Skip to Content

For the weekend, a funk mix from modern greats

The very talented collective Ghost-Note is performing at Mill Valley Music Festival this weekend

Photo: Ghost-Note

Welcome to the latest installment of our series Guest List, where we ask artists, bands, and industry folks to share a 10(ish)-song playlist, along with a few words about the mix. Everything is fair game, whether it's on-the-road jams, a curated mood soundtrack, or their pre-show mix.

What a treat to have the funk group Ghost-Note for our latest Guest List. Founded in 2014 by Robert "Sput" Searight and Nate Werth, members of the Grammy-winning jazz-funk collective Snarky Puppy, Ghost-Note makes percussion-forward funk informed by a kaleidoscope of musical influences. Their current band features instrumentalists equally remarkable in their own right, having collaborated with the likes of Prince, Stevie Wonder, George Clinton, and Kirk Franklin between them.

Ahead of their performance at the Mill Valley Music Festival this weekend, Ghost-Note has created a playlist for Gazetteer SF of their funk inspirations.

From Ghost-Note’s Dominique Xavier Taplin — their Oakland-born keyboardist who has performed with legendary and rising acts like Prince, Toto, and Snoh Aalegra:

It’s good to get on the same page when it comes to inspiration. We can all hear something different every time. Through all our different vantage points, we end up learning together. We do that just as much as we live and laugh together.

Ghost-Note will be performing at Mill Valley Music Festival on May 10. Tickets for the festival are available here. Stream Ghost-Note's latest album, Mustard n’Onions, on Spotify.


Text us tips and we'll send you stories.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Gazetteer SF

Not a moment too soon

With federal forces descending upon the Bay Area, Mayor Lurie issued his most forceful condemnation of the Trump administration

October 22, 2025

So funny we forgot to laugh

AI slop billboards have gotten so absurd that even an obvious satire is being taken seriously

October 22, 2025

All quiet on the Castro front

Residents and workers in the city’s most storied neighborhood wonder what a National Guard deployment might look like

October 22, 2025

Dancers in the dark

With screenings across the city, the San Francisco Dance Film Festival blends movement, music, and the movies

October 22, 2025

Scenes from a city in waiting

Another perfect day as San Francisco braces for the arrival of federal troops

October 21, 2025

Have Porto’s, will travel

Meet the guy selling LA’s favorite Cuban pastries out of his trunk in the Bay Area

October 21, 2025
See all posts