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.
SFJAZZ Recharged Miles’s Acoustic Years
Across two Saturday performances in Miner Auditorium, Eddie Henderson, Javon Jackson, Donald Harrison, Patrice Rushen, Buster Williams, and Lenny White treated Kind of Blue as living language, giving Night 3 of SFJAZZ’s Miles Davis centennial celebration its deepest historical weight and clearest spirit of musical exploration.