), Jeff Hobbs:  terrific on violin and cornet, and… Jamin ‘Sudsy’ Barton:  San Francisco’s hot-shot one-man-band on Theremin, saxophone, saw and more…! Merkel’s intrigue extends beyond his musical persona: he worked for years as a private investigator in SF and is also an accomplished visual artist. But above all, Mr. Lucky is a lover of all things San Francisco, in particular the Tenderloin (and specifically original Original Joe’s on Taylor Street). Don’t miss this special performance of a San Francisco original at the Concerts at the Cadillac , presented in collaboration with the Tenderloin Museum as a “ Sounds of the Tenderloin ” live music program. Funding for this series is provided by Specified General Fund for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment. Free | All Welcome! Sep 20, 2024 Sep 12 Sep 12, 2024 Tenderloin Neon & Punk: Chuck Prophet & SF Neon Sep 12, 2024 The annual Neon Speaks Festival comes home to the Tenderloin Museum for a celebration of the historically inspired Tenderloin/Cadillac neon sign! Ft. a sign seminar with SF Neon, a DJ set by celebrated SF songwriters & neon aficionado Chuck Prophet, plus food & drink. Thursday September 12, 2024 | 5:30-7:30pm At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 Hosted by Al and Randall of SF Neon, “Tenderloin Neon & Punk” highlights the crowning achievement of the long and rich collaboration between SF Neon & the Tenderloin Museum: a 25-foot neon sign proclaiming "The Tenderloin". The recently illuminated, historically informed Tenderloin/Cadillac neon sign proclaims our neighborhood’s rich neon lineage by re-instituting a lost landmark while acknowledging the solidarity of the Tenderloin community today. Learn all about this extraordinary sign and its journey into existence, the story of which is a masterclass in the history, craft, and culture of neon in SF. To celebrate the feat that is the Tenderloin/Cadillac sign, Al and Randall have invited their friend and neon aficionado Chuck Prophet. Chuck will be spinning LP’s and singles from the golden era of SF Punk and Proto-Punk. Many of which were recorded right here in the cool grey city of love, the greatest city in the union to live and dream. In addition to being a neon enthusiast, Chuck Prophet has long been an essential voice in the San Francisco music scene. Prophet is a prolific songwriter who records and performs with Stephanie Finch in their band Mission Express. Bona-fide Frisco-philes, Prophet and his band often celebrate our town in their music–Prophet’s 2012 album Temple Beautiful is “open love letter” to San Francisco. Those songs later formed the basis for an epic concert-film made at, in our opinion, SF’s most iconic venue: the Great American Music Hall located right here in the TL! Come celebrate the sign and San Francisco in the beating heart of the city! Tickets include food and drinks. This is both a “Sounds of the Tenderloin” live music program and an official event of the Neon Speaks Festival & Symposium, in proud partnership with the Tenderloin Museum . Check out the full schedule in September of events and in-person tours at neonspeaks.org $20 | Register via SF Neon’s Eventbrite Sep 12, 2024 Aug 15 Aug 15, 2024 Sounds of the Tenderloin ft. Voodoo Woman Andrea Horne Aug 15, 2024 Andrea Horne shares stories from her extraordinary life and histories of inspirational Black trans luminaries from the past, interwoven with performances of her favorite jazz standards. Organized in honor of the inaugural celebration of Transgender History Month at the state level, and co-presented by TLM & Transgender District. August 15, 2024 | 6-8pm at the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 Andrea Horne is a repository of trans history and community knowledge. She is a writer, educator, social services worker, social justice advocate, historian, poet, and as the program title suggests, a person with a deep and energized connection to the past and to our ancestors: a “voodoo woman.” Horne channels her many talents and experiences into an evening of storytelling and song for a special Transgender History Month edition of TLM’s ongoing Sounds of the Tenderloin program series, presented in collaboration with the Transgender District. Originally from Los Angeles, Andrea Horne moved to San Francisco at the suggestion of her fabulous friend Sylvester. Her colorful past includes stints as an actress, model, and singer, but importantly she has 40+ years of experience living and working in SF, supporting transgender women in the Bay Area, most recently in a role right here in the Tenderloin at Curry Senior Center. She is a member of the Trans Advisory Committee , part of San Francisco’s Office of Transgender Initiatives, and in 2022 she received SF Pride’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Bayard Rustin Award for her education work in LGBT history. Passionate about Black trans history, Horne is currently writing a book on the subject, with a focus on Black trans women who lived from 1836 to 1936. She possesses a singular, personal, and expansive perspective that illuminates Black trans history from the Tenderloin and beyond. August is Transgender History Month, a month in which Transgender San Franciscans honor the rich history and contributions of transgender historymakers, pioneers, trailblazers, and affirms the ongoing presence of transgender people in San Francisco and around the world. First acknowledged in 2021 by Mayoral Proclamation in San Francisco, this year marks the inaugural celebration of Transgender History Month at the state level, the fruit of years of advocacy on the part of San Francisco’s trans community and allies. Tenderloin Museum is proud to partner again with our neighbors the Transgender District for a celebration of community at the intersection of art and history. This program and the current season of Sounds of the Tenderloin programs are supported by the Specified General Fund for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment. $10 | Register Here NOTAFLOF: email info@tenderloinmuseum.org for assistance Aug 15, 2024 Jul 18 Jul 18, 2024 SF Musicians’ Union History: Integrating the Locals & the Fight Against Segregation Jul 18, 2024 LaborFest returns to TLM for a program about San Francisco’s Musician Union, the historic integration of its Black and white locals in 1960, and the fight against segregation ft. the rare documentary “Commemoration of a Merger” ft. Earl Watkins, Vernon Alley, and other local legends. Thursday July 18, 2024 | 6-8pm At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 In the early 20th century, the Tenderloin was densely packed with clubs, cabarets, theaters, and all sorts of venues that featured live music. Before electric instruments and the proliferation of jukeboxes, bands needed to be BIG to fill the air for the neighborhood’s robust nightlife. So, naturally, the Musician’s Union would build its stately Union Hall for its mighty workforce in the heart of San Francisco’s entertainment district: the Tenderloin. From 1925-1998, American Federation of Musicians AFM Local 6 was headquartered at 230 Jones in a beautiful 20,000 sq. ft. Sylvain Schnaittacher-designed brick building that featured a ballroom, rehearsal spaces, offices, a rec room, and even a cigar stand. Yet despite the glitz and glamor of these high times for the AFM 6, it had a dark side: the union practiced outright segregationist policies, barring African Americans from membership and the better paying gigs in downtown hotels and clubs. LaborFest, San Francisco’s annual month of grassroots labor programs, returns to the Tenderloin Museum for a look at the Musician’s Union history, in particular its fight against segregation and the historic integration of the Local 6 with the Black “subsidiary” Local 669 in 1960. Organized by LaborFest’s Steve Zeltzer and musician Jimmy Kelly, this public program is anchored by a rare documentary made by Zeltzer for the Labor Video Project in 2010, commemorating the 50 year anniversary of the merger of the Local 6 & Black Local 669. A panel discussion/presentation will follow, surveying other accounts and recent scholarship about this critical overture in the Musician’s Union’s history. All this, plus live music, because there must always be a song when musicians gather! Presented in conjunction with LaborFest & AFM. This year, LaborFest is commemorating the 90th anniversary of the historic San Francisco General Strike and the West Coast Maritime Strike in 1934. This strike not only won a union hiring hall for the longshore workers but also led to hundreds of thousands of workers joining unions not just San Francisco but in Northern California. Visit laborfest.net to see the full schedule for this year’s offerings and to learn more/support this SF institution! Register via Humanitix | $10 (NOTAFLOF / email info@tenderloinmuseum.org Jul 18, 2024 Jun 23 Jun 23, 2024 Sunday Streets in the TL w/ DOTCOM & the NOISE Jun 23, 2024 The Sunday Streets Tenderloin Community Block Party transforms Golden Gate Ave. into a car-free community space featuring free recreational activities, health resources, music, dance, and family-friendly fun. Stop by the Tenderloin Museum’s table for local history highlights & a family friendly activity. Sunday June 23, 2024 | 12-5pm | TLM-organized performance by DOTCOM & THE NOISE | 4:20pm Golden Gate Ave. between Hyde & Jones Streets The annual Sunday Streets event gathers a who’s who in the Tenderloin for a walkable, family-friendly street fair highlighting all of the good things happening in the neighborhood. Celebrate with us on June 23rd by coming out to the TL Community Block Party!  From 12-5pm, Golden Gate Ave. between Jones & Hyde will be transformed into a car-free community space featuring fun, free activities provided by local nonprofits, community groups, and small businesses. Along with many friends and neighbors, TLM will be tabling and sharing highlights of the neighborhood’s colorful history. Check out Sunday Streets SF’s website for more info about this particular event and the work of Livable City to  reclaim car-congested streets for community health, transforming them into car-free spaces for all to enjoy. As part of its ongoing Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series, TLM presents a set by DOTCOM & the NOISE on the APICC Stage as the finale to a day full of live entertainment. Dotcom is a talented, Tenderloin based singer & songwriter who performs regularly with iconic TL groups like the GLIDE Ensemble & Skywatchers. Dotcom’s own musical project, DOTCOM & THE NOISE, couples his exuberant, soulful vocal stylings to the grooves and improvisations of a funky jazz ensemble. In collaboration with a four piece band featuring Lise Ramaley (bass), A.C. Lewis (drums), Ben Paul (keys), and Don Ferguson (strings), Dotcom summons a stirring repertoire of classic soul music, channeling the unbridled intensity of Screaming Jay Hawkins, the cool groove of Bill Withers, and the profound beauty of Nina Simone. This live musical performance is made possible by funding from the Specified General Fund for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment. Free! No registration required! Jun 23, 2024 May 30 May 30, 2024 Sylvester, the Queen of San Francisco May 30, 2024 Celebrate disco-soul legend and San Francisco icon Sylvester with the Transgender District and the Tenderloin Museum. Join us for a screening of Unsung: the Sylvester Story (2010), live music by Sylvester collaborators Jeanie Tracy & LZ Love, plus a discussion with Andrea Horne, and Minister Marvin K. White (GLIDE), moderated by the District’s Co-Executive Director Breonna McCree. Thursday May 30, 2024 | 6-9pm At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 In collaboration with the Transgender District, Tenderloin Museum presents Sylvester, the Queen of San Francisco , a public program celebrating the supreme diva of disco with an emphasis on Sylvester’s connections and legacy in the place and community both organizations call home, the city’s Tenderloin/Mid-Market area. We’ll be screening Unsung: Sylvester , a rare 2010 documentary that survey’s Sylvester’s remarkable life story, in conjunction with a live musical tribute by two of Sylvester’s musical collaborators Jeanie Tracy & LZ Love, plus a discussion with both performers, artist, activist, and local historian Andrea Horne, and GLIDE’s Minister Marvin K. White, moderated by the District’s Co-Executive Director Breonna McCree. In addition, Dark Entries Records, Sylvester’s TL-based indie label, and the GLBT Historical Society, home to much of Sylvester’s archival materials, will share rare photos, footage, and ephemera to this celebration. The program is part of the Transgender District’s Empowerment Month, a “time dedicated to fostering growth, resilience, and positive change within our community.” The District’s Empowerment Month is not only a series of events and initiatives but also a commitment to empower each other, lift up voices that may have been marginalized, and create an environment where everyone feels valued, supported, and capable of achieving their goals. The Queen of San Francisco is presented as part of the Tenderloin Museum’s ongoing “Sounds of the Tenderloin,” a series of public programs that seeks to animate the neighborhood’s undersung cultural history through live music. Sylvester’s music remains ubiquitous on dancefloors to this day, and both his personal and artistic legacies draw a line through the milieu of the Tenderloin, the city’s queer underground, its emergent LGBTQ movement, and into the mainstream. Click here to read the full program description. Register via Eventbrite | Free or Suggested Donation ($10 or more!) May 30, 2024 May 25 May 25, 2024 Psyched! Radio SF / TL Music & Arts Fest ft. EX-HEIR, 55 Castles, Bat Noise, & Renee Black May 25, 2024 Psyched! Radio SF, an independent non-profit radio station & prolific promoter of local live music with roots in the TL, hosts its first ever “Tenderloin Music and Arts Festival'' over Memorial Day weekend. TLM is proud to host a Psyched!-curated performance that spans darkwave, goth, minimal synth, and other punk-inflected, genre-defying sounds ft. EX-HEIR, 55 Castles and Bat Noise. At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 Saturday May 25, 2024 | 4-9pm Founded by a diverse group of music lovers, Psyched! Radio SF is an independent 501c3 non profit DIY radio station that also produces live shows, DJ nights, films, music videos, live performances, and short films; Psyched! hums with a punk rock ethos and a hyper-local, community-forward zeitgeist that exemplifies the beauty and diversity of San Francisco’s underground. Many in the Psyched! crew live and maintain their artistic practice(s) right here in the Tenderloin, arguably the heart of SF’s underground, and over Memorial Day Weekend, this radical grassroots media outlet/community formation is producing its first ever “Tenderloin Music and Arts Festival,” a sprawling, neighborhood-wide counter-cultural happening that invites everyone to “unite through music, art, and community, celebrating resilience and advocating for change.” The Tenderloin Museum is honored to take part in the Psyched!’s TL Music and Arts Fest, hosting an evening of live music that bridges punk rock and performance art through a mingling of darkwave, goth, and minimal synth esthetics.  EX-HEIR, 55 Castles, Bat Noise, and Renee Black (DJ set) will perform at TLM for a special Saturday evening public program on the main floor of the museum. This show, like all of Psyched! TL Music & Arts Festival programming, is free and open to the public, supported by a mini-grant from the Tenderloin Community Benefit District by way of SF’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Free! | Register via Eventbrite May 25, 2024 May 11 May 11, 2024 "The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot" Play Open House Block Party May 11, 2024 TLM hosts a block party in Myrtle Alley–the outdoor space adjacent to The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot ’s new venue at 835 Larkin–to gather our community, give friends & neighbors a chance to learn about play’s upcoming production, and request free/sliding community tickets, DJs, live music, and drag performances. May 11, 2024 | 1-4pm Myrtle Alley at Larkin St. Perhaps you’ve heard that a new production of The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot play is in the works? Not only is the Tenderloin Museum bringing this immersive theater piece back to life, and we’ve been working to create a permanent home for the play in a long vacant commercial to create a dedicated venue and truly immersive environment for this powerful story. The space is located in the neighborhood where the eponymous riot went down, on a block of Larkin St. that’s having a resurgence of queer community and queer-owned business like Rosebud Gallery, Moth Belly Gallery, Dark Entries Records, and the Bob Mizer Foundation/The Magazine. The Compton’s creative team has nearly completed the transformation of 835 Larkin St. into the Compton’s Cafeteria, and we’re ready to give people a sneak peek! Powered by a TLCBD Mini-Grant through the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development Tenderloin Museum hosts an Open House & Block Party on the afternoon of May 11th, featuring live music and DJs, drag performances, info and artwork from our neighbors, as well as an opportunity to request free/sliding scale community tickets for when the play officially opens this fall. ft. drag performances by Donna Personna, Shane Zalidvar, Collette LeGrande, Coco Buttah, & Mary Vice + live music by Kippy Marks, Myles Cooper, & Steve Fabus Free! All welcome! May 11, 2024 Apr 26 Apr 26, 2024 Concerts at the Cadillac: James Washington Apr 26, 2024 Pianist James Washington performs a set of jazz standards and improvisations for a special Concert at the Cadillac , presented in collaboration with the Tenderloin Museum as a Sounds of the Tenderloin live music program. Friday April 26, 2024 | 1:00 - 2:00pm At the Cadillac Hotel | 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 Sounds of the Tenderloin & the Concerts at the Cadillac series come together again to produce a performance by James Washington, a talented pianist influenced by classical music and jazz who wields a quiet virtuosity with both standards and improvisations. A lifelong musician, Washington started working at a young age as a ballet accompanist in New Jersey, Boston, New York, and eventually San Francisco. All the while, he was adjacent to the world of jazz, which increasingly informed his musical practice. He developed a playing style with a rich harmonic vocabulary and complex structure that is clear and soulful. His phrasings and touch are limber, as if learned from a dancer. Over the years, Washington has been heard by thousands in San Francisco in clubs, cafes, churches, and hospitals both as a solo performer and in combos. A longtime Tenderloin resident, Washington will share a set of solo music on the grand piano in the heart of the neighborhood–the lobby of the historic Cadillac Hotel on Friday, April 26th in concert with this year’s “I Love Tenderloin Week.” Free! All welcome! No registration required! Apr 26, 2024 Nov 30 Nov 30, 2023 Sounds of the Tenderloin Hyde Street Studios Sessions: Lady Bianca Nov 30, 2023 Sounds of the Tenderloin Hyde Street Studios Sessions: Lady Bianca Thursday November 30, 2023 | performances at 6pm & 7:30pm At Hyde Street Studios | 245 Hyde St, San Francisco, CA 94102 Experience an intimate live performance inside the historic Hyde Street Studios with Lady Bianca, a Grammy-nominated Gospel and R&B vocalist/pianist, artist, producer and band leader who has an extensive discography cut at the TL’s iconic recording studio. As part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series, the Tenderloin Museum presents “Hyde Street Studio Sessions,” an intimate live music experience that gives music lovers and history buffs alike the opportunity to experience a local legend perform inside the iconic recording studio that made the “San Francisco Sound.” The inaugural program features Grammy-nominated Blues, Gospel, and R&B artist Lady Bianca , who has recorded extensively at the historic Tenderloin studio and has assembled a special 6 piece ensemble to share music and stories that survey her illustrious career. Not only will audiences be up close and personal with this Bay Area musical luminary, they will get a behind the scenes glimpse at an active recording studio and the dedicated crew of engineers and musicians that create and sustain musical community in the heart of the Tenderloin. Nestled in what was historically San Francisco’s entertainment district, Hyde Street Studios has been an active recording studio for over 50 years, and throughout that time has stood as a bastion for working musicians, creative collaboration, and independent artistry. Lady Bianca and her band will play two separate sets on the floor of Studio A , Hyde Street’s main live room that drips with vintage vibe and resonates with over 50 years of musical history. The venue is unique, site-specific, and, given the nature of the space, close quarters–there are only 20 seats available for each set! Tickets $25 via Eventbrite Nov 30, 2023 Sounds of the Tenderloin Nov Nov 8, 2023 Sounds of the Tenderloin Tenderloin/Cadillac Neon Sign Lighting Ceremony Nov 8, 2023 Sounds of the Tenderloin Join TLM and SF Neon as we ignite a new, historically-informed neon sign above the entrance to the Tenderloin Museum in San Francisco! Three years in the making, this 25-ft double-sided neon will brighten our corner and serve as both a literal and figurative beacon for the Tenderloin neighborhood. Wednesday November 8, 2023 | 6-7:30pm At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 Our new two-and-a-half-story neon sign is an homage to the old Cadillac Hotel sign, which photographic evidence suggests lit up our community in the 1950s. This new recreation proudly bears the name "Tenderloin" on one side and "Cadillac" on the other, a fusion of history and artistry, illuminating the Tenderloin community and adding to the vibrancy of our neighborhood. No mere replica but a visionary work of art, the Tenderloin/Cadillac neon sign serves as a beacon of hope for the Tenderloin, welcoming visitors, invigorating foot traffic, and adding essential street lighting for the block. After three years of multifaceted planning, which even included successfully advocating for new legislation to create a neon sign district in the Tenderloin, the Tenderloin/Cadillac sign is ready to shine its light on the neighborhood! The project was made possible by support from the San Francisco Community Challenge Grant Program (CCG), Magic Cabinet, as well as by the advocacy of Supervisor Dean Preston, Tenderloin People’s Congress, and the CCSRO Collaborative Land Use Committee. Join us as we come together and celebrate the completion of this new, historically-informed sign that we hope will foster a sense of pride, identity, and belonging for the people of the Tenderloin! The sign lighting ceremony will feature special guest speakers and live music and streetside fanfare by Brass Mafia , plus look for a video projection outside the museum featuring “Lost Neon Landscapes” compiled by SF Neon from the Prelinger Archive. Let us know you’re coming, register for free via Eventbrite Nov 8, 2023 Sounds of the Tenderloin Oct 19 Oct 19, 2023 Sounds of the Tenderloin Hi-NRG: Synths, Porn, Disco and the Life of Patrick Cowley Oct 19, 2023 Sounds of the Tenderloin In honor of electronic music and disco pioneer Patrick Cowley on his birthday, Josh Cheon, founder of Tenderloin-based Dark Entries Records, interviews singer-songwriter and frequent Cowley collaborator Maurice Tani, plus music by DJ Steve Fabus. A revolutionary musician and producer who catalyzed his own style of “Hi-NRG” dance music, Patrick Cowley tapped into the Bay Area’s deep lineage of new, technologically innovative sounds to create music that vividly captures the confluence of a talented man, his place, and his moment. Cowley’s chart-topping collaborations with Sylvester such as “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” immortalized the “San Francisco Sound” and illustrate the indelible influence of queer artists and club culture on the evolution of electronic dance music. To celebrate Cowley’s music and legacy on what would have been his 73rd birthday (October 19), the Tenderloin Museum’s “ Sounds of the Tenderloin ” series hosts an interview between Josh Cheon, founder of Dark Entries Records , and Maurice Tani , a prolific singer songwriter and frequent Cowley collaborator going back to their student days in Gerald Mueller’s Electronic Music Lab at San Francisco City College. Their conversation will be bookended with music by Steve Fabus, who DJ’ed at SF disco hotspots the Trocadero Transfer and Endup in the ‘70s & ‘80s during Cowley’s heyday. $12 General Admission | Register via Eventbrite Oct 19, 2023 Sounds of the Tenderloin Sep 29 Sep 29, 2023 Sounds of the Tenderloin OnSean Zion: A Soulful Celebration Sep 29, 2023 Sounds of the Tenderloin Interdisciplinary artist and Tenderloin resident OnSean Zion premieres a suite of original musical arrangements that showcase his instrumental and orchestration skills learned and honed during his recovery from a period of being unhoused. Friday, September 29, 2023 | 6:30pm-8:00pm At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 In 2005, OnSean Zion was voted the #6 salsa dancer in the world; but struggles with mental and physical illnesses led to him becoming unhoused and derailing his career as a performing artist. His life began to turn around in 2019, however, when he obtained permanent supportive housing in a residential hotel in the Tenderloin, and this stability reinvigorated OnSean’s creative life: he learned how to play 8 instruments, sing, and arrange for large ensembles.  “A Soulful Celebration” is the fruit of OnSean’s studies as well as of his recovery, telling a story of hope, resilience, and transformation. He has assembled an eclectic repertoire that ranges from popular songs, classical melodies, Broadway numbers and spirituals. OnSean personally arranged each musical selection, re-casting these familiar songs with a sound he says is informed by his experiences growing up in Guyana, dancing salsa professionally, and overcoming hardship on the streets of San Francisco. $10 or suggested donation | Register via Eventbrite Sep 29, 2023 Sounds of the Tenderloin Aug 11 Aug 11, 2023 Concerts at the Cadillac: Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers Aug 11, 2023 Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers opens a second season of TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series with a extended set & ensemble for a very special Concert at the Cadillac , the long-running concert series geared to the residents of the historic hotel that is also the physical home of the Tenderloin Museum! Friday August 11, 2023 | 1:00pm - 2:30pm At the Cadillac Hotel | 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 (next door to the Tenderloin Museum) Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers got their start as a band in the late 1980s performing at The Blue Lamp, a long running Tenderloin dive bar that catered to the theater crowd and a hard crowd of local regulars. Ever since, Lavay and bandleader Chris Siebert have cultivated the big band sound in SF, and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers often feature an intergenerational mix of players, the more senior of whom had roots in the Fillmore’s robust jazz scene and who form the bedrock of the jazz community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Many years and career milestones later, Lavay & her band still hold a lot of love for the TL, and on August 11th they’re going to play it out loud at the Cadillac Hotel for an extended Concert at the Cadillac with an extended horn section to create an extra large big band sound! Free | All Welcome | Mask Wearing Required Aug 11, 2023 Jun Jun 4, 2023 Sunday Streets TL Community Block Party ft. The Four Fives Jun 4, 2023 The Sunday Streets Tenderloin Community Block Party will transform Golden Gate Ave. into a car-free community space featuring free recreational activities, health resources, music, dance, and family-friendly fun. Tenderloin Museum will be tabling and presenting a “Sounds of the TL” live music program ft. The Four Fives. Golden Gate Ave. (between Jones & Hyde streets) Sunday June 4, 2023 | 12-5pm Live musical performance by The Four Fives at 3pm It’s the 15th year of Sunday Streets in San Francisco! Celebrate Tenderloin style on June 4th for a Community Block Party–from 12-5pm, Golden Gate Ave. between Jones & Hyde will be transformed into a car-free community space featuring fun, free activities provided by local nonprofits, community groups, and small businesses. Tenderloin Museum will be tabling at the TL Community Block Party sharing neighborhood history, info about upcoming programs, and a “Sounds of the Tenderloin” musical performance by The Four Fives, the brainchild of artists Rasul Grayson and Chris Burch, aka Goya Goon, who’s resplendent 2021 mural “ Jupiter Redding, returned, endowed with everything that this world denied them. ” looks out over the intersection of Turk and Leavenworth in the heart of the TL. Influenced by inherently Black American genres that emerged when music media was limited to 33, 78, and 45 RPM vinyl playback, ‘The Four Fives’ infuse jazz, blues, soul, and hip hop in a way that re-envisions and redesigns the boundaries of hip-hop through poetry and storytelling, with testimony to the ever-evolving ode to Black radical imagination. FREE! Jun 4, 2023 Feb 25 Feb 25, 2023 Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus & Freedom Songs Revival in Concert Feb 25, 2023 San Francisco Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus and Freedom Songs Revival converge for a joint concert that shares the tradition of song in working class culture and surveys their local living canon of labor songs plus a program of civil rights music. Saturday, February 25, 2023 | 3pm - 4:30pm At the Tenderloin Museum 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 Free! Coming together in song is a primal act of solidarity. For those who work and organize workers, songs are powerful units of cultural transmission and tools for building labor movements. Whether from the folkways or on the picket lines, labor songs not only are integral parts of the working class culture that sustained robust union activity in the 19th & 20th centuries but also tell the history of that culture and usher it into the present. Tenderloin Museum welcomes the Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus and Freedom Songs Revival for a joint concert in celebration of Education for Action: California Labor School 1942-1957 ,TLM’s collaborative special exhibit with the Labor Archives at SFSU. Both of these labor choruses have deep roots in the Bay Area’s contemporary community of labor activists (as well as abundant overlap between their members & activities), and are uniquely suited to perform in an homage, continuation, and extension of the choral and labor song traditions practiced by CLS. Feb 25, 2023 Jan 29 Jan 29, 2023 Sounds of the TL at GLIDE: Tenderloin Voices, Destiny Muhammad, & Tiffany Austin Jan 29, 2023 A free musical performance featuring top talents in Bay Area jazz, vocalist Tiffany Austin & Destiny Muhammad, plus Tenderloin Voices , an original song cycle by Larkin Street Youth Artists & Composer/Trumpeter Sarah Wilson. Sunday, January 29, 2023 Doors at 1:45pm | Performances from 2pm - 5pm at GLIDE Memorial Church, 330 Ellis St. SF, CA 94102 Tenderloin Museum is honored to present its “ Sounds of the Tenderloin” live music series in the Glide Memorial Church , a nexus for the history, community, and action that exemplify the Tenderloin’s potential for empowerment and transformation. Featuring an encore performance of the original song cycle Tenderloin Voices alongside sets by harpist Destiny Muhammad and vocalist Tiffany Austin , the program seeks to explore GLIDE’s core values by putting them into musical action. Learn more about these projects and performers here. Entry is free. Registration is encouraged but not required. Please visit: Please note that all attendees will need to wear a mask and provide proof of vaccine for entry. Jan 29, 2023 Jan Jan 5, 2023 Education for Action: Opening Reception & People's Songs Branch Labor Song Sing-a-Long Jan 5, 2023 Inspired by the “People’s Songs Branch” gatherings at the California Labor School, San Francisco’s radical workers’ school with roots in the TL, Tenderloin Museum presents an inclusive group sing-a-long exploring labor songs, work songs, and more. Thursday January 5, 2023 | 5:30-7:30pm At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St, San Francisco, CA 94102 FREE To celebrate the opening of the special exhibit Education for Action: California Labor School, 1942 - 1957 (in collaboration with The Labor Archives and Research Center), Tenderloin Museum is hosting a sing-a-long in lieu of a reception so as to capture the participatory & inquisitive spirit of CLS, explore a wide-open repertoire with of labor songs, and gather with the purpose of singing together. This event will utilize the In Song Sing On songbook, an ever growing collection of well loved and newly loved songs selected by a wide cast of contributors and compiled by artists David Wilson and Colter Jacobsen. Books will be passed around with lyrics, some guitar strummers will help hold the tune, and we will open up our voices toward one another. For this iteration of In Song Sing On, Wilson will be joined by fellow interdisciplinary artist Raphael Villet & will focus on labor songs and songs about work. All are welcome and encouraged to sing and to bring a song to share! Jan 5, 2023 Dec 16 Dec 16, 2022 5th Annual Tenderloin People’s Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony Dec 16, 2022 5th Annual Tenderloin People’s Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony Ft. TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin all star DOTCOM Friday December 16, 2022 | 5pm At Boeddeker Park (corner of Eddy & Jones) Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to be a part of the 5th Annual Tenderloin People’s Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony at Boeddeker Park! Organized by the Tenderloin People’s Congress with TNDC, SF Recreation & Parks, the TLCBD, & Friends of Boeddeker Park, this holiday gathering is an opportunity for the neighborhood to come together and celebrate the season. The event will feature performances (& food!) by several of the Tenderloin organizations, as well as appearances from State Senator Scott Wiener & D5 Supervisor Dean Preston. The Tenderloin Museum has arranged for one of the standout musicians featured in our Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series, DOTCOM , to perform a couple of songs in the program! DOTCOM was a longtime member (& celebrated soloist) in the GLIDE choir and recently captivated the audience at the Dodge Alley Block Party with his band, The Noise. All this, AND Santa Claus. Join us for this special Tenderloin holiday tradition! The program begins at 5pm. Dec 16, 2022 Dec 15 Dec 15, 2022 Obryzon: Sounds of the Tenderloin at Dodge Alley Dec 15, 2022 The Tenderloin Museum presents funky Cuban jazz ensemble Obryzon in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. Thursday December 15, 2022 Performance 6-7pm; Block Party from 5-8pm Dodge Place, San Francisco, CA 94102 Free! Outdoors! Over the course of a year of Sounds of the Tenderloin , one face appeared again and again in the bands booked to pay homage to the TL’s legendary nightlife and music scene by activating the neighborhood with live music: Obrayan Calderon. Originally from the province of Mayabeque in the Municipality of Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba, Calderon is an accomplished trombonist, pianist, percussionist and singer who has recorded extensively and toured internationally with several Cuban popular orchestras (Adalberto Alvarez y du Son, Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco, and Juan Carlos Alfonzo y su Dan Den) as well as with many Bay Area musical luminaries (Jesus Diaz, John Santos, Fantastic Negrito). For the final Dodge Alley Block Party of the year, Obrayan Calderon will present his own group, Obryzon, that mixes Afro-Cuban sounds with some of the styles and influences he’s picked up as one of the Bay’s hardest working horn players. This performance is one of several Thursday night activations organized by the TLCBD to transform Dodge Place, a neglected alleyway in the Tenderloin, into a healthy and aesthetically positive community experience for nearby families and seniors. Dec 15, 2022 Nov 17 Nov 17, 2022 Agua Pura: Sounds of the Tenderloin at Dodge Alley Nov 17, 2022 The Tenderloin Museum presents Agua Pura in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. Thursday November 17, 2022 Performance 6-7pm | Block Party from 5-8pm Dodge Place, San Francisco, CA 94102 Free! Outdoors! Agua Pura is a San Francisco based all femme salsa band founded on the idea of diversity and inclusivity. Invoking “divine energy,” this 10-piece ensemble plays a stirring mix of Afro-Latinx musical styles: cumbia, rumba, and son. Their shows are electrifying and infectious, and a joy and passion for the music is palpable on the dancefloor as well as the bandstand. Agua Pura exploded onto the city’s live music scene during the strange era of loosening pandemic restrictions, establishing their prowess through weekly gigs at Radio Habana in the Mission as well as residencies at mainstays for SF’s best gigging musicians like Madrone Art Bar & The Rite Spot. Agua Pura performs with great frequency and it shows–the band is tight!--but in addition to an abundance of talent, the group’s enthusiasm for making music together is evident, whether in the club or out on the street. Featuring Rebecca Rodriguez on congas/vocals, Mena Ramos on timbales, Esther Isabel Santamaria on bongo/hand percussion/vocals, Amanda Magaña on hand percussion/vocals, Lily Stern on bass/vocals, Luna Celi on keys/vocals, Kyana Orellana on trumpet, Gaby Aldaz on trombone, Eos Black on baritone sax/vocals, Jackie Corona on hand percussion/vocals. Join us and the residents of Dodge Place to reclaim this alleyway for the community, socialize with friends & neighbors, and move to the music of una divina banda del sabor: Agua Pura! All are welcome at Dodge Place on Thursday, November 17th from 5-8pm, with the musical performance from 6-7pm. Free to attend; food & drink by Shovels Bar & Grille available for purchase. Nov 17, 2022 Oct 27 Oct 27, 2022 ELeNA: Sounds of the Tenderloin at Dodge Alley Oct 27, 2022 The Tenderloin Museum presents 10-piece reggae band ELeNA in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. Thursday October 27, 2022 Performance 6-7pm; Block Party from 5-8pm Dodge Place, San Francisco, CA 94102 Free! Outdoors! ELeNA is the musical project of David Saenz, a familiar face in the Tenderloin because of his many years producing and engineering records at the historic Hyde Street Studios. ELeNA’s sound is rooted in reggae music, but this high-energy 10-piece outfit traverses ska, cumbia, latin jazz and hip hop with a punk rock edge. Lyrically, the band discusses the worlds’ social political and ecological problems, interpersonal relationships issues, and love. This performance is one of several Thursday night activations organized by the TLCBD to transform Dodge Place, a neglected alleyway in the Tenderloin, into a healthy and aesthetically positive community experience for nearby families and seniors. The October 27th block party sports a “Carnival Night” theme, so in addition to live music, TLCBD will be hosting a variety of activities and games such as bingo, a ping-pong tournament, air hockey, skeeball, ring toss, basketball, & arcade games. Join us and the residents of Dodge Place to reclaim this alleyway for the community, socialize with friends & neighbors, and rock with the big band champion sound of ELeNA! Oct 27, 2022 Oct 16 Oct 16, 2022 Sunday Streets Phoenix Day with The Kangaroo Trio (Thomas Pridgen) Oct 16, 2022 Sunday Streets Phoenix Day with The Kangaroo Trio (Thomas Pridgen) Sunday October 16, 2022 | 1pm - 4pm 200 Golden Gate Ave. San Francisco, CA 94102 Sunday Streets Phoenix Day returns for a second year, activating neighborhoods across the entire city with block parties, slow streets, activities provided by local nonprofits, community groups and small businesses. Tenderloin Museum will be on the 200 block of Golden Gate Avenue with an info table and a couple of sets of instrumental groove, hip-hop, and jazz-adjacent jams by The Kangaroo Trio. Bandleader Thomas Pridgen is a GRAMMY award winner, has drummed with The Coup, Mars Volta, Christian Scott, Thundercat, Trash Talk, & Residente (amongst many others), and has a prolific recording career including a spot on the recent Lizzo & Cardi B smash “Rumors.” He’s also a regular at the Tenderloin’s Black Cat jazz supper club and frequents the neighborhood’s historic Hyde Street Recording Studios. On Sunday, Pridgen brings his sound out into the Tenderloin streets for Phoenix Day 2022 for a special performance as The Kangaroo trio. This Sunday Streets Phoenix Day 2022 is part of the Tenderloin Museum’s Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series, generously funded by Hardly Strictly Bluegrass FREE event | All ages welcome! Learn more about Sunday Street’s Phoenix Day and find a full list of activities at: https://www.sundaystreetssf.com/phoenixday/ Oct 16, 2022 Oct Oct 1, 2022 – Oct 2, 2022 Hyde Street Studios Anniversary Concert Oct 1, 2022 – Oct 2, 2022 Tenderloin Museum Hyde Street Studios announce the Hyde Street Studios Anniversary Concert to celebrate the legacy of creative collaboration, musical diversity, and sonic innovation in the neighborhood. Saturday October 1, 2022 | 8pm-12:30am Alcazar Theater: 650 Geary St. San Francisco, CA 94102 $25 | Tickets via Eventbrite Ages 21+ Presented as part of TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin series and a Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Out of the Park concert, the program features a range of talent who have recorded at the studio performing their music live at the Alcazar Theater. Featuring Jimmie Dale Gilmore , co-founder of Texas based alt-country forefathers The Flatlanders, local alt-rocker Forrest Day & jazz master Richard Howell, a “Hyde Street Revue” featuring Hop Sauce Chris von Sneidern Pamela Parker’s Fantastic Machine , & Michael Ward with Dogs and Fishes . A “superjam” closes out the night, an homage to the free spirited musical trips that defined the studio’s legendary reputation and unique sound. Oct 1, 2022 – Oct 2, 2022 Sep 25 Sep 25, 2022 Lavender Country & Brontez Purnell: Sounds of the Tenderloin at The Phoenix Hotel Sep 25, 2022 Tenderloin Museum presents Lavender Country & Brontez Purnell in concert at the Phoenix Hotel as part of the Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series. September 25, 2022 | 3 - 6pm 601 Eddy St, San Francisco, CA 94109 $12 | Tickets via Eventbrite This program brings together two maverick, transgressive artists–one a country singer, the other a punk rocker–whose performance practices resound with the iconoclasm & resistance that evince the glimmer in the Tenderloin’s grit. The venue shares in that spirit, too: the 1950’s-era motor court hotel is a shangri-la in the central city, and has long been the preferred boarding house of bands traveling through SF thanks to its tour bus parking and proximity to iconic venues and studios. A rock and roll vibe is evident at the Phoenix Hotel, and music history practically seeps out of the walls and floats in the pool. Sep 25, 2022 Sep 22 Sep 22, 2022 Free Press Music: Sounds of the Tenderloin at Dodge Alley Sep 22, 2022 The Tenderloin Museum presents Free Press Music in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. Thursday September 22, 2022 Performance 6-7pm; Block Party from 5-8pm Dodge Place, San Francisco, CA 94102 Free! Outdoors! Free Press Music is a Filipina American led San Francisco based music collective with roots in soul, jazz, blues and improvisation. Vocalist/songwriter Christie Aida and her group conjure a deep and dynamic repertoire that constellates sounds from around the globe. Singing in Spanish, Tagalog, English and French, Aida deftly interweaves her wide ranging influences to create a delightful and surprising mix of classics, deep cuts, and original numbers. Those originals often are informed by her sensitivity and advocacy for community organizing, social justice, and housing as a human right. As such, the stories, struggles, and everyday life experiences of Tenderloin and SOMA residents, in particular Filipinos and other communities of color, crop up in FPM’s music; for example, the narrative of the Tenderloin Museum’s physical home, the Cadillac Hotel, is the subject of a song “Reality House.” The song celebrates the residents and the history of the Cadillac, including one resident who practices harm reduction by using Narcan regularly to help others in crisis. Sep 22, 2022 Aug 25 Aug 25, 2022 Banda Sin Nombre: Sounds of the Tenderloin at Dodge Alley Aug 25, 2022 The Tenderloin Museum presents Banda Sin Nombre in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. Thursday August 25, 2022 Performance 6-7pm | Block Party from 5-8pm Dodge Place, SF, CA 94102 Free! Outdoors! Banda Sin Nombre combines folk music from around the world with performance art, drag, and dance. Their singular synthesis of everything from Peruvian chicha to Catalan rumba and Appalachian old time to cumbia sonifies the wide open spirit of multiculturalism exemplified in the Tenderloin and San Francisco at large. With creative roots in San Francisco’s Mission District, the band features rich vocal harmonies with acoustic instruments including guitar, fiddle, charango, jarana, cajon, upright bass, and saxophone. This performance is one of several Thursday night activations organized by the TLCBD to transform Dodge Place, a neglected alleyway in the Tenderloin, into a healthy and aesthetically positive community experience for nearby families and seniors. It’s also part of TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin series, which animates the neighborhood’s undersung cultural history through live performances that explore, deepen, and complicate participants’ understanding of Tenderloin history while supporting local working musicians and creating accessible cultural activities for the neighborhood residents. Aug 25, 2022 Aug 19 Aug 19, 2022 Concerts at the Cadillac: Dave Casini Latin Jazz Quartet Aug 19, 2022 The Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to host the Dave Casini Latin Jazz Quartet at the Concerts at the Cadillac , a free concert series open to the public that, since 2007, has provided high-quality music for the residents of the Cadillac Hotel and San Francisco's Tenderloin District. Friday August 19, 2022 | 1:00pm - 2:00pm *this show takes place at the Cadillac Hotel! 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 About the Dave Casini Latin Jazz Quartet: Dave Casini has been playing jazz in the Bay Area for 50 years. He released two albums of his compositions in 2019, is on CDs with Tribu, Octobop, as well as 9 videos at the Cadillac Hotel. While the pandemic has limited gigging, Dave is the vibist with Primavera Latin Jazz, Joel Dorham’s Latin Jazz Octet, Orion’s Joy of Jazz and drummer with the Bob Roden Quintet. Dave has played multiple performances at the SF Jazz Festival, the San Jose Jazz Festival, Yoshi’s and the Fillmore. FREE Open to the public | Mask wearing required Aug 19, 2022 Aug 13 Aug 13, 2022 Blackhawk Block Party: Exploring the legacy of jazz in the Tenderloin Aug 13, 2022 Tenderloin Museum presents an homage to one of San Francisco’s most storied jazz clubs in a day-long mini music festival featuring performances by Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers SF Recovery Theater , plus a community-based music production, Tenderloin Voices , by Bay Area jazz composer, trumpeter and singer Sarah Wilson produced by the Tenderloin Museum in collaboration with Larkin Street Youth Services Skywatchers , and Tenderloin writer Lyzette Wanzer . Presented as part of Sounds of the Tenderloin , a series of TLM public programs that animate the neighborhood’s undersung cultural history through live music (made possible by generous support from Hardly Strictly Bluegrass ). Saturday August 13, 2022 12:30 - 5pm; Music starts at 1pm Location: Dodge Place SF, CA 94102 (SE corner of Turk at Larkin) FREE Aug 13, 2022 Jul 21 Jul 21, 2022 DOTCOM & THE NOISE: Sounds of the Tenderloin at Dodge Alley Jul 21, 2022 The Tenderloin Museum presents DOTCOM & THE NOISE in concert at Dodge Alley as part of its Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series and in collaboration with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. DOTCOM & THE NOISE: Sounds of the Tenderloin at Dodge Alley Thursday July 21, 2022 Performance 6-7pm | Block Party from 5-8pm Dodge Place, SF, CA 94102 Free! Outdoors! All are welcome at Dodge Place on Thursday, July 21st from 5-8pm, with the musical performance from 6-7pm. Free to attend; food & drink by Shovels Bar & Grille available for purchase. Tenderloin Museum’s Sounds of the Tenderloin series animates the neighborhood’s undersung cultural history through live performances that explore, deepen, and complicate participants’ understanding of Tenderloin history while supporting local working musicians and creating accessible cultural activities for the neighborhood residents. Support for this event and TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series generously provided by Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Jul 21, 2022 Jul 15 Jul 15, 2022 Concerts at the Cadillac: Renegade Orchestra Jul 15, 2022 The Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to host Renegade Orchestra at the Concerts at the Cadillac , a free concert series open to the public that, since 2007, has provided high-quality music for the residents of the Cadillac Hotel and San Francisco's Tenderloin District. Friday July 15, 2022 | 1:00pm - 2:00pm *this show takes place at the Cadillac Hotel! 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 About Renegade Orchestra: Welcome to the Renegade Orchestra–it’s time to throw out all the old conventions of a quiet, sleepy, stuffy show of musicians locked in straight jackets of tradition. Clap your hands, tap your feet, and yell all you want–the Renegade Orchestra embraces the virtuosic skills of top bay area musicians and turns them loose on songs orchestras have never or maybe shouldn’t do. FREE Open to the public | Mask wearing required Jul 15, 2022 Jul Jul 2, 2022 Sounds of the Tenderloin: Rent Romus & David Boyce at The Tenderloin National Forest Jul 2, 2022 The Tenderloin Museum & The Tenderloin National Forest are thrilled to co-present Rent Romus and David Boyce for a special afternoon of live music at the Luggage Store Gallery’s enchanting and intimate community arts space, The Tenderloin National Forest. This free show is part of our “ Sounds of the Tenderloin ” program series which aims to animate the neighborhood’s undersung cultural history through live music. Saturday July 2nd, 2022 | 2:30 pm This double header of sonic explorers pays homage to the expansive legacy of experimental, and improvised music in the Bay Area and in particular the scene’s robust and dynamic node in the Tenderloin. The TL’s longest running venue for these sounds has been the Luggage Store Gallery’s artist run Creative Music Series, which has hosted new music of all stripes and skill levels weekly since 1991. Improvisor/composer Rent Romus has curated the series since 2002, and to celebrate this pillar of the new music scene in SF, TLM has invited Romus to perform in the captivating space that is the Tenderloin National Forest. Romus’ group, Lords of Outland, will be paired with Black Edgar (David Boyce), for an epic afternoon trip through the outer and inner reaches of sonic headspace. Note! This event takes place at The Tenderloin National Forest: 501 Ellis St. SF, CA 94109 FREE Jul 2, 2022 Jun Jun 3, 2022 Concerts at the Cadillac: The Jeffrey Chin Trio Jun 3, 2022 The Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to host The Jeffrey Chin Trio at the Concerts at the Cadillac , a free concert series open to the public that, since 2007, has provided high-quality music for the residents of the Cadillac Hotel and San Francisco's Tenderloin District. Friday June 3, 2022 | 1:00pm - 2:00pm *this show takes place at the Cadillac Hotel! 380 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102 About the Jeffrey Chin Trio: Pianist, composer, and recording artist Jeffrey Chin has been playing piano since the age of six, when he began his formal musical training in classical piano under the tutelage of Julia McCaslin and Samuel Rodetsky. During that time, he won numerous scholarships and awards, performing regularly in many open competitions and recitals. He eventually branched out and taught himself to play many other styles and types of music, including what would eventually turn out to be his passion...jazz. Jeffrey currently owns and runs his own recording studio production company music publishing company and independent record label . Past touring, recording and performance credits include: Sylvester and the Two Tons Of Fun, Lenny Williams (Tower of Power), Chris Issak, Teddy Pendergrass, Ray Charles, Dolly Parton, Oracle, Adobe, KRON, KMEL, the San Francisco 49ers, and countless others. FREE Open to the public | Mask wearing required Jun 3, 2022 May 26 May 26, 2022 Flipper, The Mutants, & Longshoremen at Great American Music Hall May 26, 2022 Tenderloin Museum and Great American Music Hall co-present Flipper (ft. Fletcher from The Garden on vocals), The Mutants, & Longshoremen together for a special evening of live music that celebrates punk’s under documented roots in the Tenderloin and its crossover with the edgy performance art world of the 1980s. Thursday May 26, 2022 | Doors at 7pm, Show at 8pm *show takes place at Great American Music Hall! 859 O’Farrell St. SF, CA 94109* Regular performers at the Sound of Music (on 162 Turk St. in the TL), Flipper conjured an intense, slowed down, heavier than hell sound that was idiosyncratic for its time and developed an influential cult following that included bands like the Melvins and Nirvana. Flipper’s TL bona fides run deep: not only did they frequent the Sound of Music, they practiced across the street at Turk St. Studios, and cut records at Hyde Street Studio. Also on the bill: SF punk legends The Mutants and “cryptic poetry damage vocal trio” the Longshoremen. The Mutants brought a raucous theatricality to punk music, and their songs oozed with zany wit that captured the zeitgeist of American counterculture in the late ‘70s & early ‘80s. Fronted by a spoken word artist named Dog, the Longshoremen ushered the spirit of Beat poetry into the punk generation. Don’t miss this rare chance to see a trio of titans from SF’s early punk scene in the TL’s most iconic venue, the Great American Music Hall! $28 advance tickets available online here or in person at the GAMH box office (no fees) | $33 at the door May 26, 2022 Apr 14 Apr 14, 2022 Blackwell’s Black Hawk: An Evening of Painting, Poetry, & Performance Art Apr 14, 2022 Blackwell pays homage to the lively San Francisco jazz culture with an evening of live painting, live music, poetry, and performance art. April 14th 2022 | 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM PST Visual artist, poet, and playwright Charles Blackwell pays homage to the lively San Francisco jazz culture with Blackwell’s Black Hawk: Painting, Poetry, Performance Art , a multimedia happening inspired by jazz music’s spirit of invention and collaboration. Informed by the Bohemian mash-ups and after hours jam sessions of the ‘40s and ‘50s, as well as by Blackwell’s nearly two decades of creating art at the Hospitality House Community Arts Program, Blackwell’s Black Hawk integrates the artist’s poetry and painting practices with a small jazz ensemble featuring musicians David Byrd (sax), Russell Brown (guitar), Ollie Dudek (bass), and the dancer Andreína Maldonado. Responding to and providing visual accompaniment to the live music, Blackwell stages an up-close and semi-improvised encounter with jazz music and jazz musicians, subject matter central to both his visual art and his poetry practice. Tenderloin Museum is honored to host Blackwell’s work across several mediums–painting, poetry, and performance–as part of TLM’s Sounds of the Tenderloin live music series, generously funded by Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Blackwell’s Black Hawk is an in-person event and space will be limited; vaccination and booster (if eligible) will be required to attend, as will mask wearing. Free or $10 suggested donation; sign up via Eventbrite here Free | Suggested donation of $10. Register Here: Apr 14, 2022 Apr 10 Apr 10, 2022 Sunday Streets Second Line with MJ’s Brass Boppers Apr 10, 2022 Sunday Streets SF returns to the Tenderloin for an afternoon of fun for the whole family on over a mile of car-free streets, featuring a second line procession with the Bay’s best New Orleans style brass band, MJ’s Brass Boppers. Sun, April 10, 2022 | 11:00 AM – 4 PM PST Second Line starts at 12PM on the corner of Ellis & Leavenworth Sunday Streets returns to the Tenderloin on Sunday, April 10th, and the Tenderloin Museum is celebrating with a second line processional along the route with live music by MJ’s Brass Boppers, a nine-piece brass band with the authentic New Orleans sound and roots in the TL. Join us and the whole neighborhood for a funky stroll through the TL! All are welcome and encouraged to march along with the band, dance, and sing along; music starts at 12pm on the corner of Ellis and Leavenworth, and the band will process along the Sunday Streets route along Ellis, Larkin, and will conclude at Golden Gate and Leavenworth at 2pm. FREE Learn more here: Apr 10, 2022