{"id":423849,"date":"2026-08-04T21:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/423849\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T21:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:00:09","slug":"experimental-sounds-ring-out-from-adobe-books-for-an-eager-community-in-the-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/423849\/","title":{"rendered":"Experimental sounds ring out from Adobe Books, for an eager community in the know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before the music began on July 25, people greeted friends, found places to sit on the floor, and lingered outside the storefront. Then the room settled. Conversations softened, the musicians began to play\u2014 and a small, independent bookstore became a space for sounds that refused to stay inside any one genre.<\/p>\n

The latest installment of string of shows at Adobe Books<\/a> brought together Bay Area artists Roco C\u00f3rdova <\/a>and Julian Lopez<\/a>, whose performances moved through electronic music, jazz improvisation, funk backbone, and some more that was sometimes difficult to place. <\/p>\n

The series continues Adobe\u2019s tradition of supporting cutting edge arts<\/a> alongside slinging literature. Put on by local musician and recording engineer Tonko<\/a> and unassumingly titled \u201ccommunity,\u201d the concerts are barely advertised other than appearing on Tonko\u2019s own website and San Francisco Explore page of the Partiful app. (You can also ask about them at the store itself, and pick up a few books while you\u2019re there.) A 10th installment is scheduled for August 22<\/p>\n

From outside the bookstore on this occasion, the music<\/a> had the muffled, distant quality of those \u201c[song], but you\u2019re standing outside the club\u201d videos. Bass and drums carried through the walls, while flashes of saxophone and synthesizer escaped each time the door opened. People listened from the sidewalk and waited for a natural break between songs before stepping inside.<\/p>\n

C\u00f3rdova opened with an electronic set that was immersive and constantly in motion. Their music drew from EDM while moving through store abstract sounds. \u201cWhat you witnessed at Adobe, it was, I would say, 99% improvised,\u201d C\u00f3rdova said. \u201cI did not rehearse that.\u201d<\/p>\n

At one point, C\u00f3rdova breathed melodically into the microphone. After turning a knob, the sound transformed into something resembling ocean waves. Elsewhere, they sang with an airy, almost operatic voice, moving between soft passages and powerful belts.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur voices are very expansive instruments,\u201d C\u00f3rdova said. \u201cThe things that have musical value within a voice for me are not just notes and holding notes and singing long, beautiful phrases, but the \u2018k\u2019 and the \u2018sh\u2019 and all these different sounds that we can make with our voice also have a musical value.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Tonko focuses on adjusting sound levels during the show. <\/p>\n

Neon-colored projections covered the wall behind them, resembling glowing waves, computer signals, or veins pulsing beneath a surface. The visuals shifted with the music so closely that they seemed to give its electronic textures a physical form. A motorcycle started outside. Rather than interrupting the performance, the engine briefly sounded as though it belonged in the set.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of what I do as a producer is go around and do field recordings, find sounds that I find interesting,\u201d C\u00f3rdova said. \u201cWhen that just tends to happen naturally, without any intention to manufacture that encounter or that process, then I just think it\u2019s absolutely magical.\u201d <\/p>\n

After a short break, Lopez took the stage with a full band for one of the first times he had performed a completely original set with the group. The performance began with slow, rumbling sounds from the entire band. The instruments created a strange, fragmented opening before everything suddenly stopped. <\/p>\n

Then Lopez entered on the keys, and the drums immediately picked up. The first song moved through heavy saxophone lines and repeated breakdowns before returning to the same abstract sounds that opened it. From there, the set only became funkier.<\/p>\n

Lopez started rapping. His microphone went silent for a moment. He rapped a quick comment about the volume, and when the sound came through clearly, someone in the audience let out a loud whoop. It was obvious he was freestyling.<\/p>\n

Lopez\u2019s delivery was smooth and relaxed, and he continued playing the keys while matching his own cadence. The band followed closely, blending jazz, funk, and hip-hop, moving freely. \u201cIt has to start with the word,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cIf you\u2019re just soloing instrumentally, you can just play a note. But then when it comes to the written word or spoken word, you\u2019ve got to say something.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I just kind of let the hands honestly just let loose and see where they go, and then try and maintain some sort of word-processing element,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of hard to do both at the same time. I\u2019m trying to solo with both sides of the brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lopez played across a double-decker keyboard setup, shifting among bright synth lines, warped effects, and video game noises. His solos took the music into its most unpredictable territory, while the rest of the band remained locked into the groove.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to merge my jazz and hip-hop backgrounds at the same time because it\u2019s kind of hard for me to separate them,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cThey\u2019re different, but they\u2019re still part of the same strain, I feel like, in some way, with improvisation and rhythm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Julian Lopez performs on keys alongside his band during the show.<\/p>\n

The drummer repeatedly broke into fast, intricate passages, smiling as he played. The bassist moved his shoulders with the rhythm and eventually began jumping slightly while playing. Musicians watched one another for cues, smiling as they shifted between solos, breaks, and new sections .<\/p>\n

One of the set\u2019s strongest transitions came when a slower song seemed to be ending. Just as the audience expected the music to stop, Lopez returned to the keys with sudden intensity and pushed the band directly into upbeat territory.<\/p>\n

By the end, the band had moved far from the slow, abstract opening. The music became fast, rhythmic, and deeply funky, filled with rapid solos, drum breaks, and unexpected turns. When the performance ended, the room broke into applause. Tonko encouraged the audience to buy books and donate to Adobe Books<\/a>, a reminder that the music series exists within a larger community space.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m doing these shows, I\u2019m not focused on getting things right,\u201d Tonko said. \u201cI\u2019m more focused on creating a space for the musicians and artists to express themselves and for people to listen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want Adobe Books to feel very intentional, even in the unintentional parts of it,\u201d Tonko said. \u201cFailure is OK because we just want to put this on for the people. But at the same time, there\u2019s a lot of intent that goes behind all the small parts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want the musicians to just walk in and only think about the music and focus on the music and just relax,\u201d Tonko said. \u201cFor me, it sets an example of what a venue or a place that cares about music should do, all the work that they should do to empower the musicians to perform and show them that they care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tonko continued, \u201cAdobe Books is a great room with a bunch of books, which makes the sound really dry and very easy to work with,\u201d Tonko said. \u201cThe room is as important as the music.\u201d <\/p>\n

The shows operate on a pay-what-you-can model, allowing people to walk in and experience artists they may not otherwise encounter. Tonko said he wants the series to encourage curiosity about the musicians and creative communities already present in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to just be able to walk in freely and be able to experience what their city has to offer,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before the music began on July 25, people greeted friends, found places to sit on the floor, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-423849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}