Robert Mailer Anderson on 'Pig Hunt' and the bold new endeavors at SF JAZZ

San Francisco's prolific Robert Mailer Anderson, ("Boonville") has quite a bit on his plate these days—a 3,000-pound pig to be exact. The revered philanthropist's quirky horror soiree, Pig Hunt, heralded by Daily Variety, makes its debut at the Santa Cruz Film Festival in May.

But before that, he's got other high notes to hit, the SF JAZZ Gala among them.

Mailer, an SF JAZZ trustee and event chairman for San Francisco JAZZ Festival, is one of many creative minds bringing the posh gala to life on Saturday at the Four Season Hotel. Among the honorees at the party will be the one-of-a-kind McCoy Tyner, a celebrated pianist who joined the John Coltrane Quartet when he was in his early twenties. Tyner's career took flight after that and he's been turning heads ever since. Expect Tyner to deliver a memorable performance at the event, along with other members of the SFJAZZ Collective. 

"Jazz, at its core, has always been American," Anderson muses. "Many people argue that it’s truly the only American art form. It’s ethnic, it’s democratic, it’s improvisonational and it's intellectual. Finally, here in the 21st century, America is catching up to jazz. All those  things—democrative, improvisational, intellectural—describe America to at T right now ... in the form of its president and in the direction our country is taking."

It's hard to argue that point.

Anderson notes that the gala will be spirted and fun, and that he is excited about the year ahead for SJ JAZZ, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this spring. "This year, like every year, we want SF JAZZ to take its rightful place in jazz ... next to the opera, the symphony, the ballet and any number of artistic endeavors in San Francisco.

"We want to continue being at the forefront at presenting, creating and educating people about jazz," he adds.

As for his irreverent turn as producer and writer of Pig Hunt, he says he loved telling a story. "There's this instensity [in the story]," he notes, "and often [in Hollywood], they don’t always allow you to tell fantastic stories, but in the horror [genre] they do. With the exception of the 3,000-pound pig, we thought ... ' wouldn’t it be funny to take these guys out of the city and see what they run into [in Northern California]'"

Pork chops? Maybe. In the meantime, no word yet on what Anderson is cooking up next.