Palo Alto gets two live music options this weekend, and one won't cost a dime.

Pianist Michael Wolff brings a Latin jazz tribute to the late Cal Tjader to Meyhouse Palo Alto's intimate 30-seat jazz room on Saturday, July 25, with two seatings at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The following day, Americana singer-songwriter Miko Marks will perform a free outdoor concert at Mitchell Park Bowl on Sunday, July 26, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Michael Wolff remembers Cal Tjader

Wolff's connection to the Bay Area Latin jazz legend goes back more than 50 years. As a teenager working at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley in 1971, Wolff walked up to Tjader and introduced himself. "I just went in and introduced myself. 'Mr. Tjader, I'm ready to play in your band now,'" Wolff recalled in a 2025 San Francisco Classical Voice feature on Tjader's legacy. Tjader invited him to sit in, and Wolff left music school to join the band full time.

Wolff went on to serve as bandleader and musical director of the Arsenio Hall Show for five years beginning in 1989, and has backed Ray Charles, B.B. King, Nancy Wilson, and Whitney Houston, among others. He teaches at NYU.

For the Meyhouse show, Wolff leads a quartet with Gary Brown on bass, Scott Amendola on drums, and Ray Obiedo on guitar. The program includes tunes inspired by Tjader's music and some of Wolff's own compositions.

Tjader, a vibraphonist raised in San Mateo who studied at San Francisco State, debuted his first Latin jazz band in 1954 and won a Grammy in 1980 for "La Onda Va Bien." He died in 1982.

Meyhouse Palo Alto, at 640 Emerson St., opened in November 2023 with a jazz room designed in collaboration with SFJazz. Co-owner and music director Dr. Omer Artun books two sets per night in the 30-seat space, which features a Yamaha C3 Grand Piano.

Details: Saturday, July 25. First seating: arrive 5 p.m., show begins around 6:30 p.m. Second seating: arrive 8 p.m., show begins around 8:30 p.m. Each performance is approximately one hour and 15 minutes. Tickets from $38–$48; purchase at meyhousejazz.com/paloalto.

Miko Marks at Mitchell Park Bowl

Marks, an Oakland-based artist born in Flint, Michigan, blends country, blues, gospel, and soul into a high-energy Americana sound. She made her Grand Ole Opry debut on Friday, October 14, 2022, and received two standing ovations, according to CMT. Her 2022 album, "Feel Like Going Home," was released on Redtone Records, an East Palo Alto-based label.

The free concert is presented by Earthwise Productions, a Palo Alto company run by Mark Weiss.

Details: Sunday, July 26, 2–4 p.m. Mitchell Park Bowl, 600 E. Meadow Drive, Palo Alto. Free; register at eventbrite.com.