Rhonda Sauce feat. Adam Klipple

Oakland vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Rhonda Sauce teams up with pianist Adam Klipple for a night of wide-ranging jazz at Keys Jazz Bistro. Sauce, a graduate of NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater's Woodshed Network, brings her distinctive approach: weaving together jazz, soul, R&B, Afro-Brazilian grooves, and vocalese—where she sets original lyrics to instrumental jazz solos. Her music refuses to be pinned down, moving fluidly across traditions while honoring her multiracial upbringing and training as a classical violinist and songwriter. She performs at SF Jazz, Yoshi's, and major Bay Area festivals, and her work has been described as embracing "her whole self," blending genres and languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese) in a style that's deeply personal and unapologetically expansive.

Klipple, a standout pianist and organist influenced by McCoy Tyner and Cecil Taylor, brings his own distinctive harmonic language and rhythmic sensibility to the duo. Currently working with vocalist Veronica Swift and the legendary jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears, he's a versatile collaborator who's shared stages with Ghostface Killah, Lauryn Hill, and the Sun Ra Arkestra. His playing moves between groove, storytelling, and technical mastery, adapting fluidly across jazz, soul, and experimental music.

At Keys, the duo presents two sets on the Yamaha grand piano and Hammond B3 organ that anchor the room. Sauce's voice has been described as "a portal to the soul of yesteryear"—warm, captivating, and rooted in Black American music's deep traditions. Her latest work showcases her as an arranger and lyricist who refuses to fragment herself for marketability, performing everything from straight-ahead jazz standards to new original material that spans folk, Brazilian rhythms, and beyond. With Klipple's inventive keyboard work supporting her, expect an evening that honors tradition while pushing into fresh territory, balancing intimacy with fearless intention.