Trumpeter Anthony Hervey and pianist Sean Mason bring a living-room energy to the Joe Henderson Lab—blues first, intellect in the pocket—and unpack the stories behind “Du-Rag,” “Open Your Heart,” and a Monk program built to unfold in the moment.

Becca Stevens doesn’t treat genre as a fence line. She hears it as a set of threads—folk, jazz, chamber colors—braided for story and feel. In an intimate setting, that braid tightens: voice, guitar, and the listening that lets a melody choose its own light.

Havana-born and Switzerland-based, violinist-vocalist Yilian Cañizares moves with uncommon ease between conservatory precision and street-carnival pulse. Her music stitches classical rigor to Afro-Cuban ceremony and jazz’s risk-taking conversation, creating a living language—one heard on the new single “Ore,” the bridge piece “Habana-Bahia,” and a forthcoming EP leading to the full album Vitamina Y.

Paquito D’Rivera arrives at SFJAZZ with a mission and a grin—one that views borders as mere suggestions. Two nights on the Miner Auditorium stage with his seasoned quintet will celebrate years of practice and spontaneous creativity, tracing a career that started with prodigy recitals in Havana and has spanned orchestras, big bands, and clubs worldwide.

Alto saxophonist Sarah Hanahan arrives at SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab with the urgency of a player who learned her craft on the bandstand and is unmistakably steering her own course.

“I’ve always been sure of my connection to the instrument,” she says. “Anyone who knows me knows my dad is a drummer and a great musician. He really got me hip to the music when I was a young kid… we’d watch his DVDs of Buddy Rich’s big band, and I loved how the saxophones were always taking the first solos and bringing the house down.”

An Evening with Andy Summers lands is built for a room where you can hear harmonics bloom and see the grain of a street photograph dissolve into another city. It’s also built for a crowd that wants to listen to the guitarist who helped reshape pop harmony step inside his own archive, then step out again. At the Presidio Theatre, Summers says, that arc will close this leg of the tour: “I’m pleased we’re ending in San Francisco… I should be just about ready to do it, and then the tour ends.”

The first thing you notice about Arturo O’Farrill is how completely he turns purpose into sound. Whether he’s speaking about water, memory, or the way a room breathes during a concert, the GRAMMY-winning pianist and composer treats music as a living system—one that welcomes humor, fury, and community in equal measure. That sensibility powers his new project, Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley, and it animates his return to SFJAZZ, where he’ll lead a charged, pan-American ensemble built for openness and surprise.

Afro-Cuban duo OKAN creates music that bridges gaps—between Havana and Toronto, ritual and dance floor, refined conservatory training and raw street style. Their name, taken from Santería, means “heart.” That rhythm energizes everything they perform: violin complemented by luminous vocals, batá drums, and cajón intertwined with jazz harmony, songs that emphasize joy as both an inherent right and a strategic choice.

Montreal vocalist and composer Dominique Fils-Aimé discusses music as if it were vital—indispensable, calming, and communal. In conversation, a few themes repeatedly emerge: freedom fueling jazz, music as a healing force for the body, and connection—among people, across generations, and through histories—as the subtle foundation that enables songs to flow. These ideas aren’t just abstract symbols for her; they shape how she writes and how she assembles a live set—especially in intimate venues like SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab.

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…

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. That principle guides the Billie Holiday Project she presents at SFJAZZ Center’s Joe Henderson Lab for four intimate sets on September 6–7, an evening designed to highlight Holiday’s craft and courage as much as her legend.

Pianist Eric Lewis—better known as ELEW—grew up in a New Jersey household where music wasn't just a hobby; it was the foundation. "I am the fourth generation of classical musicians in my family," he recalls. His great-grandmother ran a neighborhood music school, with four pianos on the first floor and another in the basement. Practicing felt like "just another chore," right alongside washing dishes and mowing the lawn.

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 (out August 29), 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 4–5. The return to nine pieces, Wilson says, isn’t nostalgia—it’s renewal.

In a San Francisco music scene bustling with fresh talent and sonic experimentation, it’s not easy to stand out. But that’s exactly what the indie-rock trio Silverset is doing—with dreamy textures, punchy beats, and a DIY ethos that’s as bold as their music…

With their fourth album, Dear Meadowlark, The Wildwoods—comprised of Noah and Chloe Gose and upright bassist Andrew Vaggalis—invite listeners into a world shaped by home, heartache, and the open road. It's a record that serves both as a love letter to their home state and a meditation on the places in between.

In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, host Steven Roby interviews award-winning singer-songwriter Kat Edmonson. Known for her enchanting blend of jazz, pop, and vintage charm, Kat shares the deeply personal stories behind her music, including her latest single, “Keep Movin’,” inspired by her late mother.

In this captivating episode of Backstage Bay Area, host Steven Roby speaks with five-time Grammy nominee Lakecia Benjamin, a saxophonist, composer, and trailblazer redefining modern jazz.

In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, Steve Roby sits down with the extraordinary flutist, composer, and educator Jamie Baum. Known for her trailblazing work blending jazz with classical, South Asian, and spoken-word influences, Jamie discusses her latest album, What Times Are These. She reflects on her inspirations, her creative process of setting modern poetry to music, and her enduring passion for musical exploration.

In this episode of Backstage Bay Area, host Steven Roby spoke with Sam Lucid, bassist, vocalist, and songwriter for the genre-defying band Dogs in a Pile. Based out of Asbury Park, New Jersey, the band has built a passionate fanbase with their eclectic blend of funk, jazz, rock, and psychedelia.