Jeff Kazor
- Music Department
- Composer
Jeff Kazor founded his groundbreaking and internationally influential band The Crooked Jades in San Francisco in 1994, recording 9 albums and touring the US, Europe and the UK playing festivals including Rudolstadt World Music Fest in Germany, Hebridean Celtic Festival in Scotland, Belfast Festival at Queens in Ireland, Calgary Folk Festival in Canada and (Hardly) Strictly Bluegrass, Merlefest, and Strawberry Festivals in the US. The Crooked Jades have showcased at SXSW, Folk Alliance and IBMA, been profiled on the PBS art magazine SPARK, and chosen by prestigious UK folk music magazine fRoots as one of 10 bands representing the best of Americana. Live radio performances include BBC in Scotland, England and Ireland and NPR in the US. Jeff also co-founded the grassroots San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival in 1999.
A producer, musicologist and composer - as well as multi-instrumentalist, magnetic vocalist and performer - Kazor created the soundtrack to the award-winning PBS documentary film "Seven Sisters: A Kentucky Portrait" (2000) and produced music selected by Sean Penn for "Into the Wild" (2007). Most recently, Kazor explored new frontiers in a collaboration with the critically-acclaimed New York modern dance choreographer Kate Weare and Company. "Bright Land" premiered to sold-out shows at New York's Joyce Theater and later at San Francisco's ODC Theater, featuring the Kate Weare Company dancers accompanied by The Crooked Jades. Eventually this ambitious project evolved into "Worlds on Fire" co-directed by ODC's founder Brenda Way, which premiered at San Francisco's Y.B.C.A. Theater in 2019. This unprecedented collaboration of modern dance paired with old-time music dramatized the cyclical nature of human experience with piercing, powerful choreography and fiery, soulful live music.
A producer, musicologist and composer - as well as multi-instrumentalist, magnetic vocalist and performer - Kazor created the soundtrack to the award-winning PBS documentary film "Seven Sisters: A Kentucky Portrait" (2000) and produced music selected by Sean Penn for "Into the Wild" (2007). Most recently, Kazor explored new frontiers in a collaboration with the critically-acclaimed New York modern dance choreographer Kate Weare and Company. "Bright Land" premiered to sold-out shows at New York's Joyce Theater and later at San Francisco's ODC Theater, featuring the Kate Weare Company dancers accompanied by The Crooked Jades. Eventually this ambitious project evolved into "Worlds on Fire" co-directed by ODC's founder Brenda Way, which premiered at San Francisco's Y.B.C.A. Theater in 2019. This unprecedented collaboration of modern dance paired with old-time music dramatized the cyclical nature of human experience with piercing, powerful choreography and fiery, soulful live music.