SFJAZZ Gala Honors Miles, Trane, Benson

SFJAZZ’s 2026 Gala, Milestones: Celebrating Miles & Trane at 100, pairs an all-star centennial concert with a City Hall dinner and after-party—honoring George Benson with the SFJAZZ Lifetime Achievement Award.

 See the full show details and ticket information at the end of this feature.

SFJAZZ’s annual Gala has always been conceived as a statement event—part celebration, part fundraising engine, part civic marker of what jazz can mean in San Francisco when it’s treated as culture, not background. In 2026, that statement becomes especially clear.

On Thursday, May 7, SFJAZZ will present Milestones: Celebrating Miles & Trane at 100, its largest annual fundraiser, held at the SFJAZZ Center and San Francisco City Hall. The evening centers on the centennial legacies of Miles Davis and John Coltrane and honors George Benson with the SFJAZZ Lifetime Achievement Award.

It’s a program built to communicate scale.

Two towering modernist architects. One of the most recognizable guitarists in American music. A roster of artists representing both lineage and the current professional peak. And an event structure that positions jazz not as a niche genre but as an institution-level cultural force.

SFJAZZ CEO Gabrielle Armand described the 2026 Gala as “a true turning point” for the organization—an event meant to signal growth, deeper impact, and a broader global commitment. She also framed it as part of a broader belief in San Francisco’s cultural resurgence and the role the arts can play in shaping what comes next for the city.

That language matters. The SFJAZZ Gala has never been only about one night. It’s also about positioning—about the idea that jazz is still a living language worthy of major philanthropic investment and that the Bay Area remains a place where the music can be celebrated at the highest level.

A centennial concert with an all-star bandstand

The evening begins at the SFJAZZ Center (201 Franklin St.) at 5:00 PM with a VIP cocktail reception, followed by an All-Star Gala Concert celebrating the centennial legacies of Davis and Coltrane—two artists whose innovations permanently reshaped 20th-century music.

The concert lineup reads like a modern jazz summit: Terence Blanchard, Christian McBride, Marcus Miller, Richard Bona, Tia Fuller, Keyon Harrold, Isaiah Sharkey, Randy Waldman, the SFJAZZ Collective, and more—plus a special performance from honoree George Benson.

The breadth of that list is part of the point. These are musicians whose careers span jazz, film scoring, funk, fusion, R&B, and contemporary improvisation—artists who understand Davis and Coltrane not as distant icons but as ongoing creative provocations.

Terence Blanchard, SFJAZZ’s Executive Artistic Director, framed the concert as a tribute to creative lineage—emphasizing risk, imagination, and the obligation to push forward. “Miles Davis and John Coltrane didn’t just shape the music—they challenged generations of artists to think bigger, take risks, and push beyond boundaries,” Blanchard said.

It’s a useful reminder that the Miles-and-Trane story is more than a historical narrative. It’s also a set of working principles—restlessness, reinvention, and the belief that the bandstand can be a laboratory.

Honoring George Benson

If Davis and Coltrane represent jazz’s modernist revolution, George Benson represents something else: the rare artist who made virtuosity feel accessible and made crossover feel like craft rather than compromise.

SFJAZZ will honor Benson—10-time Grammy Award–winning guitarist and vocalist—with the SFJAZZ Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his contributions to jazz and to global music culture.

Blanchard described Benson as “a master musician and a singular performer whose influence extends far beyond jazz, spanning genres and generations.”

For longtime listeners, Benson’s impact is easy to trace. His phrasing carries bebop DNA, but his tone and rhythmic feel inhabit a more expansive space—part jazz, part soul, part pop instinct, part guitar hero. He’s one of the few musicians who can walk onstage before a jazz audience, an R&B crowd, and a mixed-generation festival audience and speak fluently to all of them without changing who he is.

At a centennial-themed Gala, Benson’s presence also serves as a bridge. He represents a living continuum—an artist whose career embodies how jazz history advances not only through innovation but also through the ongoing retranslation of its language into new public contexts.

Dinner at City Hall, then the after-party

After the concert, the Gala continues at San Francisco City Hall (1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place) with an elegant dinner, followed by an after-party featuring a late-night dance experience, musical entertainment, and food and drinks.

This structure is one of the things that distinguishes SFJAZZ’s Gala from a standard concert. It’s a full evening that brings together patrons, artists, civic leaders, and the wider SFJAZZ community in one flow—from the music itself to the social fabric that sustains it.

Because this is SFJAZZ’s largest annual fundraiser, the proceeds support SFJAZZ’s artistic and educational programs—directly advancing the organization’s mission to advance jazz in the Bay Area and beyond.

The larger SFJAZZ story behind the night

SFJAZZ has presented its Lifetime Achievement Award since 1991, honoring artists and visionaries whose work represents creative excellence and a lasting cultural impact. Past honorees include Wynton Marsalis, Mavis Staples, Chucho Valdés, Preservation Hall, Zakir Hussain, Joni Mitchell, Mary Stallings, Tony Bennett, Don Was, and more.

The 2026 honoree selection is consistent with that legacy, but it also feels especially timely. Benson is both a jazz musician and a global public figure—a reminder that the music has always had the capacity for mass connection when presented with confidence and clarity.

The Gala Host Committee for Milestones: Celebrating Miles & Trane at 100 is led by co-chairs Divesh & Diksha Makan and Lisa & Kenneth Jackson.

Show Details & Tickets

SFJAZZ 2026 Gala

Milestones: Celebrating Miles & Trane at 100

Date: Thursday, May 7, 2026

Locations: SFJAZZ Center + San Francisco City Hall

Schedule:

• 5:00 PM — VIP Cocktail Reception (SFJAZZ Center)

• All-Star Gala Concert (SFJAZZ Center)

• Dinner (San Francisco City Hall)

• After-Party (San Francisco City Hall)

Tickets:

• Gala tickets start at $2,000

• Tables start at $20,000

• Concert-only tickets: $250 (limited)

• After-party tickets: $150

For tickets, sponsorships, and full Gala information, visit https://www.sfjazz.org/gala/gala-2026/