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 seats were filled with fans of electro-acoustic jazz blended with funk and rock, some holding LPs and CDs for signatures while passersby looked in. Heads began to nod as soon as drummer Louis Cole found a groove, and they hardly stopped…

Under the kaleidoscopic lights of Miner Auditorium, the Sun Ra Arkestra landed the first of their four-night “residency. Fifteen musicians—adorned in sequined robes, ornate headdresses, and Egyptian motifs—assembled amid drifting fog. With a single stomp, bandleader Knoel Scott launched the ensemble into the deep, propulsive pulse of “Astro Black,” setting the “Cosmic Space Jazz” theme for the evening

Miner Auditorium felt less like a concert hall and more like an open‑air workshop on July 28, when saxophonist and resident artistic director Ravi Coltrane invited the Bay Area to step onto the same stage where, moments earlier, he and his house band—pianist Sundra Mannin, bassist Gary Brown, and drummer Elé Howell—had been shaping Coltrane family repertoire into fresh clay.

Ravi Coltrane’s acoustic quartet, Coltraxx, took the stage at San Francisco’s Miner Auditorium on July 27 and wove a tapestry of sound that honored jazz’s lineage while boldly pushing its boundaries. The quartet—Coltrane on saxophones, David Virelles on piano, Dezron Douglas on bass, and Jonathan Blake on drums—opened the evening with Coltrane coaxing a single, crystalline saxophone note into the hushed room.

A luminary of contemporary jazz, Joshua Redman graced Gates Concert Hall last Friday with his stellar group featuring Paul Cornish (piano), Philip Norris (bass), Nazir Ebo (drums), and the outstanding vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa.

The 100-minute sold-out performance relied heavily on songs from Redman's 2023 Blue Note Records debut where are we.

Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night will keep Emmet Cohen fans from coming out to see him and his trio perform in concert. That was the case last Saturday night at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts. Bundled up to brave the impact of a recent snowstorm, concertgoers showed up well before the doors opened. Swaddled in puffy jackets, they knocked the snow off their boots as they entered the building, while valiant senior citizens, some with hiking sticks, were eager to take their seats.

It all beIn its cavalcade of top-flight performers giving their retro spin to songs that have a permanent residency in our brains, the Postmodern Jukebox (PMJ) concert is authentically one of a kind. At the risk of dating myself, imagine a hip Lawrence Welk Show line-up with tap dancing and throwback costumes, minus the champagne bubbles and accordionist Myron Floren, in front of a retro backdrop right out of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. gins with an idea.

On the last night of their 2023 "Bye, Bye, Baby" tour, The California Honeydrops gave a stellar performance at the grand Mission Ballroom last Friday. The only glitch in the show was the oddly placed opening act, the Sam Grisman Project, a tightly huddled quartet of acoustic bluegrass players, not the right choice for a packed and noisy crowd ready to dance, groove, and party to a hot horn band.

Flamenco fusion guitarist Jesse Cook had a rocky start to his tour of the Western States three weeks ago. "Yup! It finally got me. I thought I could avoid it, but almost four years after COVID arrived, it finally struck me down this past week," Cook told his social media followers. Coincidentally, the guitarist's latest release is titled Love in the Time of COVID.

Award-winning jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny embarked on a 51-venue, 29-state solo tour supporting his 2023 Dream Box recording. At Denver’s Paramount Theatre, loyal fans lined up early for the sold-out show, and it was elbow-to-elbow for the next two hours in the 1800-seat venue.

Last Saturday, jazz trumpet legend Herb Alpert accompanied Lani Hall, his wife of 50 years, for a sold-out show at the University of Denver's Newman Center, Gates Concert Hall. They've performed together since 2006. Their musical chemistry and shared love were fully displayed at this delightful concert, framed by a back screen showing Alpert's colorful abstract art and videos. "I love to play the horn at these concerts, paint, and sculpt, and I'm married to an angel—what more can I ask for?" declared Alpert. At 88, he's still touring and recording.

Supporting their latest collaboration album, SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree (Edition Records, 2023), jazz icon Kurt Elling and guitar maestro Charlie Hunter offered a high-energy performance on October 8th at the Boulder Theater. The incredible duo's band featured Julius Rodriguezon keyboards and Marcus Finnie on drums. Elling and company delivered a crowd-pleasing 90-minute set filled with funky originals, innovative covers, and a few surprises.

It may have been only a Thursday night in Boulder, CO, but Tab Benoit's concert made it feel like we were smack dab in New Orleans on a sultry Saturday evening. Helping create that Mardi Gras vibe was the opening act, The Rumble, featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.. Before they came out, the stage and mic stands were festooned with bayou moss and an eerie skull, placed on the front monitor, facing the crowd.