An elite team of instrumental outlaws, The Jazz Mafia has taken many shapes since its inception, the most notable of which is certainly The Shotgun Wedding Quintet. Fresh off their nationwide tour with hip-hop stalwarts Zion I & The Grouch, and having backed many other music rebels in the studio and on the stage: Beck, Digital Underground, Lyrics Born, Carlos Santana, Mixmaster Mike, and Q-Bert, The Shotgun Wedding Quintet have recorded twelve new tales of San Francisco's underworld. "Tales From The Barbary Coast", the group's sophomore album, is a Bay Area themed record with red-light district saloon-seedy stories in sync with the vibe of the California Gold Rush days where San Francisco's Barbary Coast got its name, but executed with all the edge of right now. Forming in 2003, The Shotgun Wedding Quintet has worked to create an illicit blend of hip hop and jazz that's rooted in tradition, but is ever looking forward. Each member of the band is a multi-instrumentalist, making use of samplers and looping-techniques to create a wall of sound as band members shift from instrument to instrument building continuous layers of music and rhythm. As a result, this 4-piece ensemble creates the sound of a 10-piece group that is equal parts big-band and boom-bap, paying homage to the art of improvisation both lyrically and instrumentally.

St. Tropez is an eclectic indie rock band based in Oakland, California. Band members Sanjay Vora (vocals, guitar, keys), Akiyoshi Ehara (bass), and Jeremy Fisch (drums) make music that explores memories and the simultaneous joy and melancholy we experience contemplating passing moments which are gone forever.

Although some recognizable elements of shoegaze and chillwave run through the band's songs, St Tropez's focus on unusual time signatures and eclectic percussion helps create a sound that can't be easily categorized. Vora's wistful vocals and hazy reverbed out guitar sit on top of rhythms which
draw from Afrobeat, Indian classical music, hip hop and old school dub as much as straight ahead rock. Thematically, St Tropez explores memories and how they make us feel, the simultaneous joy and melancholy we experience contemplating happy moments that are gone forever.

The band has been busy for the past year developing and recording their material. All songs have been self recorded and produced. With a seven song CD and the live set ready to go, 2012 is the year St Tropez breaks out of the rehearsal space and brings it to the people.