Everything Jazz is here for the next three weeks, stomp those feet!  Tech giant Salesforce unveils its newest and largest art installation – it lights up the sky. Head to the Tenderloin, trust me, just go – to see amazing feats of Vertical Dance on the side of a hotel. Warning – You may get dizzy looking up! And you will want to dine al fresco at some of these farm-to-table wineries, the views, the deliciousness and the wine!

Salesforce Tower Lights Up the Skyline

Just when you thought Salesforce couldn’t do anything else, here they go with a new public art piece that debuted two weeks ago. This tower is now the tallest building west of the Mississippi. Created by San Francisco-based artist Jim Campbell the brand new multi-million dollar video installation projects from the top six floors of the Salesforce Tower.

Campbell, whose public artworks have been installed in Madison Square Park in New York, the San Diego International Airport, and on the surface of the ICC Building in Hong Kong, placed several cameras at different locations across the city. These cameras capture images throughout the day to be incorporated alongside pre-recorded visuals at night.

According to the artist’s website, the work will be viewable from 20 miles away. (For reference, the Alcatraz Lighthouse beam is visible from approximately 25 miles distance.) So don’t forget to look way up when you are out during the evening. Wonder why it’s there? An SF planning code requires a public-art component for new buildings, and we are glad they did! Read more.

June 5-17. Jazz Fest.

It’s all about the Jazz, my jazzy Tomato pals. It’s time for the 36th annual SF Jazz festival, the likes of which brings us the best jazz musicians for the next 3 weeks. You will want to save many dates for the accomplished vocalists and musicians who will be jamming at the SF Jazz center. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t be singing along to the Patsy Cline tribute. The one that will have me swinging is the Benny Goodman tribute – ah those big band sounds. Sergio Mendes and Tuck and Patti will be bringing their finest tunes to our city’s great Jazz center as well.

If you haven’t attended a concert at the Jazz center, you will love it. The acoustics are remarkable, the ambiance sublime and the murals on the second floor are incredibly moving.  If you or anyone you know is interested in learning about the music industry, they have classes in music production, recording and mixing. This is a very special place –  So go there NOW! www.sfjazz.org

Now – June. 16. Vertical Dance.

When you think of the tenderloin you may say to yourself, I avoid that at all costs. Yes, it is filled with homeless and sometimes the sidewalks reek, it’s true. However, now through June 16th, you can see the world premiere of “Tender – A person who takes charge”.

This is a site-specific aerial dance celebrating 100 years of “outcast activism” in the tenderloin. Over 10 days there are multiple free performances at the Cadillac Hotel at 380 Eddy Street. The dance celebrates the outcasts who have defied convention here and the unlikely activists who have sought, in almost every decade, to create a desirable place to live and thrive.

This vertical dance is a Flyaway Production. The company performs off-the-ground dances that expose the range and power of female physicality – Yay us! They dance on steel objects that are both architectural and fabricated. They are up in the air from 2 feet to 100 feet – and every performance piece is a medium for social commentary. All of their projects advance female empowerment in the public realm. This combination of the arts will blow you away. AND, I think we need this right now! www.flyawayproductions.com

Midsummer Night’s Suppers

Nothing says wined and dined like an al-fresco, farm-to-table dinner amongst the vines. Partake in feasts at the following wineries.

Kendall Jackson hosts monthly meals through October in their notoriously gorgeous estate gardens, which of course supply many ingredients, as part of their summertime dinner series ($175/per person). Each event will have a different menu highlighting local purveyors. Evening begins with hors d’oeuvres, followed by a light starter, a family-style-dinner, and dessert and of course, the wine will be flowing all night long. www.kj.com

An epic evening awaits on June 24th at Russian River Vineyards. Set up as a progressive dinner ($250/per person), you get to nosh from one setting to another throughout the night. Nibble on raw, pickled and marinated veggies at the farm, head to the crush pad next for wood-fired snacks and then into the cellar for barrel samples and canapés. Finally sit down to a massive family-style dinner. Mouths watering yet? www.russianrivervineyards.com