Five Aragon High School students took over the sidewalk outside Barracuda Sushi on Thursday, July 16, filling Burlingame Avenue with live jazz on alto and tenor saxophone.
The student quintet calls itself The Birds, a nod to bebop pioneer Charlie Parker, the alto saxophonist nicknamed "Bird" who reshaped jazz in the 1940s and '50s. The band set up at the front of the restaurant at 347 Primrose Rd., playing to diners and passersby in what amounted to an open-air set facing the avenue.
Joe of the Burlingame Voice, who attended the performance, described the group as doing "a credible job on mostly mid-tempo standards." He wrote that it was fun to see young musicians getting into jazz and expressed hope the band would appear at other local stages this summer.
Aragon High School is in San Mateo; the band performed in neighboring Burlingame.
Barracuda's entertainment push
The Thursday jazz set is part of new programming at Barracuda Sushi, according to the Burlingame Voice. The restaurant has added comedy nights billed as "Stand-Up and Sushi" and regular game nights to its schedule. Barracuda is marketing itself as "the new Barracuda," though the Voice's Joe noted the space looked the same as before.
The comedy series is listed on Patch at 8 p.m. at the Primrose Road location.
A growing live-music summer downtown
Burlingame's live-music calendar has several stages open this summer. The Burlingame on the Avenue festival returns Saturday, August 15, and Sunday, August 16, with Bay Area jazz, rock, and blues acts performing on Burlingame Avenue and surrounding streets, according to the event's Instagram page.
Burlingame Town Square, the community stage between Park Road and Lorton Avenue that held its inaugural show on Saturday, May 16, hosts free live music throughout the summer. The city's Music in the Park series at Washington Park, 850 Burlingame Ave., runs Friday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m., according to the city calendar.
Upcoming community events
- Burlingame on the Avenue — Saturday, August 15, and Sunday, August 16, Burlingame Avenue and surrounding streets. Two-day festival with live jazz, rock, and blues.
- Music in the Park — Friday evenings, 6-8 p.m., Washington Park, 850 Burlingame Ave.
- Burlingame Town Square — Free live music and community events throughout the summer, between Park Road and Lorton Avenue.
