The Cottontails

The Cottontails bring a joyful, swinging, and gloriously eclectic sound to The Deluxe, a Bay Area ensemble anchored by singer-songwriter Karina Denike — a performer with over 20 albums to her name, international appearances at Montreux Jazz Festival and the Reading Festival, and credits spanning Dance Hall Crashers to Ralph Carney’s Serious Jass Project. The band is a gathering of some of San Francisco’s most accomplished and versatile musicians: pianist Michael McIntosh, whose resume stretches from Jonathan Richman and Jolie Holland to a composed opera drawn from Samuel Beckett; guitarist and bassist Vic Wong, a gypsy jazz specialist whose Django Reinhardt-influenced playing keeps the rhythm irresistibly alive; drummer and co-creator Randy Odell, a symphonic and jazz percussionist who has played Jazz at Lincoln Center twice; saxophonist and clarinetist Tom Griesser, a 25-year veteran of the SF scene who has recorded with the Marcus Shelby Orchestra and performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Hollywood Bowl; and bassist Joe Kyle Jr., the beloved Bay Area fixture whose feel, agility, and tragicomic asides have made him one of the most in-demand players in the region. Rounding out the night are guest musicians Allegra Bandy, trombonist and arranger Scott Larson — who has performed with Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, and Maria Muldaur — and Christianna Valentina, the honey-tongued half of 1920s harmonizing duo The Bluebelles. This is San Francisco’s musical community at its most generous, playful, and alive.