Clarinetist Anat Cohen returns to Miner Auditorium to celebrate her 50th birthday with a program traversing the full range of her artistic expression. From the intimate "Quartetinho" to the expansive "Tentet," Cohen discusses the architecture of her ensembles and her "student for life" philosophy in this exclusive preview.

This December 13th and 14th, the Joe Henderson Lab at SFJAZZ becomes a portal to the snow-covered streets of Copenhagen. Two-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Mads Tolling returns to this cozy venue with Cool Yule: A Nordic Holiday Celebration, a show that promises to replace typical holiday clichés with the rich and complex folklore of Scandinavia. 

When Stefon Harris talks about music, he's not just describing a career but a way of experiencing the world. The four-time Grammy-nominated vibraphonist, composer, and educator has been celebrated as one of the most influential artists in contemporary jazz. With his long-standing band Blackout, a new chapter of his Sonic Creed project, an innovative ear-training app, and an upcoming performance at SFJAZZ, Harris manages multiple roles, all centered around the idea of sound as a means of human connection.

Ben Folds has spent three decades proving that pop music can carry the weight of an orchestral score and the sting of a short story. This winter finds him in one of his busiest seasons yet: touring an ambitious live album with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), reflecting on his eight-year tenure at the Kennedy Center, and turning his sardonic new Christmas record Sleigher into a pair of holiday shows at SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium.

The story of Three Visitors begins with three musicians who often played within larger bands but formed a smaller, more intimate group. Pianist Edward Simon, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Brian Blade performed together frequently in the 1990s and 2000s, developing a deep mutual understanding—an inevitable chemistry that made their trio feel natural long before it was ever officially named. 

Bay Area trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Sarah Wilson consistently writes music that fills a room like a street parade fills a neighborhood. Her new album, Incandescence, comes from that same instinct. It is music inspired by visual art, community performance, and the joyful noise of brass instruments played in close harmony

The Joe Henderson Lab thrives when it acts as a classroom without walls: a place where mentorship happens in real time, where a set list serves as a curriculum, and where the next generation of Bay Area improvisers learns how a professional band performs on stage.

Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer turns fifty this season, and the SFJAZZ Collective is celebrating that milestone with a rich act of musical exploration: a re‑voicing of a classic that valued imagination, collaboration, and the flexible boundary between Brazilian song and American jazz. The project aligns with the group’s mission and with Chris Potter’s curatorial sensibility—he is both the Collective’s music director and one of the genre’s most probing saxophonists.

The first thing you notice about Gerald Albright is his sense of propulsion: a musician who perceives the band from both the engine room and the front line simultaneously. The veteran saxophonist also thinks like a bassist, and that dual perspective shapes a sound built for momentum and lift.

On November 7, Canadian vocalist and songwriter Caity Gyorgy will perform two shows at the Joe Henderson Lab, featuring sets that combine classic swing, original compositions, and new orchestral ideas into a confident journey. A three-time JUNO award winner, Gyorgy has built a reputation for quick phrasing, clever wit, and a musician’s ear for melody.

East L.A.’s Las Cafeteras are bringing their Hasta La Muerte production to Miner Auditorium on Halloween night, blending son jarocho, hip‑hop, dance, and poetry. Bandleader Hector Flores describes why the story belongs on stage in San Francisco, creating a shared altar—part ritual, part party

Nicolas Bearde has spent his life discovering where soul storytelling intersects with jazz’s improvisation. The Bay Area singer—who honed his stage skills working with Bobby McFerrin—now applies that instinct to Al Jarreau, creating a four-set tribute that honors Jarreau not as mere nostalgia but as a dynamic, living language.

“KCSM was built on a foundational link from the past to the present,” says Dr. Robert “Bob” Franklin, station manager and executive producer of a new documentary celebrating the station’s 60th anniversary. “Amazingly, some of the former students are now program curators, and they’ve put together some of the most interesting jazz shows you could ever want to hear.” He describes the sound that flows through the transmitter as “a form of cultural memory, a vital public service,” and notes that KCSM is “one of the last full-time jazz radio stations in the country.”

In a space as intimate as SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab, the Brazilian pianist Amaro Freitas doesn’t just perform pieces—he creates an atmosphere. A pilgrimage to the Amazon inspired his recent music, and his solo set translates that experience into sound: rainforest textures, ritual movements, and the feeling of two mighty rivers converging and flowing as one.

Saxophonist-composer Nicole McCabe is creating a space where club energy and improvisation don’t oppose each other—they enhance each other. Raised in Marin County and now a vital figure on Los Angeles stages and studios, she co-leads the electro-jazz duo Dolphin Hyperspace with bassist-producer Logan Kane, and she’s bringing that high-energy blend into SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab.

Steve Roby sits down with keyboardist Ivan Neville of Dumpstaphunk for a deep dive into the band’s New Orleans roots, their message of unity, and the making of their latest music. Ivan shares stories about the band’s evolving lineup, the inspiration behind their single “Let’s Do It,” and the enduring power of collaboration. The conversation also covers their take on Buddy Miles’ “United Nations Stomp,” the importance of social messages in their music, and what fans can expect at their upcoming San Francisco show.

The Afro-Indigenous singer and composer combines Harlan County roots with Brooklyn grit, inviting San Francisco to sing, testify, and heal together on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

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.