The only guarantee about the Brooklyn-based musical ensemble Standing on the Corner is that there are no guarantees.
The group, founded nearly a decade ago, has played both avant-garde jazz sets and lo-fi beat sets. They’ve soundtracked afrofuturist films. They’ve performed at radio station benefits, and even acupuncture sessions.
On Saturday, the group, led on organ by Puerto Rican multidisciplinarian Gio Escobar, headlines a half-day festival at SFJAZZ while a who’s-who of Bay Area grassroots collectives and artists take over the building’s side rooms and upstairs lobby.
It’s the first time Standing on the Corner has played the Bay Area since 2017, opening for King Krule at the Fillmore and performing molasses-slathered renditions of “Body and Soul” and “My Funny Valentine” that handily predated the slowed ‘n’ reverbed TikTok trend.
In the seven years since, the group has collaborated with film director Melvin Van Peebles, the rapper Earl Sweatshirt, hip-hop pioneers the Last Poets and the singer Solange. After two dizzyingly creative independent releases, Standing on the Corner signed a record contract with XL Recordings but have not released a proper album since, preferring instead to self-release live cassettes and stage elaborate installations.
