San Gabriel Seven is an instrumental Progressive Funk band with tight horns, a killer rhythm section, and great arrangements - both original and clever new takes on familiar jazz standards. We are based in the Los Angeles area but perform across the nation and regularly feature such greats as Nick Mancini and Eric Marienthal. You can buy our CDs here on our website or on most digital music outlets such as Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, etc.  
 
We are also available for private parties!  Contact us for more information.



8/25/2021

For those of you that missed an incredible show...





7/26/2021

CD Release Party

"Time To Stay," featuring Andrea Miller

Sunday August 22, 6PM




Coming up in October SG7 will be back at the Texas Jazz Festival.




3/10/21


Looks like a recording is soon to happen.

12/18/20

SG7 is proud to announce the completion of our 11th full length album release - TIME TO STAY featuring 10 original compositions by the AMAZING Andrea Miller.

Final mixing and mastering are complete and we are in the release process.  A preview of the tracks can be found in on our Audio page here.

https://sites.google.com/a/sgsjazz.com/san-gabriel-jazz/home/Border_Graphic.jpg?attredirects=0


9/3/2020

Super funky sweet soul San Gabriel 7 – Red Dress

Super funky sweet soul San Gabriel 7 – RED DRESS:  What an absolutely pleasant surprise… if you grew up on the kind of music I did, you’ll find their super funky sweet soul totally satisfying.  I didn’t find any LIVE videos, but you’ll find this entire album available when you SUBSCRIBE to their YouTube topic channel, or by clicking below…

The feature vocalist, Femi Knight, keeps it all REALLY rockin’ on songs like the high-energy “West Indian Brown“… great bass lines, keyboard & horns groove ya’ right ON out into the soul-sphere… DJ’s will be running this on their playlists for eons!

I absolutely DUG the keyboards on the 5:43 “Stranger“, and Femi’s vocal took me way back to the excellent soul offerings of the ’70’s and ’80’s… you’ll be spinning this superb song over & over again, I’ve no doubt.

Experience tells us that we really, REALLY don’t be on the receiving end “When A Woman’s Had Enough“… Femi digs right down into your soul on her performance of Shemekia Copeland’s excellent tune; the guitar leads on this one just SMOKE!

Lots of players in San Gabriel 7, too many to itemize here, so check out their BIO page to see who all is part of this totally dynamic group… their live performance on B.B. King’s “Never Make Your Move Too Soon” was an easy pick for my personal favorite of the nine soulful songs offered up… one of the best interpretations of this song I’ve ever heard.

I give San Gabriel 7 a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating, with an “EQ” (energy quotient) score of 4.98.  Get more information on their SGSjazz website.     Rotcod Zzaj

Contemporary Fusion Reviews



9/2/2020

SAN GABRIEL SEVEN

Featuring Femi Knight, Red Dress

As you groove to the tight, ultra-brassy, super-funky soul-jazz poppin’ from the grooves, melodies and vibrant arrangements of San Gabriel 7’s nonstop party album Red Dress, it might seriously bug you that the ever-evolving collective – formed by trombonist and JPL spacecraft engineer Jim Lewis in 2006 – has a ton of under the radar releases you’ll now have to catch up on as they, the words of pianist/producer Chris Gordon, “bring our music to a larger audience outside of the (SoCal) region.” 

Yet it’s best to let those frustrations go and just jam along with Dave Cushman’s alternately sensual and high-octane arrangements performed dynamically by the seven-piece rhythm section and five-piece horn section comprised of some of the West Coast’s most storied studio and touring jazz musicians. When Cushman took over the arranging from Lewis after the latter did an 18-month stint in Afghanistan ten years ago, he shifted the group’s dynamics to go down two different paths – recording instrumental albums featuring his arrangements and producing compelling vocal albums featuring the compositions and lead vocals of a chosen singer.

On Red Dress, the towering, R&B-jazz leaning singer we’re blessed with is Femi Knight, a well-rounded veteran best known for her long association with Sergio Mendes. When you hear her sashaying over the simmering horns of her jam “The Next Best Thing,” tapping into the punchy, exotic and gospel spiritual energies of “West Indian Brown” (featuring Chad Edwards’ high altitude B-3 ) or telling her lover some hard truths on the simmering funk tune “I’m Going Home Tonight,” you might wonder where she’s been all your smooth soul loving life. Because if she’s been behind the scenes or backing other legends, she should keep on emerging to the center stage she takes here.

Knight also brings her towering and insightful emotional presence to two freewheeling performances she recorded with SG7 at the Cal Tech Jazz Festival – Bettye LaVette’s raw and sassy “When A Women’s Had Enough” and Stix Hooper’s rolling, jangling feel good blues romp “Never Make Your Move Too Soon.” It shouldn’t have taken this long or us to discover the high-octane charms of San Gabriel 7 and Femi Knight, but now that we have, let the gratitude swell so that they combine their explosive forces again in the near future.




9/1/2020

A review of our "Red Dress" CD featuring Femi Knight.

"SAN GABRIEL 7/Red Dress: Grabbing a hold of a Sergio Mendes
sidekick, the funky rocket scientist cranks it up for album 10 and
seems more intent about getting the word out about the funky goings
on at Caltech when no one is looking. A nice roll up of jazz,
soul and funk, this is the night on the town too many of us have been
missing the last several months. A sure fire way to get you stepping."



8/25/2020

Getting ready to record more Andrea Miller songs.





6/15/2020

SG7 is proud to announce that we will be collaborating with singer/songwriter Andrea Miller for an album of all original material.  Principal recording starts 6/18/2020.  Chris Gordon will produce this album with Dave Cushman arranging. 


                                                                             





6/10/2020

SG7 is very proud to announce the release of our 10th album featuring singer/songwriter Femi Knight. This album was produced by Chris Gordon with arrangements by Dave Cushman and contains all original material written by Femi.  It will be available June 20th at all music outlets.
 
                                                                           
    
 

Scheduled Performances:

Texas Jazz Festival - Two Shows Only - October 18th & 19th 







6/4/2019


A copy/paste from Chris Gordon on Facebook

----

I want to thank my friend, James Lewis, a University of Alabama Jazz Ensemble alumnus, NASA engineer, military hero, leader of The San Gabriel Seven, one of the very best jazz groups in Los Angeles, and owner of JRL-SGS Records! As I sit and listen to just how much world-class music Jim has given the jazz world, I am stunned by his recording legacy and just how significant his contribution is and has already been as he continues to sponsor, create and produce quality jazz. I include here only a sample of the diversity of The San Gabriel Seven’s recordings and the JRL-SGS Records catalogue! Thank you Jim for making great music!!

 

 

Buy some of this group’s music and support independent jazz!!

 


11/22/2018

Just in time for Christmas, SG7 is releasing its long anticipated Christmas online-only CD, “Cool Yule”!

A slight departure from the usual SG7 Progressive Funk, “Cool Yule” is a collection of Christmas songs for mass consumption.



Musicians:
            • Kye Palmer – Trumpet & Flugel 
            • Glen Berger – Alto & Tenor Sax 
            • Alex Budman – Alto & Tenor Sax 
            • James Lewis - Trombone 
            • Steve Gregory – Guitar 
            • Matt Weisberg – Keyboard 
            • Jonathan Pintoff – Bass 
            • Randy Drake - Drums

With special help from vocalists:
              • Daisy Thomas
              • Loren Smith
              • Antonio Barton
              • Hillary Novak
              • Ingrid James

"Cool Yule" CD Tracks:
            1. White Christmas
            2. The Christmas Song (featuring Glen Berger)
            3. This Christmas (featuring Loren Smith)
            4. Silver Bells (featuring Kye Palmer)
            5. Frosty The Snowman (featuring Daisy Thomas)
            6. Christmas Time Is Here (featuring Jim Lewis)
            7. Merry Christmas Baby (featuring Hillary Novak)
            8. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
            9. Merry Christmas Darling (featuring Ingrid James)
            10. What Christmas Means To Me (featuring Antonia Barton)
            11. Sleigh Ride

We are in the mixing stage of our next Progressive Funk CD, Mars 2020.

 






We're Baaaaack!

We've been busy, very busy.

Before I forget, we're playing Vitello's in October.
Call and make reservations now!



We are in the studio next week mixing our long anticipated Christmas album.
This isn't the typical high-energy Progressive funk you have come to expect from SG7,
this is a collection of styles to showcase the band, the players and our guests.
We invited 5 different singers to share their talent with us.

We have recently finished recording and soon to be in the mixing stage of our new CD "Olympus Bound."

We also recorded 3 songs with vocalist Antonia Barton
https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/antoniabarton2






Without a doubt you missed one the best SG7 shows in modern history!

Let me share a few pictures from Friday night...


This is how it starts




Setting up with Vocalist Antonia Barton, Jim Lewis, Kye Palmer and Randy Drake



SG7
Kye Palmer, Dan Boissy, Jim Lewis, Steve Gregory, Chad Edwards, Jonathan Pintoff, Randy Drake




James Lewis



Randy Drake, Kye Palmer, Jonathan Pintoff, Dan Boissy, Chad Edwards


The Merchandise table.
We have new shirts, order yours today.




Vocalist Antonia Barton



Vocalist Antonia Barton



Lauren Chu, Bari Sax




Austin Drake, Flugelhorn


During the performance, a beat was dropped. After the gig the band worked together to find it.

















BrazilianBop