My name is Anthony Avila, and I am an 18 year old musician from San Leandro, CA. I started playing guitar when I was 12, but I really starting taking the study of the guitar more seriously at the age of 16 when I started Jazz lessons. I first started lessons under Brad Rosten, but have also studied under prominent Bay Area jazz musicians such as Terrence Brewer, Mads Tolling, and Anton Schwartz. These teachers have taught me everything that I know about Jazz, which prepared me for professional work as a musician. I first began taking gigs as a professional musician a little under a year ago when an opportunity to play at the Old Skool Cafe was presented to me during my time as a member in an SFJAZZ program. The performance led to consistent work with OSC as well exposure which has landed me various gigs playing at weddings, other venues, and corporate events. I was a member of Jazz in the Neighborhood's Emerging Artists program, the leader, arranger, and guitarist for the nine-piece Arroyo Jazz Collective, and am currently partaking in the Jazz Search West Competition. I hope you all will be seeing more of me in the future, and my music career will forever be indebted to the Old Skool Cafe.
Lindy Hop Living Legends
At Old Skool Cafe, we are committed to empowering our youth to understand the richness of their histories. That’s why our menu is full of recipes from our Grandmothers, and why pictures of the Cotton Club and Louis Armstrong fill our walls. As part of their initial training, all Old Skool Cafe youth attend weekly swing dance classes!
So when our friends at Swingin’ at the Savoy approached us about hosting an evening with Norma Miller (the Queen of Swing) and Chester Whitmore (Hollywood performer and choreographer) , we couldn’t have been more delighted. Our youth researched our special guests and prepared interview questions and a trivia contest for our guests. What a privilege to celebrate Black History Month by learning directly from our heroes and trailblazers who are still with us!
A huge thank you to Ms. Miller, Mr. Whitmore, Shawn, and the entire Lindy Hop community for helping us make this happen!
Teresa Goines speaks at Bakersfield Prayer Breakfast
January 24, 2019 — Old Skool Cafe founder and CEO Teresa Goines was the keynote speaker at the 39th Annual Bakersfield Prayer Breakfast. The morning brought together leaders from across the public sector with a special focus on praying for at-risk kids in the community. Teresa spoke from 1 Corinthians 13.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Following the Breakfast, Teresa gave an inspirational talk to 400 ASB members from local high schools. She encouraged them to dream of ways they could give back to their community by using their gifts and talents.
