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The music of an American icon will fill the air inside the Firehouse Arts Center this Friday as the downtown Pleasanton theater ushers in its fall season of programming.
“A Tribute to Louis Armstrong” gives Pleasanton native Jeff Bordes, whose band is performing the concert in his hometown venue, the chance to celebrate the late bandleader who continues to inspire his approach to music and live entertainment.
“Louis Armstrong is really where so much of what I love about music begins,” Bordes told the Pleasanton Weekly in an interview last week.
“As a trumpet player, obviously his influence is enormous, but for me it goes way beyond the trumpet. Louis had this incredible ability to connect with people,” the Amador Valley High School alumnus said. “There was joy in his playing, humor, soul, vulnerability, and this unmistakable sense of who he was every time he played or sang a note.”
“That’s what has always resonated with me. He could be an incredible virtuoso, but the music never felt like it was about showing you how good he was. It was about making you feel something,” Bordes added. “That’s really the spirit of this show.”
Jeff Bordes & Friends will be joined by special guest vocalist Jackie Gage for the concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday (Aug. 28) – the second show in the city of Pleasanton’s 2026-27 Presenting Series at the Firehouse.
“She has a beautiful voice, but what I love most is the way she tells a story,” Bordes said of Gage. “She can be elegant and intimate one moment and then absolutely light up the room the next.”
With bandleader Bordes on trumpet, the group features Bay Area musicians Casey Jones on clarinet and saxophone; Luke Kirley on trombone; Grammy Award-winning pianist Glen Pearson, who records and plays with the Count Basie Orchestra; Ken Cefalo on guitar; Matt Finders, formerly of “The Tonight Show”, on bass; and Wally Schnalle on drums.
“One of the things I love about this lineup is the instrumentation. Having trumpet, clarinet/sax and trombone gives us that classic New Orleans front-line sound, but these are musicians with backgrounds that go far beyond traditional jazz,” Bordes told the Weekly. “Everyone brings something different to the music. That allows us to honor Louis Armstrong and the tradition while still making the show sound like us.”
Bordes, who lives in Tracy, is in the middle of “a really creative period right now” – just back from tour stops in Idaho and Utah, continuing to develop two groups (Jeff Bordes & The Big Easy and Bayou Soul) and recording two new albums he plans to release next year.
He’ll be back in concert in the Tri-Valley later in the fall too, with “Jeff Bordes: A New Orleans Christmas” on Nov. 28 at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore, before a slate of shows on the road through Idaho, Oregon and Utah in December and dates in Minnesota and the Midwest in February.
But there’s always something special about performing on that black-box theater stage a block from Main Street.
“The Firehouse is especially meaningful to me because Pleasanton is home. I grew up there, went to Amador, and started playing music there. So every time I perform at the Firehouse, there’s a little bit of a homecoming feeling,” Bordes said.
“It’s also just a wonderful room for live music,” he added. “It’s intimate enough that you really feel connected to the audience. You can see people’s faces and feel their reactions, and for the kind of music we play, that interaction is everything.”
Building out a lineup of shows that attracts creative entertainers looking to take advantage of the smaller theater space and that appeals to audiences looking for that closeup feel is the motivation behind the autumn Presenting Series unveiled by Firehouse officials earlier this month.
“This fall’s performances reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the Firehouse Arts Center community,” city recreation supervisor Julian Mireles said in a news release. “Whether you’re a longtime fan of classic rock, jazz, or Broadway, or you’re coming out to cheer on our incredible youth performers, there is a show for you this season.”
The season kicked off last Sunday with a sold-out performance by The Golden Follies. The senior performers in their Las Vegas-style revue will return for “A Very Follies Holiday” on Dec. 12.
Six more tribute concerts are on the docket: Midnight Flyer (Eagles cover band) on Sept. 11, “Valerie: A Tribute to Amy Winehouse” on Sept. 18, Garratt Wilkin and the Parrotheads (Jimmy Buffet music) on Oct. 9, Carnaval! (Santana covers) on Oct. 16, Summer Night City (ABBA songs) on Dec. 18 and “Phil of Genesis: A Musical Tribute to Phil Collins & Genesis” on Dec. 19.
Grammy Award winning violinist Mads Tolling will perform “Cool Yule: A Nordic Holiday Celebration” on Dec. 11 and the Tri-Valley’s Chorus Eclectic will present their “Tomorrow’s Yesterday” concert Nov. 21.
Pleasanton Youth Theater Company is bringing an adaptation of the “School of Rock” musical to the Firehouse stage Nov. 6-15. The troupe’s “Singer’s Choice” cabaret follows Nov. 20.
Creatures of Impulse, the city’s youth improv group, will present their “Face-Off” series Oct. 22-24.
And Tri-Valley Theatre Company is producing “Spooktacular Broadway 2” one night only, Oct. 2.
Visit firehousearts.org for tickets and more information about the Firehouse’s fall season. The rest of the 2026-27 Presenting Series is expected to be announced in the months ahead.
