Articles by Steven Roby
Stefon Harris & Blackout / Theo Croker at Miner Auditorium
by Steven Roby
Stefon Harris & Blackout/Theo Croker Miner Auditorium Terence Blanchard's UpSwing Series San Francisco, CA November 29, 2025 The UpSwing series, curated by Terence Blanchard at SFJAZZ, acts as a key indicator of the health of American improvised music. It is more than just a showcase; it functions as a laboratory. By bringing together established masters and emerging talent innovators in the expansive Miner Auditorium, the series fosters a dialogue essential for the genre's future. ...
Continue ReadingJohn Santos at Miner Auditorium
by Steven Roby
John Santos Sextet Miner Auditorium John Santos 70th Birthday ConcertSan Francisco, CA November 28, 2025 A warm, familial feeling filled the Miner Auditorium this Thanksgiving weekend, creating a noticeable shift from its usual formal reverence. When John Santos stepped onto the stage--tall, slim, and dressed in a crisp white suit and pork-pie hat--the sold-out audience welcomed him not just as a performer, but as a familiar relative. However, the superficial excitement of the birthday ...
Continue ReadingMads Tolling: Nordic Folklore Meets American Jazz
by Steven Roby
This week on Backstage Bay Area, host Steve Roby welcomes two-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Mads Tolling. Known for his work with the Turtle Island Quartet, Stanley Clarke, and Bob Weir, Mads is shifting gears this season to share a piece of his Danish childhood in San Francisco. Mads takes us inside his project, Cool Yule: A Nordic Holiday Celebration, a “love letter" to his upbringing in Copenhagen. We explore the concept of “hygge," compare the structured traditions of ...
Continue ReadingBen Folds on Keeping Art Alive
by Steven Roby
In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, host Steve Roby interviews Ben Folds, the pianist, songwriter, and arts advocate who has spent three decades balancing sharp, story-driven pop songs with orchestral ambition. Fresh off the release of Ben Folds Live with the National Symphony Orchestra and deep into his work on the new holiday album Sleigher, Folds discusses what it means to keep art alive in a noisy, distracted culture. The conversation shifts from his years at the ...
Continue ReadingThree Visitors At Joe Henderson Lab
by Steven Roby
Three Visitors Joe Henderson Lab San Francisco, CA November 22, 2025 The first notes of Edward Simon 's “What If" emerged out of the dark at the Joe Henderson Lab, cutting through the reflections of car lights sliding across the room's glass walls. Inside the 100-seat club, the city was a flickering backdrop rather than a distraction; the real weather was being made onstage by Three Visitors, the long-standing trio of Simon, bassist Scott Colley, and ...
Continue ReadingStefon Harris on Soul, Sound, and Harmony in Motion
by Steven Roby
Stefon Harris is a four-time Grammy-nominated jazz vibraphonist, bandleader, and educator. A longtime leader of the band Blackout and former member of the SFJAZZ Collective, he has recorded for Blue Note and Concord, collaborated with artists from Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter to Dianne Reeves and Common, and serves on the faculty at Rutgers University--Newark. Harris is also co-founder of the Melodic Progression Institute and creator of the Harmony Cloud ear-training app. In this episode: Stefon's early experiences with music ...
Continue ReadingKamasi Washington At Golden Gate Theatre
by Steven Roby
Kamasi Washington Band Golden Gate Theatre San Francisco, CA October 14, 2025 It was part big-band spiritual jazz and part family affair. Visionary saxophonist Kamasi Washington's sold-out two-hour concert at the Golden Gate Theatre offered an evening of transcendent fusion, mixing funk, hip-hop, and masterful improvisation with surprise guest appearances. Dressed in a pure white, loose-fitting, African-inspired robe with a green and gold, chasuble-like panel embroidered into the fabric, Kamasi Washington looked like ...
Continue ReadingJuan de Marcos & The Afro-Cuban All Stars at Miner Auditorium
by Steven Roby
Juan de Marcos & The Afro-Cuban All Stars Miner Auditorium Buena Vista Social Club Revisited San Francisco, CA November 13, 2025 Minutes after returning to Miner Auditorium's stage, Juan De Marcos shared a revelation that would have discouraged many bandleaders. “I am very happy to play tonight for you," he told the packed house, “but I had hip surgery 15 days ago." A low gasp moved through the room. At 71, managing arthritis ...
Continue ReadingThree Visitors Trio Debuts New Album
by Steven Roby
In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, host Steve Roby interviews pianist and composer Edward Simon to discuss the trio Three Visitors, a deeply collaborative project with bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade. This trio consists of three composers who write for one another, built on a long history, a shared language, and deliberate listening. We discuss how the group evolved from its New York connections in the 1990s, how the new album on GroundUP Music was created with ...
Continue ReadingJohn Scofield Combo 73 at Miner Auditorium
by Steven Roby
John Scofield Combo 73 Miner Auditorium San Francisco November 7, 2025 Grammy-winning guitarist John Scofield returned to Miner Auditorium for a three-night residency (November 6--8) alongside Combo 73, a lively quartet featuring pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Vicente Archer, and drummer Bill Stewart. Their performance on the second night crackled with grit, fire, and instinctive rapport, thrilling the audience with their undeniable chemistry. The night's action began swiftly. Known for his concise stage presence, ...
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