Paul Hanson, Michael Manring and Scott Amendola bring their unique, funky blend of electric bassoon-fed music to The Back Room on Sunday, December 7th, 2025 at 7PM.

PAUL HANSON-Bassoon, electronics

MICHAEL MANRING-Basses, Hyperbass, electronics

SCOTT AMENDOLA-Drums, electronics

Coming back to The Back Room is the trio of Paul Hanson, Michael Manring and Scott Amendola 18 months after their solo-out show in the summer of 2024. The collective experience of this trio is pretty wide-spread as these 3 have performed with quite a list of artists: Jon Batiste, Vinnie Colaiuta, Charlie Hunter, Billy Cobham, Alex Skolnick, John Gorka, Nels Cline, Billy Cobham, Henry Kaiser, Mike Patton, Suzanne Ciani, Sex Mob, Wayne Shorter, Phil Lesh, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Taylor Eigsti, Wadada Leo Smith and many more.

With the amount of experience, creativity and unique approaches to their instruments that this group possesses, it’s no wonder each member has had a long career at the vanguard of their genres. Paul, Michael and Scott play exciting music that can shift on an instant in any direction - and the fun they have is easily seen and felt. They all have decades of experience touring, teaching and recording all over the world.

PAUL HANSON-Bassoon, electronics
Over the last 20 years, Paul has rewritten the rulebook and set new standards for what is possible on this most classical of woodwind instruments. As one reviewer puts it, “But he simply transcends technique to a point where the listener no longer has in mind that it’s just a BASSOON that he’s playing.” Paul has recorded and/or performed with Grammy winners Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Jon Batiste, Wayne Shorter and Taylor Eigsti. He has also recorded/ toured with Billy Cobham’s Crosswinds Ensemble, Peter Erskine, Billy Childs, Harmonica virtuoso Gregorie Maret, Billy Higgins, David Binney, Ray Charles, Charlie Hunter, Patrice Rushen, Alex Acuna, Dennis Chambers, Abraham Laboriel, Medeski Martin & Wood, Bob Weir’s RATDOG, T. Lavitz from Dixie Dregs, Jeff Coffin, Jeff Sipe, Jonas Hellborg, Afro/Cuban pianist Omar Sosa, Bob Moses, Kai Eckhardt, Peter Apfelbaum and the Hieroglyphics Ensemble, 60string bassist Ariane Cap in the group OoN, The Paul Dresher Ensemble, DAVKA, St. Joseph Ballet Company, The Klezmorim, as jazz soloist with the Oakland Eastbay Symphony Orchestra, as classical soloist with the Napa Symphony Orchestra (non-improvising) and many more. Paul was the 1996 Grand Prize winner of JAZZIZ Magazine’s WOODWINDS ON FIRE award-the first bassoonist ever to win. He also was the winner of the Robert Mondavi Woodwind concerto competition in 1984 in California. Paul was awarded an NEA Jazz Fellowship in 1995. Paul Hanson appears on Bela Fleck and the Flecktones album OUTBOUND, which won a Grammy for best contemporary jazz recording of 2000.

MICHAEL MANRING-Bass, Hyperbass, electronics
Hailed by many as the world’s leading solo bassist, Michael Manring has been pushing back the boundaries of what’s possible on the bass guitar for decades. While his technical skill and innovations always make an impression, it is his ability to communicate on a profound emotional level that most touches listeners. Building on the conceptions of his teacher, the late bass legend Jaco Pastorius, Michael has developed an approach to the instrument that includes unorthodox tunings, techniques and methodologies. He has honed his skills on hundreds of recordings as a session musician and thousands of concerts throughout the world in venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, Yamaha Hall in Tokyo and Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. Michael has worked with a diverse collection of musicians from New Age keyboardist Suzanne Ciani to avant-improv guitar innovator Henry Kaiser to celebrated folk troubadour John Gorka to experimental post-metal rockers Tim Alexander (Primus) and Alex Skolnick (Testament) to electro-pop pioneer Thomas Dolby. His long-term collaboration and close friendship with the late acoustic guitar genius Michael Hedges led to a lengthy stint as house bassist for Windham Hill Records; a label for whom he also worked as a solo artist, releasing four recordings under his own name: Unusual Weather (1986), Toward the Center of the Night (1989), Drastic Measures (1991), and Thonk (1994). These, along with his 1998 release, The Book of Flame, on the Alchemy record label, earned him an international reputation as "a master of the fretless bass without rival." (Guitar Club Magazine, Italy). His two solo bass recordings, Soliloquy (2006) and Small Moments (2020) showcase the approach to the bass that led one writer to conclude, "Manring can do more with a bass than even the most creative individual could imagine," (L. Pierce Carson, Napa Valley Register). He has garnered three gold records, Grammy and Bammie nominations, a Berklee School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award, three Just Plain Folks Awards and numerous Bass Player Magazine Readers' Poll awards, including 1994 Bassist of the Year. He was also the subject of a PBS TV documentary, “The Artist's Profile: Michael Manring,” and a YouTube video of him playing his iconic solo piece,“Selene,” has well over 1.5 million views. We hope you'll follow the advice of France's Musicien magazine: "Do not miss your next opportunity to discover the bassist with the most fresh and inventive playing today.”

SCOTT AMENDOLA-drums, electronics
For Scott Amendola, the drum kit isn’t so much an instrument as a musical portal. As an ambitious composer, savvy bandleader, electronics explorer, first-call accompanist and capaciously creative foil for some of the world’s most inventive musicians, Amendola applies his wide-ranging rhythmic virtuosity to a vast array of settings. His closest musical associates include guitarists Nels Cline, Jeff Parker, and Charlie Hunter, Hammond B-3 organist Wil Blades, violinists Jenny Scheinman and Regina Carter, saxophonists Larry Ochs and Phillip Greenlief, and clarinetist Ben Goldberg - players who have each forged a singular path within and beyond the realm of jazz. In some circles, Amendola is best known for his intermittent two-decade collaboration with seven-string guitar wizard Charlie Hunter, with whom he connected shortly after moving to the Bay Area in 1992. They went on to play together with John Schott and Will Bernard in the three-guitar-and-drums combo T.J. Kirk, which earned a Grammy nomination for its eponymous 1996 debut album.

As a sideman, Amendola has performed and recorded with a vast, stylistically varied roster of artists, including Bill Frisell, John Zorn, Mike Patton, Mondo Cane, John Scofield, Cibo Matto, John Dieterich from Deerhoof, Wadada Leo Smith, Bruce Cockburn, Madeleine Peyroux, Cris Williamson, Joan Osborne, Jacky Terrasson, Shweta Jhaveri, Phil Lesh, Sex Mob, Kelly Joe Phelps, Larry Klein, Carla Bozulich, Wayne Horvitz, Johnny Griffin, Julian Priester, Sonny Simmons, Pat Martino, Jim Campilongo, Bobby Black, Larry Goldings, Paul McCandless, Rebecca Pidgeon, and the Joe Goode Dance Group.

Tickets are $25 general admission. Children under 12 are free. Advance tickets are available here, or if the show is not sold out, you may purchase your tickets at the door before the show.

Doors open 30 minutes before show time. We accept cash or Venmo only at the door.

The Back Room is an all-ages, BYOB (for those 21+) space, dedicated to (mostly) acoustic music of all kinds. You are welcome to bring your own food and beverages. The venue is ADA accessible. If you need more information or have any questions, please call us: #510-381-1997.

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Please refrain from using your phone during performances, and if you use your camera or video, please disable the flash.

Although masks are no longer required, we strongly encourage their use to keep everyone safe in our intimate space.