Results for "san francisco"

LabRats: Groove Experiments and the Mwandishi Connection

by Steven Roby
September 2, 2025

LabRats didn't aim to fit neatly on a shelf. The Sacramento-based collective, led by drummer and bandleader Jacob Swedlow, moves wherever the groove takes them--through jazz fusion, hip-hop, and live improvisation--while maintaining a tight, communal vibe both on stage and in the studio. “LabRats was an idea I had about two years before I ...

Lady Day Reimagined: Stella Heath’s Jazz Story

by Steven Roby
August 31, 2025

Vocalist Stella Heath describes Billie Holiday the way a director describes a great actor--precise about choices, attentive to subtext, and focused on how a story resonates in the room. “Stories are front and foremost for me," she says. Heath's connection to Holiday starts with feeling. What drew her in wasn't just her timbre or ...

SFJAZZ Spring Concerts

by Ronald Davis
August 28, 2025

ELEW Finds His Frequency: From Camden Roots to ELEW Plays Sting at SFJAZZ

by Steven Roby
August 26, 2025

Pianist Eric Lewis (ELEW) grew up in a house where music was infrastructure. He is the fourth generation of classical musicians in his family, raised in Camden, New Jersey, where practicing the piano felt like another chore alongside washing dishes and mowing the lawn. That immersion, combined with conservatory training, forged a touch that is both ...

Taj Mahal Quartet At Miner Auditorium

by Steven Roby
August 21, 2025

Taj Mahal Quartet Miner AuditoriumSan Francisco, CA August 16, 2025 The sold-out Sunday afternoon performance closed a four-concert SFJAZZ residency with a reminder that Taj Mahal keeps tradition not just intact, but in motion. The 83-year-old bandleader entered to Bunji Garlin's “Differentology (Ready for the Road)," clapping in a straw hat and patterned jacket, ...

Taj Mahal at SFJAZZ

by Ronald Davis
August 21, 2025

Anthony Wilson’s Nonet Blooms Again on House of the Singing Blossoms

by Steven Roby
August 17, 2025

Guitarist-composer Anthony Wilson is circling back to a format that has shaped his voice since the beginning: the nonet. His new live album, House of the Singing Blossoms (Sam First Records, 2025)), documents two nights at Los Angeles listening room Sam First and sets the stage for four shows at SFJAZZ's Joe Henderson Lab on September ...

Naturally 7 at Miner Auditorium

by Steven Roby
August 15, 2025

Naturally 7 Miner Auditorium San Francisco, CAAugust 10, 2025 Seven voices filled Miner Auditorium with the weight and punch of a full band--no guitars, no drum kit, no horns in sight. It was a packed house, and from the opening moments, the crowd responded to each reveal with whoops and standing ...

Bassist/Producer Frank Swart's 'Mischief In The Musitorium' Features Vernon Reid, Lenny White, Donald Harrison And More!

August 15, 2025

A new record bringing together some of the most fearless voices in modern music: Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Nduduzo Makhathini, Jason Marsalis, Lenny White (Miles Davis and Return to Forever), G Calvin Weston (Ornette Coleman), Donald Harrison and Bill Summers (The Headhunters). This album is a collision of alt-jazz, progressive blues, and improvisational fusion- equal parts ...

David Binney Action Trio At Joe Henderson Lab

by Steven Roby
August 12, 2025

David Binney Action Trio Joe Henderson Lab San Francisco, CA August 9, 2025 With its two glass walls--one facing busy Franklin Street--the Joe Henderson Lab at the SFJAZZ Center feels like an open studio. At 7 p.m., the sold-out David Binney Action Trio made the most of that intimacy: all 100 ...