Peter Apfelbaum & Sparkler

Legendary Berkeley-born, now New York-based saxophonist/keyboardist/composer Peter Apfelbaum brings his latest band, Sparkler, back to the Bay Area for its second time at the Ivy Room. Featuring fellow Bay Area natives Natalie Cressman (trombone/bass/vocals), Jill Ryan (sax/flute/vocals), Will Bernard (guitar) Erika Oba (keyboards/flute) and Josh Jones (drums/percussion), Sparkler combines playfully offbeat songs, hyper-rhythmic poetry and electronica with the heavily-layered, world jazz-driven sound which Apfelbaum has become known for with his longstanding big band, Hieroglyphics. The band will perform excerpts from The Ambidextrous Nature of the Universe (commissioned by the Newport Jazz Festival in 2016) as well as songs from their forthcoming debut album, Excess.