Notorious Jazz

EL DEBARGE & AVERY*SUNSHINE
2023-10-20 19:30 - 21:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, 1107 Jamboree Road, Newport Beach, CA, 92660, United States
El DeBarge
Five-time GRAMMY-nominee El DeBarge got his start as the lead singer of the family group DeBarge, who were on par with The Jacksons in terms of sheer family talent, releasing a string of chart-topping hits such as “Rhythm of the Night”, “Stay With Me”, “Time Will Reveal”, “I Like It” and “All This Love”. Known for his unique high tenor register and strong falsetto, DeBarge went solo, collaborating with artists like Dionne Warwick, Chanté Moore and Babyface. His comeback album “Second Chance” was nominated in three GRAMMY categories, and in 2023 Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him 137 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
Avery*Sunshine
Singer-songwriter and pianist Avery*Sunshine released her first self-titled album in 2010, which was praised by the media including The Washington Post who called it “a radiant brand of soul”. She’s been a choral director for performances with artists like Michael Bublé, David Foster, and Anthony Hamilton.
Parking: $30.00 advanced purchase | $35.00 day of
Valet: $40.00 advanced purchase | $45.00 day of (if not sold out)

PETER WHITE, MINDI ABAIR, VINCENT INGALA
2023-10-29 19:30 - 21:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, 1107 Jamboree Road, Newport Beach, CA, 92660, United States
Over the years, Peter White has maintained a reputation as one of the most versatile and prolific acoustic guitarists on the contemporary jazz landscape. Armed with an unparalleled combination of lyricism and energy, he combines elements of jazz, pop and classical guitar to create a sound that is singular and at the same time accessible to a broad audience.
Born in 1954 in Luton, a small town north of London, White and his family moved to nearby Letchworth shortly after he was born. As a child, he learned to play several musical instruments, including the clarinet, trombone, violin and piano. And of course, like so many youngsters growing up during the heyday of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, he gravitated to the guitar.
He learned his first chords on an acoustic guitar, then bought his first electric guitar in his early teens and studied the recordings of the reigning guitar gods of the day – Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. But his musical aspirations ultimately veered back in an acoustic direction following an accident that doomed his beloved electric guitar. The axe was destroyed in a fire, one that White’s younger brother Danny – an aspiring pianist – accidentally started.
“The funny thing is that Danny didn’t actually admit to setting that fire for at least twenty-five years,” says White. “I had been kind of obsessed with the electric guitar at that point in my life, so that episode kind of forced me to go back to playing the acoustic. In retrospect, that’s a good thing.”
Indeed, White’s interests after the accident shifted more toward the music of acoustic artists like Crosby, Stills and Nash, James Taylor, and Joni Mitchell. Plugged or unplugged, he had decided by his late teens that music was his calling, and his first professional gig was at a holiday resort in England when he was 19 years old.
Barely a year later, he was invited to join Al Stewart’s band as a keyboardist for a tour of England, Scotland, and the U.S. in 1975. In addition to opening for artists like Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel and Queen, White worked with Stewart in the studio in the making of Year of the Cat, which became a huge hit for Stewart in 1976. The tour and the album marked the beginning of a twenty-year association with Stewart. In that time, the two musicians co-wrote numerous songs, including Stewart’s 1978 hit, “Time Passages.”
By the beginning of the ‘80s, White and Stewart had relocated to Los Angeles, formed a band called Shot in the Dark, and established a music publishing company called Lobster Music. Around the same time, Danny White – he of the burning guitar incident several years earlier – formed a group called Matt Bianco, which included a talented Polish singer named Basia Trzetrzelewska. Danny White and Basia splintered off to launch the singer’s solo career with the 1987 debut album, Time and Tide, which featured Peter White on guitar.
After fifteen years as a backup musician and a session player, White launched his solo recording career with the 1990 release of Reveillez-Vous (French for “Wake up,” a title chosen by White in honor of his French mother). The album included several unused songs that White had written for Stewart, and it became a favorite among contemporary jazz radio stations.
He followed with three records on the Sindrome label – Excusez-Moi (1991), Promenade (1993) and Reflections (1994) – before signing with Columbia for the 1996 release of Caravan of Dreams. He maintained an ambitious release schedule through the ‘90s and beyond, but also found time to appear on recordings by many of his friends, including Dave Koz, Rick Braun, Richard Elliot, Jeff Golub, Lee Ritenour, Kirk Whalum, Boney James and many others.
On the road, he has participated in numerous “Guitars and Saxes” tours with the aforementioned players, and has established an annual “Peter White Christmas Tour” – the latter enterprise fueled by the success of his two highly regarded holiday albums, Songs of the Season (1997) and A Peter White Christmas (2007).
Good Day, released in 2009 on Peak Records, a division of Concord Music Group, was White’s first collection of original songs in several years. “I just started going through my backlog of material – songs that I’d never finished, some going as far back as ten or fifteen years – and I discovered that I had a lot of gems that I really wanted to show to the world,” he says. “I wanted to record them in my own time and in my own way, without any outside influence or interference.”
White released Here We Go in 2012 on Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group. The 11-song set, produced by White and DC (George Benson, Larry Carlton, Bob James, Patty Austin), featured several high-profile guest musicians, including saxophonists David Sanborn and Kirk Whalum, and pianist Philippe Saisse, and included a range of original material written in the recent and distant past. “I wanted variety,” says White. “I wanted songs that moved me, in the hopes that they’ll move the listener as well. I’m on a journey, and I want to bring with me anyone who’s willing to follow.”
Smile, released on October 7, 2014, is the final CD in White’s trilogy of albums consisting entirely of his own material. Co-produced with DC, the recording features ten tracks – some were written recently, some White wrote along the way with close friends and some were from the vault. Special guests include Mindi Abair (vocals), Rick Braun (horns), Euge Groove (soprano sax) and Philippe Saisse (keyboards, piano and orchestra programming). White’s daughter, Charlotte, plays violin on one song.
In a career that spans nearly four decades, over a dozen solo recordings and countless performances, White insists that it’s the faces in the crowd and the fans that keep the experience fresh. “I’ll play a live show, and someone will come to me afterward and say, ‘Oh, I loved this CD,’ or ‘This song helped me through a bad time,’” he explains. “Or I get emails from people saying, ‘Oh, I love the way you covered one of my favorite songs on your record back in 1994.’ The idea that someone can write me an email and tell me about something I did on a record that was released fifteen years ago – you can’t buy that. That’s priceless. That’s what keeps me going – the idea that people out there really care about what I do, the idea that I’ve made a difference for someone.”
Parking: $30.00 advanced purchase | $35.00 day of
Valet: $40.00 advanced purchase | $45.00 day of (if not sold out)

RENÉ MARIE
2023-11-01 19:30 - 2023-11-05 23:00 (America/New_York) | Harold & Dorothy Steward Center For Jazz, 3536 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, MO, 63103, United States
In a span of two decades, 11 recordings, and countless stage performances, vocalist René Marie has cemented her reputation as not only a singer but also a composer, arranger, theatrical performer and teacher. Guided and tempered by powerful life lessons and rooted in jazz traditions laid down by Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and other leading ladies of past generations, she borrows various elements of folk, R&B, classical, and country to create a captivating hybrid style. Her body of work is musical, but it’s more than just music. It’s an exploration of all corners of the human experience, an affirmation of the power of the human spirit.
While neither of her parents were formally trained musicians, radio and records of all kinds – blues, folk, bluegrass and classical – made up the soundtrack to her childhood. René had just one year of formal piano training at age nine, then another year of lessons at age 13. During her teenage years, she sang in a few R&B bands at musical functions in her community. She composed and sang her first piece with a band when she was 15.
But René put her musical aspirations aside to make room for the obligations and responsibilities of adulthood. She married a former bandmate when she was 18, and by the mid-1990s, she was the mother of two and working in a bank. When she was 41, her older son convinced her to start singing again, and she took a few tenuous steps into her local music scene, singing for tips one night a week in a hotel bar. It would be several months before she actually earned any real living as a singer.
René made a series of profound course corrections that steered her back toward a full-time career in music. René’s self-produced CD, Renaissance, was released in 1999 and soon after in 2000, she signed onto the MaxJazz label and recorded four more over the next four years.
Perhaps more than most artists, René understands music’s capacity to heal and inspire. Not only has she herself been the beneficiary of it, but she has made every effort along the way to extend those same benefits to others.
Prepaid Parking: $15.00

THE BAYLOR PROJECT
2023-11-03 19:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York) | Ray Charles Performing Arts Center, 900 West End Avenue SW, Atlanta, GA, 30310, United States
Join us for The Gathering 2023 kick off with a concert to benefit Hammonds House Museum featuring 6X Grammy Award nominated husband and wife duo, The Baylor Project, at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center on the campus of Morehouse College at 8:00 PM. In addition to an evening of amazing and masterful performance, there will be a silent auction, an opportunity to win a fine art print by one of Atlanta’s critically acclaimed visual artists and VIP meet and greet with The Baylors at a pre-reception at 7:00pm.
A husband. A wife. An astonishing duo built on love, family, faith, culture and community.
These are the things that power The Baylor Project featuring Jean Baylor and Marcus Baylor. This enticing collaboration is steeped in the heart and soul of jazz. As the children of Pastors, Marcus’ and Jean’s musical roots were planted deep within the church, and it was there that the road was paved for the influence of jazz, gospel, blues and soul to make it’s mark. Their debut CD “The Journey“, released on their own label, Be A Light, topped the Billboard Jazz Chart at Number 8 in 2017 and a year later garnered 2 GRAMMY® Nominations for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best Traditional R&B Performance. Two years later during one of the most challenging years in recent history, The Baylors released their single, “Sit On Down” in 2020 which earned a 3rd GRAMMY® Nomination for Best Traditional R&B Performance, solidifying The Baylor Project as an undeniable force. Their second album, “Generations,” released in 2021 earned the duo its first NAACP Image Award win for Outstanding Jazz Album-Vocal and it’s 4th GRAMMY® Nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. And their first live album, “The Evening : Live At APPARATUS” earned The Baylors their 5th and 6th GRAMMY® Nominations for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best Improvised Jazz Solo.
Marcus and Jean Baylor signed an exclusive distribution agreement, in partnership with their artist-owned label, Be A Light with Motown Gospel (a division of Capitol CMG/Capitol and Universal Music Group) making The Baylor Project’s catalogue available for the first time across all streaming platforms.

HENRY MANCINI 100TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
2023-11-03 20:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York) | Adrienne Arsht Center | Knight Concert Hall, 1300 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL, 33132, United States
Starring Monica Mancini with special guests John Pizzarelli, Shelly Berg, Gregg Field and Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute
From “Moon River” to “The Pink Panther Theme,” “Baby Elephant Walk” and “Days of Wine and Roses,” Henry Mancini composed some of the most beloved music of our time, while revolutionizing the art of film scoring.
The Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra will be joined onstage by Henry’s daughter, two-time Grammy-nominated vocalist Monica Mancini, and eight-time Grammy winner Gregg Field, plus other surprise guest artists in a multimedia event to kick off the centenary celebration of Mancini’s birth.

JAZZMEIA HORN
2023-11-07 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Gusman Concert Hall, 1314 Miller Drive, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, United States
With Frost Jazz Orchestra, the Frost Sextet, The Dafnis Prieto Artist Ensemble | John Daversa and Chuck Bergeron, directors
Billboard says she is “the jazz world’s most exciting young vocalist” and DownBeat praises herfor striking “a deft balance between mid-century jazz and contemporary neo-soul.” Award-winning vocalist Jazzmeia Horn joins forces with Frost Jazz Orchestra for an evening of jazz.

LAUFEY
2023-11-07 20:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York) | Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave NE, Atlanta, GA, 30307, United States
Laufey (pronounced lāy-vāy) is a 24-year-old, Los Angeles-based singer, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist whose jazz songs are about young love and self-discovery. Raised between Reykjavík and Washington, D.C. with annual visits to Beijing, the Icelandic-Chinese artist grew up playing cello as well as piano and became hooked on the jazz standards of Ella Fitzgerald after digging through her father’s record collection.
In 2020, while still a student at Berklee College of Music, Laufey released her debut single “Street by Street,” which went on to top the Icelandic radio charts. Following the release of her 2021 Typical of Me EP, Laufey was named Best New Artist in Jazz and Blues at the Icelandic Music Awards and hosted her own show on BBC Radio 3/BBC Sounds. Her debut full-length Everything I Know About Love, debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Alternative New Artist Album chart, and the lead single “Valentine” peaked at #1 on the Spotify Jazz Chart. In 2022 Laufey was the most streamed jazz artist on Spotify, with 425 million streams across all platforms.

ANAT COHEN & MARCELLO GONÇALVES
2023-11-18 18:30 - 22:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | The 222, 222 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, CA, 95448, United States
The perennial winner of “Clarinetist of the Year” titles from DownBeat, JazzTimes, and the Jazz Journalists Association, Fresh Air’s Terry Gross credits Cohen with “bringing the clarinet to the world” and The New York Times hails her a “Master.”

Acclaimed clarinetist Anat Cohen and 7-string guitarist Marcello Gonçalves team together in a series of intimate, lyrical duets. Breathtaking melodies, Brazilian grooves, and elements of jazz highlight the intricate talents of both Cohen and Gonçalves. In their second duo album, Reconvexo, Brazilian 7-string guitar player Gonçalves and New York-based clarinetist Cohen turn their attention to music from the Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) songbook. Against the backdrop of a country and world turning inward, the duo set out to record an album inspired by the beauty of Brazil and the spirit of its people. The result is at once intimate and virtuosic, mournful and hopeful, soaked with the feeling expressed uniquely in the Portuguese language as saudade – bittersweet, at once deeply happy and sad, and full of emotion.

WYCLIFFE GORDON
2023-11-29 08:00 - 2023-12-03 17:00 (America/New_York) | Harold & Dorothy Steward Center For Jazz, 3536 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, MO, 63103, United States
American jazz trombonist, arranger, composer, band leader, and music educator Wycliffe Gordon will light up the bistro stage this November and December!
Wycliffe took an interest in jazz in 1980 when he was thirteen, while listening to jazz records inherited from his great-aunt. The collection included a five-LP anthology produced by Sony-Columbia. In particular, he was drawn to musicians like Louis Armstrong and the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens. His early works as a professional were with Wynton Marsalis and he later conducted the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in the premiere of his new, original score for the 1925 silent film Body and Soul, directed by Oscar Micheaux.
Known affectionately as “Pinecone,” the Georgia-born trombonist also sings and plays didgeridoo, trumpet, soprano trombone, tuba, and piano. In 1995, Gordon arranged and orchestrated the theme song for NPR’s All Things Considered. Make sure to catch these spirited performances that are sure to be bad to the bone!
Prepaid Parking; $15.00

COWBOY BEBOP LIVE
2023-11-30 20:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York) | Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave NE, Atlanta, GA, 30307, United States
Cowboy Bebop LIVE is a complete multimedia experience highlighting the story of critically acclaimed anime, COWBOY BEBOP, on the big screen accompanied by live music from the soundtrack performed by the Bebop Bounty Big Band.
This 14-piece jazz ensemble features world-class musicians with members from the world famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Jazz Orchestra at Dr. Phillips Center, and the Walt Disney Company. This show is a completely one-of-a-kind production specifically designed to deliver an experience anime fans have never had before. Travel the solar system with anime’s most iconic soundtrack at Cowboy Bebop LIVE!

NICOLE HENRY WINTER CONCERT
2023-12-05 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL, 33139, United States
This is her 10th Anual Winter Concert to benefit SAVE Foundation and Miami Music Project.
About The Benefiting Non-Profits

SAVE Foundation: SAVE Foundation is recognized as South Florida’s longest-serving organization dedicated to protecting people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) against discrimination. Since 1993, SAVE has advocated for equal rights for persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
Miami Music Project: Since 2009, Miami Music Project has emerged as a model for music education programs nationally, offering after-school programming free of charge using music as an instrument of social change. Through the study and performance of music, they empower children to acquire values and achieve their full potential, positively affecting their society.

DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER WITH SEAN JONES
2023-12-06 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Stern Auditorium @ Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Ave,, New York City, NY, 10019, United States
NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater with bandleader and trumpeter Sean Jones and the NYO Jazz All-Star Big Band. The program consists of:

Feldman | Fitzgerald ~ “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (arr. Slide Hampton)

Santamaría ~ “Afro Blue” (arr. John Clayton)

Ellington ~ “Cotton Tail” (arr. Slide Hampton)

Newley | Bricusse ~ “Feeling Good / I Got You (I Feel Good)” (arr. Emily L. Fredrickson)

John Beasley ~ “Fête dans la tête” (World Premiere, commissioned by Carnegie Hall)

Holiday | Herzog Jr. ~ “God Bless the Child” (arr. Edsel Gomez and Cecil Bridgewater)

Higginbotham | Drake | Fisher ~ “Good Morning Heartache” (arr. Edsel Gomez and Cecil Bridgewater)

John Clayton ~ “I Be Serious ‘Bout Dem Blues”

Nichols | Holiday ~ “Lady Sings the Blues” (arr. Edsel Gomez and Cecil Bridgewater)

Bley ~ “Lawns” (arr. Javier Nero)

Lee | Goodman ~ “Let the Good Times Roll” (arr. Frank Foster)

Sean Jones ~ “Touch and Go” (arr. Dave Morgan)

CYNTHIA ERIVIO & FRIENDS
2023-12-06 20:00 - 21:10 (America/New_York) | KennedY Center | Eisenhower Theater, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20566, United States
Cynthia Erivo has taken the world by storm since bursting onto the West End and Broadway stages in The Color Purple. An actress, singer, author, and producer, Erivo has received worldwide critical acclaim for her work, including Grammy®, Emmy®, and Tony® Awards as well as Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, and SAG nominations.
Erivo has starred in Harriet, Genius: Aretha, Luther: The Fallen Sun, and the 2022 Pinocchio, and will star as Elphaba in Universal’s upcoming film adaptation of the hit musical WICKED. She also starred in, executive produced, and cowrote and sang a feature song for her upcoming film Drift, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.
In addition to her illustrious acting career, Erivo released her debut album Ch. 1 Vs. 1 in 2021. Her vocal prowess and dynamic stage presence have led her to headline sold-out shows, symphonies, and music spaces, including the 2016 & 2019 Kennedy Center Honors, the 2017 Governor’s Ball, the 2017 Grammy Awards®, and 2020 Academy Awards®.
In 2020, Erivo launched her production company Edith’s Daughter, which focuses on projects expressing the beauty in overlooked and underrepresented people and their stories. The following year, she released her first children’s book Remember to Dream, Ebere.
Erivo will be joined by friends Joaquina Kalukango and Ben Platt.
Kalukango is an actress and singer, who has won a Tony®, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for Broadway performances in Paradise Square and Slave Play. She was a SAG Award nominee for her part in the film One Night in Miami, and has recurring roles in television, including Lovecraft Country and upcoming series Bass Reeves.
Platt is a Tony®, Grammy®, and Emmy® Award–winning actor and recording artist. Acclaimed for his groundbreaking performance as Evan in Dear Evan Hansen, he later reprised the role in the Universal film adaptation. His movie and series highlights include Theater Camp, The Politician, and Pitch Perfect 1 & 2. Last year, Platt wrapped his Reverie Tour and continues to work on new music after the success of two chart-topping albums.

SUTTON FOSTER
2023-12-19 20:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York) | The Parker, 707 NE 8th St, , FL, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33304, United States
Tony Award®-winning actress and singer Sutton Foster returns to The Parker with Sutton Foster: Christmas Time Is Here! This show will feature her singing a collection of songs that includes a mixture of holiday classics and her own personal holiday favorites.
Foster is one of her generation’s most celebrated Broadway actresses, having won two Tony Awards® for her performances in Anything Goes and Thoroughly Modern Millie. She has starred in numerous other Broadway productions, including Violet, Young Frankenstein, Shrek the Musical, and most recently concluded a lauded run in The Music Man.
Other notable stage performances include Into the Woods, Sweet Charity, and The Wild Party. In addition to her work on stage, Foster is known for her performances on television, including the hit series Younger, Bunheads, The Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

SAMARA JOY
2023-12-20 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Murphy Fine Arts Center, 2201 Argonne Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21218, United States
Featuring The McLendon Family
Samara Joy McLendon is a Grammy Award-winning American jazz singer from the Castle Hill neighborhood of the Bronx, New York. She released her self-titled debut album in 2021 and was subsequently named Best New Artist by JazzTimes. Her second album, Linger Awhile, was released in September 2022, winning the award for Best Jazz Vocal Album and herself for Best New Artist at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
Celebrating the release of her new festive EP, “A Joyful Holiday”, this double Grammy-winning jazz singer takes the stage with members of her talented musical family for ONE NIGHT ONLY in Baltimore, Maryland on December 20th! Sharing the influences of gospel, Motown, and jazz across the generations, Joy delivers a sparkling evening brimming with the most time-honored songs of the season alongside her father, uncle, and cousins.
Ticket Fees: $2.40~$3.00

JAZZMEIA HORN
2024-01-17 20:00 (America/New_York) | Faena Hotel Theater, 3201 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL, 33140, United States
Jazzmeia Horn is a spectacularly talented and important young jazz artist and returns to Miami Beach for a one night performance for the hotel’s 6th annual series.
The Grammy winner and multiple Grammy nominee, winner of the Sarah Vaughn Vocal Jazz Competition, the Thelonius Monk Institute International Jazz Competition, and the NAACP Outstanding Image Award, is an accomplished artist including being a consummate musician, composer, big band arranger and educator.

MIGUEL ZENÓN QUARTET
2024-01-20 20:00 - 21:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | The Jazz Bakery @ Moss Theater, 3131 Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA, 90404, United States
Multiple Grammy Nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow represents a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists and composers of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between jazz and his many musical influences. He will be joined at the Moss Theater by pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig, and drummer Henry Cole.
Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he has released fifteen recordings as a leader, including the Grammy-nominated Música De Las Américas (2022), El Arte Del Bolero (2021) and Sonero: The Music of Ismael Rivera (2019) and Yo Soy La Tradición (2018). He has worked with luminaries such as The SFJAZZ Collective, David Sánchez, Danilo Perez, Kurt Elling, Joey Calderazzo, Steve Coleman, Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band, The Mingus Big Band and Bobby Hutcherson.
Free parking onsite. Between Centinela and Stewart St. Enter at New-Roads-School sign. Theater is immediately on right.

NICOLE HENRY
2024-01-26 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | DJD Theater, 800 19th Street N, Birmingham, AL, 35203, United States
The New York Times, Miami Herald, and Jazz Times Magazine have compared powerhouse jazz vocalist Nicole Henry to Whitney Houston and Natalie Cole for her dynamic range, impeccable phrasing, and bluesy gospel style. Whether burning through a swing tune or gently caressing a ballad, Nicole truly makes each song uniquely her own and “aims right for the emotional center.” (Billboard) See her perform her latest topping album, “Time to Love Again” and prepare to be entertained!

KENNY BARRON
2024-02-01 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | SFJazz Center | Miner Auditorium, 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Starting his week as Resident Artistic Director in grand style, Kenny Barron performs with his ironclad working trio with bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake. Kitagawa’s 27-year association with Barron and Blake’s nearly twenty-year tenure have made them the finest working piano trio in jazz, a unit that has developed a singular depth of communication as captured on Barron’s 2016 Impulse! album Book of Intuition — a sterling session nominated for “Best Instrumental Jazz Recording” at the 2016 GRAMMY Awards.

Called “one of the top jazz pianists in the world” by The Los Angeles Times, Kenny Barron is a 2010 NEA Jazz Master and eleven-time GRAMMY nominee who helped define and extend the jazz tradition since his work with Dizzy Gillespie in the early ‘60s catapulted him into the spotlight. Extensive associations with Freddie Hubbard, Yusef Lateef, Stan Getz, James Moody and Ron Carter built his peerless reputation as a sideman, and he has recorded over 50 albums as a bandleader over his five-decade career. A seven-time recipient of Best Pianst by the Jazz Journalists Association, Barron leads an ironclad trio with bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake, and regularly performs as a soloist and settings from duo to big band.

KENNY BARRON QUINTET
2024-02-02 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | SFJazz Center | Miner Auditorium, 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Expanding his stellar working trio to a quintet with the addition of SFJAZZ Collective trumpeter Mike Rodriguez and Bay Area-raised saxophone great Dayna Stephens, Kenny Barron explores new sonorities and textures in a program of originals and fresh takes on standards documented on his 2018 Blue Note album Concentric Circles.
Best known for his work with the Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra and a first-year member of the Collective, Martinez is a veteran of work with Clark Terry, Joe Lovano, and Chico O’Farrill. Stephens is arguably one of the busiest and most buzzed-about saxophonists in modern jazz, working with Taylor Eigsti, Brad Mehldau, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Gerald Clayton among others, and leading eleven albums.
The Band: Dayna Stephens, Mike Rodriguez, Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Johnathan Blake

KENNY BARRON: BRAZILIAN EXPLORATIONS
2024-02-03 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | SFJazz Center | Miner Auditorium, 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Called “one of the top jazz pianists in the world” by The Los Angeles Times, Kenny Barron is a 2010 NEA Jazz Master and eleven-time GRAMMY nominee who helped define and extend the jazz tradition since his work with Dizzy Gillespie in the early ‘60s catapulted him into the spotlight. Extensive associations with Freddie Hubbard, Yusef Lateef, Stan Getz, James Moody and Ron Carter built his peerless reputation as a sideman, and he has recorded over 50 albums as a bandleader over his five-decade career. A seven-time recipient of Best Pianst by the Jazz Journalists Association, Barron leads an ironclad trio with bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake, and regularly performs as a soloist and settings from duo to big band.
His third night brings the Bay Area premiere of a new sextet project embracing the music of Brazil and beyond. No stranger to Brazilian rhythms, Barron recorded his first album of samba-influenced compositions three decades ago with 1993’s Verve date Sambao.
He is joined for this special night by flutist Anne Drummond and percussionist Valtinho Anastacio from his 2002 Sunnyside release Canta Brasil, along with drummer Rafael Barata, whose scintillating playing propelled the pianist’s 2013 Rio-recorded session Kenny Barron & the Brazilian Knights. Rounding out the band is Barron’s granddaughter, the masterful vibraphonist Nikara Warren, and virtuoso bassist John Patitucci.

SEAN JONES
2024-02-04 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Zankel Hall @ Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Ave,, New York City, NY, 10019, United States
Renowned trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and educator Sean Jones leads his NYO Jazz All-Star Quartet in Zankel Hall Center Stage, an intimate setting that invites audiences to sit on all sides of the performers. This communal, “in the round” configuration brings listeners closer than ever to the music—an ideal way to enjoy live jazz performed by a group of master improvisers and ensemble players. As part of the experience, artists and audiences alike will be encouraged to explore concepts of self-care and mindfulness through music.

Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Host

KENNY BARRON: FREELY IMPROVISED MUSIC
2024-02-04 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | SFJazz Center | Miner Auditorium, 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Kenny Barron closes his residency in the most spontaneous and creative way possible, with an evening of improvised music featuring a sterling lineup of adventurous artists.
Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jen Shyu is a Guggenheim Fellow known for her visionary approach as a composer and her memorable work with Steve Coleman and Five Elements.
A 2017 Juilliard graduate, trombonist Kalia Vandever has released a pair of acclaimed albums and is an awardee of the 2022 Next Jazz Legacy from New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.
Three-time GRAMMY-winner John Patitucci is among the greatest bassists in jazz who has amassed a staggering list of accolades as a leader and as a long-term collaborator with Chick Corea, Dave Grusin, and Wayne Shorter.
Drummer Lesley Mok is a veteran of work with Tomeka Reid, Myra Melford, and William Parker. Her debut album as a leader, The Living Collection, was released in 2023.

CHUCHO VALDÉS: IRAKERE 50
2024-02-09 20:00 - 21:30 (America/New_York) | Adrienne Arsht Center | Knight Concert Hall, 1300 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL, 33132, United States
Fresh off the world premiere of his epic work La Creación at the Arsht Center in 2021, Cuban pianist and composer Chucho Valdés returns to commemorate 50 years of IRAKERE, the legendary Afro-Cuban jazz band he founded that changed the face of Latin music forever.
With its audacious mix of Afro-Cuban ritual music, Cuban dance music, jazz, classical music and rock, Irakere marked a before and after in Latin jazz. The group’s self-titled debut recording in the United States won a Grammy as Best Latin Recording in 1979. In 2015, Valdés celebrated Irakere’s 40th anniversary with a world tour. Tribute to Irakere: Live at Marciac, which captured a performance on that tour, won a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2016.

CORINNE BAILEY RAE
2024-02-10 19:00 - 2024-02-11 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | SFJazz Center | Miner Auditorium, 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Two-time Grammy-winning vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Corinne Bailey Rae is among the most celebrated artists in contemporary soul and R&B. Named the number-one predicted breakout star by the BBC’s critics poll following the release of her #1 charting debut album in 2006, the Leeds-born Bailey Rae has racked up six GRAMMY nominations, an NAACP Image Award, and innumerable other honors over her career.
She appears on the Miner stage for two nights, bringing an immersive multimedia experience featuring music from her new multidisciplinary project, Black Rainbows.

After three superlative releases and collaboration with the likes of Al Green, Mary J. Blige, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, RZA, Herbie Hancock, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Bailey Rae presents her boldest and most audacious statement yet.
Black Rainbows was inspired by the artworks collected by artist, educator, and social innovator Theaster Gates at the Stony Island Arts Bank — a historic bank building on the South Side of Chicago comprising a curated collection of books, sculpture, records, furniture, and problematic objects from America’s past.
From the rock hewn churches of Ethiopia to the journeys of Black Pioneers Westward, Black Rainbows explores Black femininity, Inner Space and Outer Space, time collapse, ancestors, the erasure of Black childhood, and music as a vessel for transcendence.

Saturday Performance: Sold Out
Sunday Performance: Tickets Available At Time Of Post

CHUCHO VALDÉS & IRAKERE 50
2024-02-15 19:30 - 2024-02-18 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | SFJazz Center | Miner Auditorium, 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
The most influential figure in modern Afro-Cuban jazz for more than half a century, virtuoso pianist, composer and arranger Chucho Valdés returns with Irakere 50, the new iteration of the legendary band that changed the course of Latin music in the 1970s and 80s.

The son of Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés, the winner of seven GRAMMYs and four Latin GRAMMY Awards joined Armando Romeu’s celebrated Cuban Orchestra of Modern Music in 1967, a time when the communist government still considered American jazz anti-revolutionary. He was already recognized as the most formidable pianist of his generation when he launched Irakere in 1973 with a phenomenal cast that included saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval.
Discovered and introduced internationally by Dizzy Gillespie, the band’s unprecedented synthesis of folkloric Afro-Cuban rhythms, sacred drums, rock, funk, R&B, and jazz opened up vast new frontiers, and helped pave the way for the pervasively popular dance music known as timba. Over the ensuing years, Valdés has concentrated on his career as a solo artist, recording 25 albums and co-writing the landmark 2018 book Decoding Afro-Cuban Jazz in collaboration with SFJAZZ Director of Education Rebeca Mauleón.
A springboard from Valdes’ GRAMMY-winning Afro-Cuban Messengers band, Irakare 50 showcases a blazing new generation of Cuban talent.
Thursday ~ Saturday Performance | 7:30pm
Sunday Performance | 7:00pm

DANIELLE WERTZ
2024-02-16 19:00 - 22:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | SFJazz Center | Joe Henderson Lab, 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
“A masterful ballad interpreter” (NYC Jazz Record), the sublime vocalist and 2015 Thelonious Monk competition finalist performs music from her newest Outside in Music album, Other Side. An artist on the rise, the New York City-based singer and composer weaves together elements of jazz, folk, and the use of her voice as an instrumental texture to create an intimate and personal musical world.

A finalist in both the Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition and the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Vocal Competition, Wertz released her 2017 debut album Intertwined in collaboration with Israeli pianist Tal Cohen — a sparkling collection of standards and newer compositions which was ranked #4 on Capital Bop‘s list of “Best DC Jazz Albums of 2017.” In addition to her solo career, Wertz is an avid collaborator, featured on recording projects alongside Elena Pinderhughes, Braxton Cook, Justin Rock, and Ambrose Akinmusire, among others.
With Other Side, Wertz has made a quantum leap as a composer and conceptualist, braving essential questions of the human experience with nuanced expression and deep feeling. Born of the introspection and examination that the pandemic forced upon us all, the album pairs her own lyrical compositions based in personal stories with carefully chosen covers like the Rogers and Hart chestnut “Spring is Here,” imbued with the longing and anger created by a world in lockdown.

CHRIS BOTTI
2024-02-16 20:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York) | Adrienne Arsht Center | Knight Concert Hall, 1300 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL, 33132, United States
Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti has been one of the most popular instrumentalists in the world for nearly three decades. He’s collaborated with some of the biggest superstars on the planet, including Sting, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell, Steven Tyler, Andrea Bocelli, Herbie Hancock and Yo-Yo Ma. He’s topped the jazz charts with numerous albums, earned multiple gold and platinum records, performed with symphony orchestras and on prestigious stages from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl and the Sydney Opera House.
There’s nothing like a Chris Botti concert. He’s the complete package: a dazzling trumpeter at home in everything from jazz to pop and rock, a brilliant bandleader who lets his players shine and a born showman whose joy at being onstage is infectious.

LOSTON HARRIS: SWINGFULLY YOURS
2024-02-17 18:00 - 2024-02-18 22:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | SFJazz Center | Joe Henderson Lab, 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
For many years a mainstay at New York’s cabaret capital, the Carlyle Hotel, singer and pianist Loston Harris and his swing-infused trio present intoxicating takes on gems from the Great American Songbook, carrying on the tradition of Frank Sinatra, Bobby Short, and Nat King Cole.
Saturday Performance | 7:00pm & 8:30pm
Sunday Performance | 6:00pm & 7:30 pm

RENÉ MARIE
2024-02-17 19:00 - 22:15 (America/New_York) | Jefferson Center | Fostek Hall, 541 Luck Avenue, SW, Roanoke, VA, 24016, United States
In a span of two decades, René Marie has cemented her reputation not only as a singer but also as a composer, arranger, actress and educator. Guided and tempered by powerful life lessons and rooted in jazz traditions laid down by icons of past generations, this two-time Grammy Nominee melds jazz with elements of spirituals, folk, R&B, classical and even country to create a captivating hybrid style. Her body of work is musical, but it’s more than just music. It’s an exploration of the bright and dark corners of the human experience, a musical architecture for the human spirit.
Her body of work is musical, but it’s more than just music. It’s an exploration of the bright and dark corners of the human experience, and an affirmation of the power of the human spirit.” – All About Jazz
7:00pm Performance ~ Sold Out
9:00pm Performance ~ Tickets Available w/$5.00 service charge
