San Francisco Jazz Reviews & Interviews
Lila Downs Celebrates Belonging at SFJAZZ
The Berkeley-born trumpeter brings three decades of downtown-scene alchemy back to SFJAZZ's Joe Henderson Lab for a residency built from the sounds of his hometown.
At an SFJAZZ soundcheck without Ravi Coltrane, Terence Blanchard made the clearest case yet for why honoring jazz's past means refusing to repeat it.
With a new album arriving on May 8 and an all-star Miles Davis centennial concert coming to the Presidio Theatre on May 14, pianist, composer, and arranger John Beasley moves between inward reflection and large-scale tribute while keeping the piano at the center of both projects.
Trumpeter and composer David Weiss brings his sextet and music from Auteur to SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab on May 17, closing a tour that has given this seasoned working band time to settle, stretch, and sharpen.
Gunhild Carling returns to SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab for four performances with her New Orleans ensemble, blending multi-instrumental virtuosity with a live approach centered on audience connection and real-time musical exchange.
Bay Area bassist and bandleader Marcus Shelby brings his New Orchestra to SFJAZZ's Miner Auditorium on May 10th for a deep dive into the Miles Davis nonet sessions that changed jazz.
Ahead of his May 2 appearance at SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab, Daniel Ho reflects on his Hawaiian roots, his wide-ranging musical path, and the quartet he’s bringing to San Francisco.
Pianist Aaron Diehl brings his trio to SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium on April 26, drawing on early influences, Mary Lou Williams’s Zodiac Suite, and a refined sense of space and listening.
Ahead of her April 25 appearance at Piedmont Piano Company, pianist-composer Lynne Arriale reflects on the childhood ear that led her to jazz, the human values at the center of Being Human, and a trio set shaped by lyricism, optimism, and close listening.
Ahead of Instant Alter’s April 19 shows at SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab, vocalist Natasha Agrama talks about the band’s roots, its stripped-down but harmonically rich sound, and the values driving music built for the present moment.
Ben Wendel discusses his musical beginnings, the openness of jazz, the thinking behind “On The Trail” and “Wanderers,” and the deep band chemistry behind his upcoming quartet appearance at Yoshi’s.
Ahead of SFJAZZ’s three-night centennial tribute to Randy Weston in the Joe Henderson Lab, T.K. Blue reflects on Weston’s influence, the African Rhythms lineage, and the spirit behind these upcoming performances.
Ahead of four Joe Henderson Lab shows at SFJAZZ, East Bay singer-songwriter August Lee Stevens talks about the Bay Area roots that shaped her, songs drawn from public feeling and family memory, and a live set built for the room.
Ahead of his SFJAZZ appearance, Monty Alexander reflects on growing up in Kingston, absorbing every sound around him, and shaping a musical language where jazz, blues, calypso, and Jamaican rhythm all belong to the same joyful conversation.
Ahead of her SFJAZZ UpSwing appearance, Lakecia Benjamin talks about her upcoming album We Dream, the spirit behind “Flamekeeper,” and the communal energy she wants her music to carry into the room.
Drummer Lenny White reflects on what Miles Davis taught musicians about space, instinct, and personal voice. Ahead of SFJAZZ’s March 21 tribute, White speaks about Davis’s unusual guidance, his approach to teaching, and why this music still challenges players to think more deeply.
Veteran trumpeter Eddie Henderson reflects on hearing Miles Davis live as a teenager, the lessons Miles passed on directly, and how those experiences shape his role in SFJAZZ’s sold-out March 21 tribute to Miles’s acoustic years.
Veteran tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson discusses his new Bob Dylan tribute album, Jackson Plays Dylan, and reflects on the musical discipline, lineage, and economy that also shape his upcoming Miles Davis tribute at SFJAZZ.
On March 15, the Presidio Theatre hosts Flying High: Still Soaring, a Women’s History Month tribute to the swing-era vocalists who shaped the Great American Songbook—led by producer Suzanne Waldowski and musical director Champian Fulton.
After five decades of elevating the projects of jazz royalty, multi-instrumentalist Roger Glenn claims his narrative with a long-awaited statement of Afro-Caribbean identity.
A virtuoso guitarist and prolific inventor brings a "whole new sub-genre of jazz" to Berkeley for a double-bill performance celebrating a major return to the studio.
Australian jazz star Sarah McKenzie brings her "breezy technical style" and "lyrical sense of swing" to Northern California, exploring the "soul" of San Francisco through her latest music.
Pianist Omar Sosa brings his "SUBA" project and global alliances to the "Temple of Jazz" for an enlightening week as Resident Artistic Director.
Step into the intimate confines of the Joe Henderson Lab this Sunday, where the boundary between artist and audience dissolves into a shared sonic journey. Bassist and composer Lisa Mezzacappa brings her "Otherworldly" suite to life, promising an evening where experimental rigor meets the playful unpredictability of live improvisation.
Barcelona-born guitarist Oscar Peñas returns to SFJAZZ for his third performance at the Joe Henderson Lab, leading a trio whose sensitive and minimalist sound turns the intimate venue into a space for spontaneous musical storytelling.
Tyreek McDole brings his quintet to the Joe Henderson Lab at SFJAZZ on Feb. 12–13, 2026, exploring themes of healing, listening, and “collective dreaming” in an intimate residency setting.
The line between artist and audience dissolves as Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist Cleo Reed brings a raucous reworking of American tradition to the Joe Henderson Lab.
The trombonist and "merchant of joy" discusses family legacy, the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, and the high-voltage celebration of Mardi Gras coming to Miner Auditorium.
Trio Grande—Will Vinson, Gilad Hekselman, and Nate Wood—brings its high-level interplay and larger-than-life trio sound to SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab for two shows on February 11.
Charles Tolliver brought Coltrane’s Africa/Brass to SFJAZZ with a commanding quintet and 15 Conservatory musicians. The performance soared, even as introductions, context, and an encore went missing.
Lila Downs closed her four-night SFJAZZ engagement with songs of resilience, a message of solidarity and a seven-piece band that brought the celebration into the crowd.
On the final night of their Miles Davis centennial tour, Marcus Miller, Mike Stern, Bill Evans and Mino Cinelu reunite the 1981 We Want Miles band at Miner Auditorium. Russell Gunn takes the trumpet chair.
On the final night of SFJAZZ’s season-opening residency, Christian McBride guided Ursa Major from the rear of the stage, giving the quintet’s individual voices room to carry the concert.
Four decades into their career, Take 6 still builds its singular sound on disciplined arranging, close listening, and melody. A San Francisco masterclass, an interview with Claude McKnight, and the closing night of the group’s SFJAZZ residency revealed how that architecture continues to evolve.
Lettuce capped its four-night SFJAZZ residency by turning Miner Auditorium into a joyous funk revival. Steve Roby reviews a night of deep grooves, fearless improvisation, and a dance floor that refused to stay seated.
Steven Bernstein brought Sexmob back to the Bay Area for a set devoted to 1960s psychedelic rock. The opening night at SFJAZZ's Joe Henderson Lab began unevenly before finding its groove with inventive takes on Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead.
The Police drummer brings his first American spoken-word tour to the Presidio Theatre and packs fifty years — Beirut, punk, Coppola, opera, the reunion — into one chair, one lamp, and a drum full of audience questions. Conflict, he argues, was the secret sauce.
At 85, the Cuban piano giant turned Miner Auditorium into a journey through Mozart, Ravel, and Shorter — and it all came out as pure Chucho.
Trumpeter Terence Blanchard and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane closed SFJAZZ's 2025–26 season with a centennial celebration of Miles Davis and John Coltrane that played entirely by its own rules—electric, unruly, and occasionally at odds with its own billing.
On May 24, Gunhild Carling brought her family band, six instruments, and an impromptu stomp to SFJAZZ's most intimate room.
Rather than presenting Miles Davis as a finished monument, John Beasley and his sextet treated the legendary trumpeter's music as an unfolding conversation during a dynamic 90-minute set at San Francisco's Presidio Theatre. This performance marked the final, brilliant stop of Beasley's Miles Davis tribute tour in the Bay Area.
Hiromi Uehara and Sonicwonder turned their SFJAZZ-presented Golden Gate Theatre concert into a high-voltage night of jazz fusion, theatrical movement, and musical lift-off.
A promised tribute to Bay Area radio pioneers gives way to a slow, meditative evening that finds its footing only in flashes.
At SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium, Aaron Diehl led his trio through a measured, deeply focused set that balanced originals, standards, and seven Roland Hanna preludes, all shaped by precision, space, and attentive interplay.
Endea Owens’ performance centered groove as a social language, with Sullivan Fortner’s pianism sharpening the ensemble’s focus. The set balanced compositional clarity with fluid interaction, revealing a band attuned to both lineage and forward motion.
Gerald Clayton closed his reunion tour at SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium with bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Justin Brown, delivering a set that balanced space, precision, and trio interplay. The performance traced a shared musical language shaped over decades and still evolving in real time.
Lee Ritenour brought a refined quartet to SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium, balancing fusion-era precision with a controlled, groove-centered approach shaped by tone, phrasing, and ensemble interplay.
Stewart Copeland brings Police Deranged for Orchestra to Miner Auditorium, reworking the Police catalog with symphonic scale and raising questions about how much bite survives the expansion.
Emmet Cohen’s sold-out SFJAZZ performance approached Miles Davis and John Coltrane’s centennial as a living tradition, balancing high-velocity interplay, atmospheric depth, and a forward-looking original suite.
Keb’ Mo’ opened his sold-out four-night SFJAZZ run with an intimate, story-rich set at Miner Auditorium, joined by his son K. Roosevelt on drums and percussion. The evening balanced warmth, humor, political resonance, and the lived authority of a musician fully at home in his own sound.
At SFJAZZ, Monty Alexander turned a Sunday-night set into a vivid memoir in sound, folding swing, reggae, humor, and hard-earned feeling into a performance shaped by a lifetime of stories.
At SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium, Pasquale Grasso opened with elegance and finely controlled swing, but Lakecia Benjamin’s blazing second set supplied the night’s real dramatic center. The contrast made for an intriguing double bill, even if the programming never fully found its arc.
At Miner Auditorium, José James closed his 1978: Revenge of the Dragon tour with a set that moved through soul, fusion, disco, hip-hop, and jazz, turning Friday night into a charged, flirtatious, high-volume celebration.
Immanuel Wilkins’s March 2026 SFJAZZ residency moves from conversation to premiere to performance, tracing a four-day arc that includes a listening party, the debut of his commissioned work Recitations, and intimate Joe Henderson Lab sets with special guest David Murray.
The final night of SFJAZZ’s Miles Davis centennial celebration brought the Miles Electric Band to Miner Auditorium, while a broader arc came into focus across the full four-night series. Through insights from Vince Wilburn Jr. and Keyon Harrold, the week revealed Miles Davis as an artist who kept moving toward the next sound.
Across two Saturday performances in Miner Auditorium, Eddie Henderson, Javon Jackson, Donald Harrison, Patrice Rushen, Buster Williams, and Lenny White treated Kind of Blue as living language, giving Night 3 of SFJAZZ’s Miles Davis centennial celebration its deepest historical weight and clearest spirit of musical exploration.
Night 2 of SFJAZZ’s Miles Davis centennial series shifted from argument to atmosphere, as Gil Goldstein, Keyon Harrold, and Lenny White revisited the Davis-Gil Evans songbook with orchestral color, historical feeling, and a chamber-like sense of scale.
At the Joe Henderson Lab, Hugo de la Lune turned his SFJAZZ debut into a meditation on lineage, faith, and self-reclamation, shaping voice and harmony into a living architecture of identity.
SML transformed the Joe Henderson Lab into a pressure chamber of modular synthesis and percussive force during a 53-minute, unbroken set that fused Chicago experimentalism with West Coast grit.
Founding member Claude McKnight reflects on Take 6's evolution from a college quartet to the world's premier a cappella ensemble while previewing the group's upcoming SFJAZZ performances and new album, Rhapsody.