Lettuce Turned SFJAZZ into Funk Church
Lettuce capped its four-night SFJAZZ residency by turning Miner Auditorium into a joyous funk revival. Steve Roby reviews a night of deep grooves, fearless improvisation, and a dance floor that refused to stay seated.
Sexmob's Psychedelic Sixty-Minute Serenade
Steven Bernstein brought Sexmob back to the Bay Area for a set devoted to 1960s psychedelic rock. The opening night at SFJAZZ's Joe Henderson Lab began unevenly before finding its groove with inventive takes on Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead.
Stewart Copeland: An Earful Of Everything
The Police drummer brings his first American spoken-word tour to the Presidio Theatre and packs fifty years — Beirut, punk, Coppola, opera, the reunion — into one chair, one lamp, and a drum full of audience questions. Conflict, he argues, was the secret sauce.
Chucho Valdés and His Royal Quartet Close a Triumphant SFJAZZ Residency
At 85, the Cuban piano giant turned Miner Auditorium into a journey through Mozart, Ravel, and Shorter — and it all came out as pure Chucho.
Honoring Miles and Coltrane on Their Own Terms
Trumpeter Terence Blanchard and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane closed SFJAZZ's 2025–26 season with a centennial celebration of Miles Davis and John Coltrane that played entirely by its own rules—electric, unruly, and occasionally at odds with its own billing.
Gunhild Carling’s SFJAZZ Stomp
On May 24, Gunhild Carling brought her family band, six instruments, and an impromptu stomp to SFJAZZ's most intimate room.
Miles Davis at 100: Beasley's All-Stars Go Deep at the Presidio
Rather than presenting Miles Davis as a finished monument, John Beasley and his sextet treated the legendary trumpeter's music as an unfolding conversation during a dynamic 90-minute set at San Francisco's Presidio Theatre. This performance marked the final, brilliant stop of Beasley's Miles Davis tribute tour in the Bay Area.
Hiromi Makes Golden Gate Theatre Lift Off
Hiromi Uehara and Sonicwonder turned their SFJAZZ-presented Golden Gate Theatre concert into a high-voltage night of jazz fusion, theatrical movement, and musical lift-off.
Meshell Ndegeocello’s “People’s Playlist” Drifts From Its Own Premise
A promised tribute to Bay Area radio pioneers gives way to a slow, meditative evening that finds its footing only in flashes.
Aaron Diehl Trio Finds Focus and Flow at Miner Auditorium
At SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium, Aaron Diehl led his trio through a measured, deeply focused set that balanced originals, standards, and seven Roland Hanna preludes, all shaped by precision, space, and attentive interplay.
Fortner and Owens Set Divergent Courses at Miner
Endea Owens’ performance centered groove as a social language, with Sullivan Fortner’s pianism sharpening the ensemble’s focus. The set balanced compositional clarity with fluid interaction, revealing a band attuned to both lineage and forward motion.
Gerald Clayton Trio Reunites at Miner
Gerald Clayton closed his reunion tour at SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium with bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Justin Brown, delivering a set that balanced space, precision, and trio interplay. The performance traced a shared musical language shaped over decades and still evolving in real time.
Lee Ritenour Revisits the Road to Fusion at Miner
Lee Ritenour brought a refined quartet to SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium, balancing fusion-era precision with a controlled, groove-centered approach shaped by tone, phrasing, and ensemble interplay.
Stewart Copeland Tests The Police at Orchestral Scale
Stewart Copeland brings Police Deranged for Orchestra to Miner Auditorium, reworking the Police catalog with symphonic scale and raising questions about how much bite survives the expansion.
Emmet Cohen Keeps Miles and Coltrane Moving
Emmet Cohen’s sold-out SFJAZZ performance approached Miles Davis and John Coltrane’s centennial as a living tradition, balancing high-velocity interplay, atmospheric depth, and a forward-looking original suite.
Keb' Mo' Opens Four-Night SFJAZZ Run
Keb’ Mo’ opened his sold-out four-night SFJAZZ run with an intimate, story-rich set at Miner Auditorium, joined by his son K. Roosevelt on drums and percussion. The evening balanced warmth, humor, political resonance, and the lived authority of a musician fully at home in his own sound.
Monty Alexander’s Musical Journey Live
At SFJAZZ, Monty Alexander turned a Sunday-night set into a vivid memoir in sound, folding swing, reggae, humor, and hard-earned feeling into a performance shaped by a lifetime of stories.
Pasquale & Benjamin: An Unusual Pairing
At SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium, Pasquale Grasso opened with elegance and finely controlled swing, but Lakecia Benjamin’s blazing second set supplied the night’s real dramatic center. The contrast made for an intriguing double bill, even if the programming never fully found its arc.
José James: Exit The Dragon
At Miner Auditorium, José James closed his 1978: Revenge of the Dragon tour with a set that moved through soul, fusion, disco, hip-hop, and jazz, turning Friday night into a charged, flirtatious, high-volume celebration.
Immanuel Wilkins’ World Premiere of “Recitations” at SFJAZZ
Immanuel Wilkins’s March 2026 SFJAZZ residency moves from conversation to premiere to performance, tracing a four-day arc that includes a listening party, the debut of his commissioned work Recitations, and intimate Joe Henderson Lab sets with special guest David Murray.