27th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival presents Carolina Chocolate Drops

Proudly reclaiming the African-American string band tradition, the Carolina Chocolate Drops bring brash, youthful energy to music rooted in the red soil of the southern Piedmont. While old-time music is often associated with white Appalachia, the Chocolate Drops reveal the celebratory, interconnected currents running through blues, country and bluegrass. Featuring Rhiannon Giddens on banjo, fiddle and vocals, Justin Robinson on fiddle and vocals and Dom Flemons on banjo, guitar, jug, harmonica, snare and vocals, the North Carolina based trio honed their skills under nonagenarian Piedmont fiddle legend Joe Thompson. Recently signed to the prestigious Nonesuch label, they grabbed national attention with their 2006 album Dona Got a Ramblin’ Mind.