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Yoshi Kato February 11, 2021Updated: February 15, 2021, 8:20 am Piedmont Piano Co. in Oakland hosts a twice-weekly concert program that launched in the midst of the pandemic. Photo: Piedmont Piano Co. On the first Thursday of January, viewers from as far away as Brazil, Norway and the Netherlands streamed a live jazz concert from Uptown Oakland. Swedish vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Gunhild Carling, a current South Bay resident, was leading her sextet on the Piedmont Piano Co. bandstand as audience members online commented in the chat box. Toward the end of an energetic performa...

Anna Yatskevich / Courtesy of Newvelle Records Public acknowledgment took its time finding Billy Lester. A pianist devoted to searching for a new form of modern jazz, he spent more than half a century on the outskirts of New York City, quietly honing his craft. "I just figured I'd go to my grave without any kind of recognition," he says plainly, "and I was at the point in my life where I totally accepted that." The situation changed only a few years ago when Lester was in his early 70s. A chance encounter led to an acclaimed album on the boutique Newvelle record label, which he made wit...