That includes Stern's childhood — she grew up a few miles from what remains of the Dachau concentration camp — and her successful battle with breast cancer some years ago.

Stern is actually best known as a jazz musician. She is a three-time winner of the Gibson Award for best female jazz guitarist. She once aspired to a career in the theater. However, "the guitar was always my first love, and I didn't want to just play a little."

The recording artist has just released her 10th CD, "Recollection," which features a collaboration with David Sanborn.

She left her homeland in 1977 to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and relocated to New York in 1980.

Jazz critic Bill Milkowski wrote in the liner notes for her "Recollections" that "as her muse continues to take her farther afield from jazz, she has come to express herself more genuinely and deeply."

But "I'm still a jazz musician," she told Boston Globe writer Bob Blumenthal, who called her "one of jazz's most lyrical and distinctive guitarists." She added: "Or maybe now something of a rock musician."

She will be accompanied at the Schmooze by drummer Kenny Wolleson, saxophonist Dave Binney and bassist Don Falzone. Tickets to the event are $15, with discounts for those who place personals in the Bulletin's "Such a Match" section.

Mark Weiss of Earthwise Productions said his intent is to build community using music.

"It's a Jewish-themed holiday event, but it's open to music lovers of all backgrounds," he said.

For information, call (650) 949-4507 or (415) 263-7200.