Standards

Transcription

Standards
nonPROFIT org.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
PERMIT #1782
San Francisco Jazz Organization
Three Embarcadero Center, Lobby Level
San Francisco, CA 94111
SFJAZZ
CENTER
SEASON 1: jan 21–Jun 2, 2013
SFJAZZ
CENTER
Season 1: jan 21–Jun 2, 2013
tickets on sale
Members: Sat, Oct 13, 2012
Public: Sat, Nov 3, 2012
Web: sfjazz.org
Members: 415–788–7353
Public: 866–920–5299
Table of
COntents
Welcome to the first season. After 30 years of presenting music in a
variety of rented venues throughout the Bay, it is with great joy we
announce our first season in our new home, the SFJAZZ Center.
Opening in January, it is the first freestanding building for jazz in the
country — designed, from concept to concert hall, to create an enhanced
setting for experiencing what the esteemed jazz writer Whitney Balliett
calls “the sound of surprise.”
season 1
About Us
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SFJAZZ History & Mission
The SFJAZZ Center
About the Murals
SFJAZZ Center Recognition
The SFJAZZ Center will be home for all that we do: concerts, education programs for adults and youth,
our award-winning SFJAZZ High School All-Star Ensembles, the world-renowned SFJAZZ Collective,
and the new SFJAZZ Community Band.
Grand
Opening
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SFJAZZ Center Grand Opening
Opening Night
Grand Opening Week 1: Legacy
Grand Opening Week 2: Jazz in the City
Over our three decades, SFJAZZ has grown to become a vital part of the cultural fabric of San Francisco.
And in the broader context of the jazz, we have been recognized as one of the top presenters in the world
— helping to place San Francisco, with its rich jazz history, among the vanguard of cities where this
American-born art form can be best heard.
Events
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Calendar
Guide to Season 1
Resident Artistic Directors
Dave Holland
Scott Hamilton Quintet & Harry Allen
SFJAZZ Hotplate
Afro-Cuban All Stars
Ana Moura
Meklit Hadero
Patricia Barber
Zakir Hussain
Mariza
John Santos
SFJAZZ Collective
Hiromi: The Trio Project
Ute Lemper
Max Raabe and Palast Orchester
Club Foot Orchestra
Bill Frisell
Brad Melhdau
Jason Moran
Regina Carter
Béla Fleck
Tony Bennett
Dianne Reeves
Miguel Zenón
Jazz was born in New Orleans and is a mix of indigenous and imported cultures, particularly the generation
of African-Americans just-removed from slavery. It’s an art form defined by freedom, individual expression,
collaboration, improvisation, and recognizing the past while resolutely moving forward. The SFJAZZ Center
has been built to be a home where artists and audiences can experience the vibrancy of those defining jazz
values together. San Francisco, a town that also shares those values, has proven to be the natural match
for SFJAZZ’s ambitious dreams.
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New Programs
Master Classes & Group Instruction
Koret Discover Jazz Series
SFJAZZ High School All-Stars
Family Matinees
Pre-Concert Talks
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Maps, Parking and Transit
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Sponsors & Underwriters
The World is Listening Campaign
Seat Naming
Volunteers
SFJAZZ Membership
SFJAZZ Leaders Circle
Education
Info
Support
In 1983, the late San Francisco jazz writer Phil Elwood wrote an article entitled “Whither Jazz?” for the
program book of the first SFJAZZ festival (then called Jazz in the City), raising the question of where jazz
was headed and whether a jazz festival was truly needed. At that time jazz was changing course. Wynton
Marsalis was at the center of a revival of interest in “America’s classical music,” eventually leading to his
founding of the first non-profit institution in the U.S. dedicated to jazz, Jazz at Lincoln Center. Where SFJAZZ
was headed then, nobody really knew. We started with a pair of concerts at the Herbst Theatre presenting the
best, and the breadth, of jazz available in the Bay Area – from African drumming to avant-garde, stride piano
and Afro-Cuban. Back then, we could not have imagined a $63 million home base, purpose-built for jazz.
But as we grew, we began to imagine what we could accomplish in this great city that was so supportive
of our offerings.
January 21, 2013 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day – is the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the SFJAZZ Center.
We will “christen” the Center with two weeks of once-in-a-lifetime concerts, starting with the Opening
Night concert on January 23, followed by four more star-filled nights and a week of performances from the
Bay Area’s greatest artists.
I am joined by five of the most creative voices in jazz, including three MacArthur “Genius” Fellows, to program
concerts for the first season. Regina Carter, Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, John Santos and Miguel Zenon, each with
long histories at SFJAZZ, will be resident artistic directors and will each curate and perform in a week of
original programming. They will also appear in the Grand Opening week concerts, January 23–27.
Catalog Production
Peter van Agtmael: Cover photography
Rusty Aceves: Copywriting and editing
Andrew Gilbert: Copywriting
Kathy Lemmon: Copywriting
Teddy Hutcherson: Production
Megan Mock: Design
Jennifer Hoffecker: Design
Justin Walters: Box Office
Lahlouh: Printing
An extraordinarily generous, skilled and passionate group of benefactors, trustees, staff, fans and artists have
worked, sometimes against strong headwinds, to realize the promise of jazz in San Francisco. Let’s all enjoy
it and continue to soak in the soul of this beautiful music, in this energetic new building!
Jazz has a home in San Francisco. The first season begins. See you at the Center!
Sincerely,
Randall Kline
Executive Artistic Director and Founder
About us
30 years of celebration
the history and mission of SFJAZZ
2013
2 013
SFJAZZ Center
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From our humble beginnings as Jazz in the City, the organization now known as SFJAZZ has grown from
a fledgling concert promoter to become the largest non-profit presenter of jazz and world music on the
West Coast. Through year-round concert programming, artistic commissions, community outreach and
the support of our membership, SFJAZZ is committed to developing the audience for jazz in the Bay
Area and internationally. Through our innovative music education programs, we help maintain and build
a strong future for America’s indigenous art form.
With the opening of the SFJAZZ Center, we will be able to expand our mission by helping to preserve
a century of jazz heritage, providing a permanent home for local and world-renowned musicians while
nurturing the next generation of artists and fans to define the future of the music.
2009
SFJAZZ Hotplate
2007
SFJAZZ 25th Anniversary!
2004 - SFJAZZ Collective
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2001
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2000
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SFJAZZ Spring Season
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1998
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Swing Into Spring
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First official Spring Season begins,
with saxophonist Joshua Redman as
Resident Artistic Director.
A new spring program begins with
Bill Frisell, Etta James and more.
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1994
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SFJAZZ Summerfest
Free concerts in Palo Alto and downtown
San Francisco featuring top Bay Area artists.
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1990
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Jazz history comes to life
The Duke Ellington Orchestra revisits Concert of Sacred
Music at Grace Cathedral, 25 years after its debut there.
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1986
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SFJAZZ commissions
Anthony Braxton premieres “No. 132” at Grace Cathedral, leading to
other commissions including Ornette Coleman’s Tone Dialing in 1994.
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1983
Jazz in the City
The “Jazz in the City” festival debuts in June,
with an eclectic 3-day lineup.
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A monthly concert series featuring Bay Area
artists re-imagining the music of jazz legends.
Held in The Ensemble Room beginning in
February, this is a seriously fun jazz hang.
The world’s best house band. An all-star ensemble comprising
eight of the finest performer/composers at work in jazz today.
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A home built specifically for jazz presentation, creation
and education. The SFJAZZ Center is 35,000 sq. ft. of
dynamic, flexible space that assures the advancement
the organization’s mission into the future.
Jazz in the Middle
Free in-school residency program that brings
jazz directly to San Francisco middle school
classrooms to foster connections between
core academic areas and the arts.
SFJAZZ High School
All-Stars
Our own talent incubator. Provides
advanced-level training and performance
opportunities for talented young musicians,
selected annually by competitive auditions.
about us
About the
SFJAZZ Center
Designed by award-winning architect Mark Cavagnero
and located in San Francisco’s vibrant cultural corridor,
the SFJAZZ Center comprises 35,000 square feet in
an innovative transparent structure, designed for LEEDTM
Certification. In addition to housing SFJAZZ season
performances and education programs, key features include
a ground floor lobby, retail shop and box office, a café and
bar at sidewalk level and the SFJAZZ administrative
offices on the third floor.
The SFJAZZ Center is more than a superb concert hall.
Located at 205 Franklin Street in San Francisco’s vibrant
Hayes Valley neighborhood, the SFJAZZ Center is a hub
of culture, community and commerce for locals and tourists
alike. Moreover, it’s within easy walking distance of Civic
Center (home to MUNI and BART trains) and served by
local bus routes for low-impact transit.
The SFJAZZ Center will be one of the most operationally
flexible and technically advanced venues in the country.
Consider hosting your performance, lecture or special
event with us.
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Robert N. Miner Auditorium
The Ensemble Room
The Robert N. Miner Auditorium is the centerpiece of the SFJAZZ Center,
named for the late SFJAZZ supporter and Oracle Corporation founder. Designed
specifically for jazz, the auditorium is a dynamic, state-of-the-art concert space
that can be adjusted from 350 to 700 seats. This scalable structure allows
the hall to accommodate performances of all sizes and configurations, while
maintaining a close-up, intimate feel emphasizing the connection between
artist and audience. The steeply raked theater seating surrounds the stage
on all sides, offering superb sightlines from all points in the auditorium, and
assures that even the furthest seats in the balcony aren’t far from the action
on stage. In keeping with the kinetic, transparent nature of the Center, the
Miner Auditorium incorporates considerable natural light and from a certain
vantage point, pedestrians on the street can clearly see the stage through
a purpose-built opening in the concrete enclosure. The hall has been conceived
to seamlessly present multi-media programming utilizing integrated video
screens and cutting edge projection systems, and is optimized for Highdefinition video production, webcasting and audio recording.
Located on the first floor of the SFJAZZ Center, The Ensemble Room is a flexible
80-seat space designed for intimate performances, rehearsals and gatherings.
This room is the nerve center of the SFJAZZ Education Department, hosting
classes, clinics and workshops for the community as well as the monthly
Hotplate concert series and rehearsals for the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars,
the SFJAZZ Community Band and the SFJAZZ Collective during their
residencies. The Ensemble Room’s location directly behind the glass façade
on Franklin Street offers clear views of the activity inside the space from the
street, a signature feature of the SFJAZZ Center that emphasizes the vibrancy
and energy of the music-making process.
Digital lab and practice rooms
Adjacent to The Ensemble Room are individual practice rooms and a digital
learning lab for electronic music and recording classes.
about us
Murals
by Sandow Birk
& Elyse Pignolet
Acclaimed artists Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet have been commissioned
to create a series of three murals to adorn the walls of the SFJAZZ Center.
The first two, “Jazz and the Nation” and “Jazz and the City,” will be installed
in the Center’s second floor lobby and combine to form one overall composition
— a fictionalized cityscape made up of influential and important jazz venues
from San Francisco and across the United States. The murals depict references
to the history of jazz, from its roots in African music and the early days of New
Orleans’s “Second Line” traditions to the jazz styles of St. Louis, Kansas City,
Chicago, New York, the West Coast, and Europe. The second mural includes great
jazz venues and defining moments in the history of San Francisco jazz from the
Fillmore District to the dot.com boom and beyond.
The third mural, “Jazz and the Afterlife,” will be located in the Lester Young
Green Room of the Center’s auditorium. It is a parody of religious “Judgment Day”
paintings with club goers going up to a “heaven” of harps and bagpipes or down
to a swinging party in a jazz “hell” where horns blast and jazz fans celebrate.
Sandow Birk said of the mural project, “Since the history and scope of jazz
is enormous and couldn’t be contained in one mural, we have tried to depict
places where jazz happened, to be located in the Center where jazz will be
happening now.”
Robert Mailer Anderson, SFJAZZ Trustee and acclaimed author, says,
“Sandow and Elyse’s murals will create a vibrant, complex, and historical
vision of jazz that the community can use as a baseline for their own
conversations about music and life. It’s the building’s perpetual song that
will keep the SFJAZZ Center humming.”
“Music is the centerpiece of the new SFJAZZ Center, but the worlds of visual
art, the spoken word, and culinary exploration are all included to enhance the
intensity and singularity of each visit. Sandow and Elyse’s murals will add
depth and texture, giving the visitor a visual reference point worthy of its
own exploration, like the music and building itself,” says SFJAZZ Center
architect Mark Cavagnero.
The pieces draw on the extensive global traditions and history of blue and
white “azulejo” murals made popular in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
They will be painted by the artists on handmade ceramic tiles in Pignolet’s
studio in San Pedro, CA, and installation in the SFAZZ Center will begin
in early November.
Los Angeles artist Sandow Birk is a well-traveled graduate of the
Otis/Parson’s Art Institute. Frequently developed as expansive, multi-media
projects, his works have dealt with contemporary life in its entirety. With an
emphasis on social issues, frequent themes of his past work have included
inner city violence, graffiti, politics, travel, war, and prisons, as well as surfing
and skateboarding. He has been the recipient of an NEA International Travel
Grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Fulbright Fellowship. In 2007 he was
an artist in residence at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and at
the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris in 2008. The print and film collection
“Sandow Birk’s Divine Comedy” just completed its seven-month exhibition
at the San Jose Museum of Art in San Jose, CA.
Born in Oakland, CA, Elyse Pignolet attended CSU San Francisco, and in 2001
she lived and studied in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain. Pignolet received a BFA
in Ceramics from Cal State Long Beach in 2007. Her studies included an
intensive ceramics tour through Mainland China and Korea in 2007. She was
awarded a CSULB Travel Scholarship for Art in 2008 and, traveled to Portugal
to study traditional Portuguese tile making. Pignolet works primarily in
ceramics and her work has dealt with various themes including social issues,
urban themes, and topics from contemporary news articles attempting to
place the permanence and traditions of ceramics with the fleeting and
transitory nature of the contemporary world.
Thank you
SFJAZZ would like to offer a big thank you to
everyone who has helped bring us this far.
We are approaching the completion of this
monumental project, the culmination of
a 30-year journey, and it’s because of your
support and commitment to our vision that
we are here.
The SFJAZZ Board of Trustees, including current chair
Bannus Hudson and outgoing chair Srinija Srinivasan.
In particular, the leadership of the Facility Committee
Shona Brown, Hon. Willie Brown, Charles Charnas, Brian Hollins,
Roberta Katz, James McElwee, Steve Cassidy, David Choo,
Marcia Smolens, Alan Robin, Mark Conroe
Donors
The anonymous donor for their pivotal lead gift
Donors to the World Is Listening capital campaign
Giant Steps Members
SFJAZZ
SFJAZZ volunteers
SFJAZZ staff
Ishmael Reed, SFJAZZ Poet Laureate
Jim Goldberg, SFJAZZ Photographer Laureate
Design
Mark Cavagnero Associates (MCA) — Architect
Auerbach, Pollock, Friedlander (APF) — Theater Designer
SIA Acoustics — Acoustician
Construction
Hathaway Dinwiddie
and their subcontractors
Project Management
Ingram & Associates
SRM
Deborah Frieden
Mack5
Financing & More
First Republic
US Bank
Shartsis Friese, LLP
Equity Community Builders
and all of our Community Development Entities
and many, many others
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grand opening
January 21, 23 & 24–February 3
SFJAZZ CENTER
GRAND OPENING
“For the first time, jazz in
symphony hall, an edifice
sees it on the street.”
America will have a counterpart to the
that proclaims the value of jazz to anyone who
—The Chicago Tribune
Join us for a historic week of unforgettable events to celebrate
the opening of the SFJAZZ Center! Our 30-year legacy of
presenting the best in jazz will culminate in this beautiful
new facility designed specifically for jazz and jazz education.
Be here for the celebration!
Help us usher in the next chapter for SFJAZZ starting with the official ribbon cutting
ceremony and a day of festivities open to the public, followed by an Opening Night
extravaganza and a series of unforgettable concerts. The dream of building a cultural
institution for the 21st century-a vital, dynamic space devoted to the creation and
advancement of this music-has become a reality. At last we have a home of our own,
a place to nurture the future of America’s indigenous art form through music education
programs for young and old, and to present the full spectrum of local and international
jazz artists.
“When the Center opens it will only formalize what we already
know. There may be New Orleans and New York, and other places,
but San Francisco is a great jazz city.” —ABC 7, KGO-TV San Francisco
OPENING DAY CELEBRATION — Ribbon Cutting
& TOURS OF THE SFJAZZ CENTER
Mon, Jan 21, Martin Luther King Jr. Day
The official ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by music and tours highlighting the
diverse offerings of the SFJAZZ Center. Reservations for tours open online on
Thursday, January 3, 2013.
Opening Night — A MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA
& FUNDRAISER FOR SFJAZZ ARTISTIC
& EDUCATION PROGRAMS
“Jazz just got a
whole lot better!”
—HUFFINGTON POST
Wed, Jan 23
The very first concert in the SFJAZZ Center will feature jazz legends alongside our
SFJAZZ Collective, our Resident Artistic Directors, and an audience of leaders from
the worlds of business, fashion, politics, and art. We invite you and your friends to join
us for this momentous launch of the SFJAZZ Center. See page 10 for more info.
Grand Opening Concerts — AN UNPARALLELED
SERIES OF PERFORMANCES SWING WIDE THE DOORS
OF THE ROBERT N. MINER AUDITORIUM
Thu–Sun, Jan 24—Feb 3
The celebrations continue into the first season in the SFJAZZ Center with four world-class,
multi-artist collaborations followed by a week of some of the Bay Area’s most treasured
performers. For details for the full schedule for grand opening concerts see pages 12–15.
Tickets go on sale to Members on Saturday, October 13.
8 / sfjazz.org • Public 866-920-5299 • Members 415-788-7353
“Watching dreams and hopes and ideas turn into real concrete and steel is thrilling...
The ultimate thrill? Seeing a place where art and culture can collide and where we
can all gather to celebrate this extraordinary artistic expression called jazz.”
—Felice Swapp, SFJAZZ Executive Operating Director
Grand opening
January 23
opening night
concert and party
The historic Opening Night of the SFJAZZ Center
— on January 23, 2013 — will be built around a
star-filled concert “consecrating” the stage of the
Robert N. Miner Auditorium. Hosted by Bill Cosby,
the concert will include McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea,
Joshua Redman, Bobby Hutcherson, Esperanza
Spalding, Mary Stallings, John Handy, Pete Escovedo,
the SFJAZZ Collective, and the newly appointed
SFJAZZ Center Resident Artistic Directors
Regina Carter, Bill Frisell, Jason Moran,
John Santos and Miguel Zenón.
Chick Corea
Bobby Hutcherson
This one-time-only gathering of jazz stars will be at the center of the
Opening Night celebration, which will include pre- and post-parties to
celebrate the opening of the first stand-alone building for jazz in America.
The Opening Night concert and party will benefit the education programs
of SFJAZZ. More details are available at sfjazz.org/OpeningNight in early
November. Past SFJAZZ fundraising events have sold out fast, so be sure
to check back for details regarding ticket package opportunities and updates
of special guest appearances.
Appearing on Opening Night:
Bill Cosby, Master of Ceremonies
McCoy Tyner
Chick Corea
Esperanza Spalding
Joshua Redman
Joe Lovano
Bobby Hutcherson
Mary Stallings
John Handy
Pete Escovedo
SFJAZZ Collective:
Miguel Zenón
David Sánchez
Robin Eubanks
Avishai Cohen
Stefon Harris
Edward Simon
Matt Penman
Jeff Ballard
McCoy Tyner
John Handy
Mary Stallings
SFJAZZ Center Resident Artistic Directors:
Regina Carter
Bill Frisell
Jason Moran
John Santos
Miguel Zenón
Bill Cosby
10 / sfjazz.org • Public 866-920-5299 • Members 415-788-7353
Esperanza Spalding
Joshua Redman
Joe Lovano
grand opening
January 24–27
McCoy Tyner
SFJAZZ Collective
Bobby Hutcherson
Grand
opening
week 1
legacy
Following directly on the heels of Opening Night,
Grand Opening Week 1 continues the musical
“consecration” of the historic opening of the SFJAZZ
Center with four evenings of concerts featuring many
of the Opening Night artists — with more special
guests joining in as the week progresses — often
in once-in-a-lifetime collaborations.
spotlight:
mccoy tyner
Thu, Jan 24, 7:30pm
The four nights are subtitled “Legacy” and a portion
of each night will spotlight an aspect of SFJAZZ’s
evolution. We focus on two masters who have been
an important part of SFJAZZ history with Thursday
and Sunday’s concerts honoring McCoy Tyner and
Bobby Hutcherson (respectively); on Friday, the
inaugural group of Resident Artistic Directors —
Bill Frisell, Regina Carter, Jason Moran, Miguel Zenón
and John Santos — are spotlighted; and on Saturday we
feature our resident ensemble the SFJAZZ Collective.
Piano legend McCoy Tyner has appeared on SFJAZZ
stages no less than a dozen times over the last 30
years, in formats ranging from solo to big band to a
special collaboration with tap dancer Savion Glover.
Tyner first came to prominence as a member of tenor
John Coltrane’s seminal 1960’s quartet leading
to an incomparable career as a virtuoso pianist,
bandleader and composer.
Our all-star SFJAZZ Collective will serve as “house
band” for these first public performances which also
include Mary Stallings, Joshua Redman, Savion Glover
and many more to be announced.
SFJAZZ Center Resident Artistic Directors:
Regina Carter
Bill Frisell
Jason Moran
John Santos
Miguel Zenón
Artists appearing on this concert include:
McCoy Tyner
Joshua Redman
Bobby Hutcherson
Mary Stallings
SFJAZZ Collective:
Miguel Zenón, David Sánchez, Andre Hayward,
Avishai Cohen, Stefon Harris, Edward Simon,
Matt Penman, Jeff Ballard
$50/100/150
spotlight:
the sfjazz resident
artistic directors
Fri, Jan 25, 7:30pm
The inaugural Resident Artistic Director team
— Bill Frisell, Regina Carter, Jason Moran,
Miguel Zenón and John Santos — will draw on
their creative “wells,” individual histories, and the
many connections that exist between them and the
week’s other artists to create “only at the SFJAZZ
Center Grand Opening” pairings and collaborations.
Artists appearing on this concert include:
McCoy Tyner
Joshua Redman
Mary Stallings
SFJAZZ Center Resident Artistic Directors:
Regina Carter
Bill Frisell
Jason Moran
John Santos
Miguel Zenón
SFJAZZ Collective:
Miguel Zenón, David Sánchez, Andre Hayward,
Avishai Cohen, Stefon Harris, Edward Simon,
Matt Penman, Jeff Ballard
$50/100/150
Spotlight:
the SFJAZZ Collective
Sat, Jan 26, 7:30pm
This night is dedicated to celebrating nine years
of music-creating by our own resident ensemble,
featuring the players, past and present, the
legends whose music they have explored and the
rich repertoire developed over a nearly a decade.
Over that time they have created 62 original
compositions and 63 arrangements of seminal works
by the likes of Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane,
Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter,
McCoy Tyner, Horace Silver, Stevie Wonder and Chick
Corea. The Collective’s founding Artistic Director,
Joshua Redman, will sit-in with the band in its
current incarnation. Also included is the group’s
founding vibist Bobby Hutcherson and McCoy Tyner,
the focus of year four’s repertoire.
Artists appearing on this concert include:
McCoy Tyner
Bobby Hutcherson
Joshua Redman
Mary Stallings
SFJAZZ Center Resident Artistic Directors:
Regina Carter
Jason Moran
John Santos
Miguel Zenón
SFJAZZ Collective:
Miguel Zenón, David Sánchez, Andre Hayward,
Avishai Cohen, Stefon Harris, Edward Simon,
Matt Penman, Jeff Ballard
$50/100/150
spotlight:
bobby hutcherson
birthday celebration
Sun, Jan 27, 7:30pm
Week one of the Grand Opening culminates on
vibraphone legend Bobby Hutcherson’s birthday.
Perhaps the most influential jazz vibraphonist,
Hutcherson — a Bay Area resident — has recorded
40 albums as a leader and worked with a who’swho of jazz greats. Part of the SFJAZZ family since
its earliest days, Hutcherson has performed on
countless SFJAZZ concerts and was a founding
member of the SFJAZZ Collective in 2003.
The evening will include McCoy Tyner, Joshua
Redman, Mary Stallings, the Resident Artistic
Directors, the SFJAZZ Collective, and the week’s
only appearance of tap great Savion Glover.
Please join us for this one-of-a-kind birthday
celebration for Mr. Bobby Hutcherson!
Artists appearing on this concert include:
Bobby Hutcherson
McCoy Tyner
Savion Glover
Joshua Redman
Mary Stallings
SFJAZZ Center Resident Artistic Directors:
Regina Carter
Jason Moran
John Santos
Miguel Zenón
SFJAZZ Collective:
Miguel Zenón, David Sánchez, Andre Hayward,
Avishai Cohen, Stefon Harris, Edward Simon,
Matt Penman, Jeff Ballard $50/100/150
12 / sfjazz.org • Public 866-920-5299 • Members 415-788-7353
Grand opening
January 31–February 3
grand
opening
week 2
jazz in the city
The second week in the SFJAZZ Center celebrates a
diverse range of Bay Area talent, with nights devoted
to large ensembles, jazz vocalists, Latin jazz and the
swing era.
Adam Theis
Ellen Seeling
Rebeca Mauleón
Lavay Smith
Realistic Orchestra
& Montclair Women’s
Big Band
Celebrating Gershwin:
Dan Hicks, Kim Nalley,
Paula West
Rebeca Mauleón &
Afro kuban fusion
Lavay Smith & Her
Red Hot Skillet Lickers
vnote ensemble
Hot Club of SF
Thu, Jan 31, 7:30pm
Fri, Feb 1, 7:30pm
Sat, Feb 2, 7:30pm
Sun, Feb 3, 7:30pm
Thursday night is a super-powered celebration of
the big band, featuring Jazz Mafia kingpin Adam
Theis with his 20-piece Realistic Orchestra and the
superb Montclair Women’s Big Band led by veteran
trumpeter Ellen Seeling. These two groups present
vastly different takes on the big band tradition,
exploring the thrilling range of expression possible
in a large group jazz setting. Opening the show is
our own SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Orchestra.
The music of the iconic George Gershwin is
honored on Friday, with a who’s-who of great Bay
Area vocalists on hand, including local jazz
luminaries Paula West, Kim Nalley and Jamie
Davis as well as Bay Area music legend Dan Hicks.
Backing this impressive list of singing talent is the
esteemed Marcus Shelby Quartet, featuring the
bass-playing leader, saxophonist Howard Wiley,
pianist Adam Shulman and drummer Akira Tana.
$25
$25
Saturday brings an explosive evening of Latin jazz,
as pianist, composer and SFJAZZ Education Director
Rebeca Mauleón presents her Afro Kuban Fusion
project with a venerable cast of Latin music greats
including percussionists Jesús Diaz and Carlos
Caro, bassist Gary Brown, guitarist Vernon Black
and Cuban drum sensation Jimmy Branley.
Conjuring the eclecticism of the legendary Irakere
in the spirit of neo-afro-jazz-rock, this performance
will get the blood pumping like no other, and the
dance floor will be open!
The week closes with a night of Swing with a capital
S. Led by master guitarist Paul Mehling, the worldrenowned Hot Club of San Francisco’s Le Jazz Hot
quartet kicks off the party with the thrilling gypsy
jazz sound made famous by guitar pioneer Django
Reinhardt. Bay Area favorites Lavay Smith and Her
Red Hot Skillet Lickers celebrate the music of
Kansas City with a program interpreting the bawdy
and uproarious blues of vocalists like Big Joe Turner
and Jimmy Rushing as well as the big band swing
of Count Basie.
$25
$25
VNote Ensemble
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Paula West
Hot Club of SF
season 1 calendar
Season 1
Note: All events are located at the
Robert N. Miner Auditorium unless
stated otherwise.
calendar
January
February
March
21
01
01
SFJAZZ Center Grand Opening
Grand Opening Week 2: Jazz in the City
Voice
opening day celebration
— ribbon cutting & Tours
of the sfjazz Center (p. 8)
Celebrating Gershwin:
Dan Hicks, Kim Nalley, Paula West
Ana Moura (p. 26)
(p. 15)
02
23
02
Voice
SFJAZZ Center Grand Opening
Grand Opening Week 2: Jazz in the City
Opening night — A musicial
extravaganza & fundraiser
for sfjazz artistic & education
programs (p. 10)
24
Grand Opening Week 1: Legacy
Rebeca Mauleón &
Afro Kuban Fusion (p. 15)
03
Grand Opening Week 1: Legacy
spotlight: the sfjazz resident
artistic directors (p. 13)
26
Grand Opening Week 1: Legacy
spotlight: the sfjazz collective
(p. 13)
Ute Lemper (p. 37)
12–13
Weimar Germany
(p. 37)
Grand Opening Week 2: Jazz in the City
05
14
Lavay Smith & Hot Club
of San Francisco (p. 15)
07
Dave Holland
solo (p. 22)
08
Dave Holland
Zakir Hussain
Listening party (p. 28)
07
Zakir Hussain
Rhythm: Hussain, Hidalgo,
Harland, Smith (p. 28)
duo with kenny barRon (p. 23)
08
09
Hussain, Churasia,
Kumar, Selvaganesh (p. 29)
Dave Holland
Zakir Hussain
09
10
Zakir Hussain
Realistic Orchestra &
Montclair Women’s Big Band (p. 14)
Weimar Germany
Patricia Barber (p. 27)
Grand Opening Week 1: Legacy
Grand Opening Week 2: Jazz in the City
11
03
Dave Holland Quintet (p. 23)
31
Hiromi: The Trio Project (p. 35)
Max Raabe & Palast Orchester
27
spotlight: bobby hutcherson
birthday celebration (p. 13)
04–07
Voice
spotlight: mccoy tyner (p. 12)
25
meklit hadero (p. 27)
April
Dave Holland
Hussain, Fleck, Meyer (p. 29)
Prism (p. 23)
10
20
Zakir Hussain
Scott Hamilton Quintet (p. 24)
21–24
Afro-Cuban All Stars (p. 25)
28
Voice
Ana Moura (p. 26)
Duo with Joshua Redman (p. 29)
14–17
Mariza (p. 30)
Club Foot Orchestra
Accompanies Fritz Lang’s
Metropolis (p. 37)
18
Bill Frisell
01
Jason Moran
Miguel Zenón
03
02
Jason Moran
Miguel Zenón
solo (p. 43)
Fats Waller dance party (p. 43)
04–05
Jason Moran
Bandwagon & Skateboarders
(p. 43)
09
Regina Carter
Jazz Violin Listening Party (p. 44)
10
Regina Carter
Allen Ginsberg’s Kaddish (p. 39)
African Roots of
Violin with John Blake (p. 44)
20–21
11
Bill Frisell
Hunter S. Thompson’s
Kentucky Derby (p. 39)
25
Regina Carter
Fiddlin’ With Stories
with John Blake
& Charlotte Blake Alston (p. 45)
Brad Mehldau
Regina Carter
Solo (p. 40)
Southern Comfort (p. 45)
26
12
Brad Mehldau
Regina Carter
Duo with Kevin Hays (p. 41)
Carolina Chocolate Drops (p. 45)
27
16–19
Brad Mehldau
Béla Fleck (p. 46)
21
John Santos
23
28
Standards
De Akokán (p. 32)
John Santos
Papo Vazquez Mighty
Pirates Troubadours (p. 33)
23
John Santos
Filosofía Caribeña II (p. 33)
24
John Santos
Uncommon Time (p. 33)
28–31
SFJAZZ Collective (p. 34)
Brad Mehldau
brad mehldau Trio (p. 41)
June
02
Duo with Mark Guiliana (p. 41)
22
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Weimar Germany
May
tony bennett (p. 48)
24–26
Standards
dianne reeves (p. 49)
30
Miguel Zenón
Rhythm Collective (p. 50)
31
Miguel Zenón
Alma Adentro (p. 51)
identities (p. 51)
Duos: Luis Perdomo
and Paoli Mejias (p. 51)
Season 1 guide
season 1 guide
CHOOSING YOUR FAVORITE SHOWS
With the opening of the SFJAZZ Center, SFJAZZ Executive Artistic Director Randall Kline
talks about the philosophy behind this opening season’s programming, which is an exciting
departure from past concepts.
“The new artistic model is a rubric of what the
Center is designed and constructed to be — a home
and a context for artistic conversations between
audiences and artists. Each week, over four nights
from Thursday to Sunday, a foundation will be
built with a thread running through each night that
connects artists, musical styles, and geography
with residencies, collaborations, themes, premieres,
and projects. The new model is well illustrated with
Dave Holland’s residency as he performs, over four
nights, solo, as a duo with Kenny Barron, with
his Quintet, and finally the premiere of his new
project, Prism. Other examples are the series of
performances from Zakir Hussain, Brad Melhdau
and Resident Artistic Directors Jason Moran,
Bill Frisell, Regina Carter, Miguel Zenón and
John Santos.” —Randall Kline
Over the length of our opening season, there are a number of ways to pick the shows you
want to see. To make it fun and easy to assemble your own concert series, here is a useful
breakdown of shows by genre and format.
Art of the solo
Voice
22Dave Holland
15 Celebrating Gershwin: Paula West,
25 Afro-Cuban All-Stars
40 Brad Mehldau
Dan Hicks, Kim Nalley, and Jamie Davis
15 Lavay Smith & Hot Club of SF
26 Ana Moura
27 Meklit Hadero
27 Patricia Barber
30 Mariza
37 Ute Lemper: The Bukowski Project
37 Max Raabe and Palast Orchester
49 Tony Bennett
49 Dianne Reeves
28 Zakir Hussain, Steve Smith, Eric Harland 42 Jason Moran
46 Béla Fleck
Art of the duo
23Dave Holland & Kenny Barron
29Zakir Hussain & Joshua Redman
41 Brad Mehldau & Kevin Hays
41 Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana
51Miguel Zenón & Paoli Mejias
Rakesh Churasia & V. Selvaganesh
33 Uncommon Time feat. John Santos,
Kenny Endo, Omar Sosa & Abhijit Banerjee
cuba & puerto rico
Piano
25 Afro-Cuban All-Stars
32 De Akokan: Pavel Urkiza & Ricardo Pons
33 John Santos’ Filosofia Caribeña
15 Rebeca Mauleón & Afro Kuban Fusion
33
Papo Vazquez Mighty Pirates Troubadors
27 Patricia Barber
50
Miguel Zenón and the Rhythm Collective
35Hiromi: The Trio Project
29Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain & Edgar Meyer
51 Miguel Zenón: Alma Adentro
40 Brad Mehldau
35Hiromi: The Trio Project
51 Miguel Zenón: Identities
42 Jason Moran
art of the trio
41Brad Mehldau Trio
multi–media happenings
Swing
& Montclair Women’s Big Band
15Lavay Smith & Hot Club of SF
24 Scott Hamilton Quintet with Harry Allen
43 Fats Waller Dance Party
Strings
22Dave Holland
Europa
37 Ute Lemper: The Bukowski Project
26 Ana Moura
45 Regina Carter: Southern Comfort
45Fiddlin’ with Stories with John Blake
& Charlotte Blake Alston
45 Carolina Chocolate Drops
46Béla Fleck
37 Club Foot Orchestra accompany
30 Mariza
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
37 Max Raabe and Palast Orchester
39 Bill Frisell: Allen Ginsberg’s Kaddish
39 Bill Frisell: Hunter S. Thompson’s
jazz
23Dave Holland Quintet
23Dave Holland: Prism
34 SFJAZZ Collective
44 John Blake’s African Roots of the Violin
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& Giovanni Hidalgo
29 Zakir Hussain, Niladri Kumar,
15Rebeca Mauleón & Afro Kuban Fusion
51 Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo
14Realistic Orchestra
“SFJAZZ dropped a bunch of tasty bombshells regarding the opening season
for its new Hayes Valley concert venue/headquarters. The upshot: Don’t make
a lot of other plans for February and March.” —Examiner.com
percussion
jazz & poetry
37 Ute Lemper: The Bukowski Project
39 Bill Frisell: Allen Ginsberg’s Kaddish
The Kentucky Derby is Decadent
and Depraved
43 Jason Moran:
Bandwagon & Skateboarders
51 Miguel Zenón: Identities
resident artistic directors
“SFJAZZ is way ahead of the curve
and wants us to move forward
in an adventurous way. I want to
do a dialogue with music and the
city’s skateboarding community.
I remember coming to San
Francisco as a kid and bringing
my skateboard. There’s a lot of
risk in skating and jazz. In both
you’re creating and continuing
to push forward.”
“As performing artists, we travel
all the time and hear some
amazing groups. The SFJAZZ
Center is an opportunity for us
to bring those experiences to
San Francisco and share them
with people in a beautiful home
and hall. It’s an honor to be part
of that.”
“I started working with SFJAZZ as
part of the Collective in 2004, the
year it started, and I’m part of the
SFJAZZ family. Now, as a Resident
Artistic Director, I want to bring
the music and artistry of Puerto
Rico to a public that isn’t familiar
with it.”
“The new SFJAZZ Center brings
a lot of official recognition to jazz,
but jazz is still connected to the
streets. It’s important for us to
pay attention to ways we can make
jazz music economically viable
for musicians and keep jazz in the
communities where it was born.”
Bill Frisell
Jason Moran
Regina Carter
Miguel Zenón
John Santos
Widely regarded as the most innovative and
influential jazz guitarist to emerge in the 1980s,
Grammy-winning artist Bill Frisell has long been
exploring the music of America’s rural past.
A composer and sought-after bandleader, he has
launched dozens of unique projects. His latest
Savoy Jazz release, The Kentucky Derby is Decadent
and Depraved, is a multi-media piece adapting the
words of Hunter S. Thompson and illustrator Ralph
Steadman. He has been named DownBeat critics’
poll Guitarist of the Year nine times.
MacArthur fellow Jason Moran crosses musical
genres, blending jazz, blues, rock, funk, and hip-hop
in his compositions and multimedia performances.
In 2011 he was named Artistic Advisor for Jazz at
the Kennedy Center and was a triple-crown winner
of DownBeat magazine’s Critics Poll, collecting
awards for Jazz Artist of the Year, Jazz Album of
the Year and Pianist of the Year. He has been on
the faculty of the New England Conservatory since
2010 and is a longtime member of the Charles Lloyd
New Quartet.
Improvisational jazz violinist and MacArthur
fellow Regina Carter was trained as a classical
musician and weaves Motown, bebop, swing, folk,
Afro-Caribbean, and world influences into her
adventurous music. She has performed with
Wynton Marsalis, Max Roach, Oliver Lake, Aretha
Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill, Billy Joel, and
Dolly Parton. Her recent project, Reverse Thread,
blends the jazz tradition with African folk melodies
and instruments.
See page 38 for details.
See page 42 for details.
Multiple Grammy nominee and Guggenheim and
MacArthur fellow Miguel Zenón has masterfully
balanced and blended the often contradictory
poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered
one of the most groundbreaking and influential
saxophonists of his generation, he has also
developed a unique voice as a composer and
a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on
perfecting a fine mix between Latin American
folkloric music and jazz. Born and raised in San
Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón has worked with jazz
luminaries including Charlie Haden, David Sánchez,
The Mingus Big Band, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner,
Bobby Hutcherson, Steve Coleman, and the SFJAZZ
Collective. He also topped the Rising Star Alto Sax
category of the DownBeat critics’ poll on
four occasions.
Since the 1970s, no one has done more to maintain
and advance the Bay Area’s singular synthesis
of Caribbean rhythms and postbop forms than
percussionist John Santos. A charismatic
bandleader, captivatin improviser, and dedicated
educator, Santos is a master of folkloric traditions
from Cuba and Puerto Rico who’s consistently
found distinctive ways to merge Latin grooves
with jazz orchestration. His band Orquesta
Batachanga performed at the first Jazz in the
City Festival in 1983. Since then he has presented
Afro-Cuban music at SFJAZZ and led many
educational programs. He is a five-time Grammy
Award nominee.
“SFJAZZ is very adventurous and
has always encouraged me to play
my own music. It’s been an oasis.
That kind of freedom is amazing
for me. And the new building is
all about the music. At the SFJAZZ
Center, I can have the space and
time to let the music develop.”
Resident
Artistic
Directors
For the inaugural season of
the SFJAZZ Center, five of
the most forward-thinking
musicians in jazz will each be
curating a week of exclusive
programming in the Robert N.
Miner Auditorium. These shows
will premiere new work, feature
unprecedented collaborations
between world-renowned artists
and jumpstart the boundarybreaking creative mission of
the SFJAZZ Center.
See page 44 for details.
See page 50 for details.
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See page 32 for details.
Events
Eric Harland
“Creative genius and effective
entrepreneur, power player and
diplomat…Few current leaders
exemplify the role as well as bassist
Dave Holland.” —DownBeat
Craig Taborn
Mark Turner
Kevin Eubanks
February 7–10
dave holland
Far more than one of the jazz’s greatest bassists, Dave Holland
has inhabited the music’s adventurous edge ever since Miles Davis
hired him to anchor his band in 1968 as it rapidly morphed from an
acoustic powerhouse to a pioneering fusion combo. After spending
years exploring the outer reaches with Anthony Braxton and Sam Rivers,
the British-born bassist started leading his own ensembles, which
have served as a proving ground for a legion of celebrated improvisers.
His SFJAZZ Center residency offers a chance to experience Holland
in an array of settings, both alone and with a dauntingly talented
cast of collaborators.
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solo
Duo with Kenny Barron
Quintet
Prism
Thu, Feb 7, 7:30pm
Fri, Feb 8, 7:30pm
Pre-Concert Talk at 6:30pm
Sat, Feb 9, 7:30pm
Sun, Feb 10, 7:30pm
Holland has gained the widest exposure in recent
decades as the leader of his celebrated and
prolifically recorded quintet. Consistently hailed as
one of the most exciting small groups in jazz, the
piano-less combo includes two founding members,
vibraphonist Steve Nelson and SFJAZZ Collective
trombonist Robin Eubanks, along with saxophonist
Mark Turner and drummer Nate Smith. The quintet
brings a charged communal empathy to Holland’s
abstract but cohesive themes, whether exploring
Afro-Caribbean grooves, funk or straight ahead
swing. Taking his open-ended melodic lines
in startling directions, the quintet creates the
sensation that anything can happen.
The bassist finishes his run with the Bay Area
premiere of his aptly-named Prism project featuring
the ingenious keyboardist Craig Taborn, former
SFJAZZ Collective drummer Eric Harland
and Kevin Eubanks, a brilliant guitarist who is
resurfacing after a 15-year run leading the Tonight
Show Band. Combining the celebrated virtuosity
of Taborn on electric and acoustic pianos and the
soulful scorch of Eubanks in the front line with
Harland’s matchless finesse and expressiveness,
this decidedly plugged-in quartet is an explosive
outlet for Holland at his unbridled best.
The run begins with a very rare solo program
showcasing the unparalleled heights of Holland’s
bass mastery, recalling his iconic ECM release
Emerald Tears. This intimate encounter offers
a precious insight into the creative process of
a true jazz giant, and will be an evening of
superlative beauty.
Public: $20/40/60 • Members: $15/30/45
A master of duo encounters, Holland joins forces
with piano great Kenny Barron, an improviser of the
highest order, for a series of expansive instrumental
pas de deux. Barron is an NEA Jazz Master and
nine-time Grammy nominee whose storied career
has included extended associations with Stan Getz,
Yusef Lateef and Freddie Hubbard in addition to
his sparkling solo work. Off the bandstand, Barron
has enjoyed a hugely influential tenure as a music
professor at Rutgers University and the Julliard
School of Music.
$25/45/65
$30/50/70
$25/45/65
Events
Introducing
the Ensemble Room
The second performing space
at the SFJAZZ Center
February 20
Scott
Hamilton
quintet
Hotplate moves home!
2nd Thursday of each month in
The Ensemble Room at the SFJAZZ Center
beginning Thursday, February 14, 2013
Hotplate, the dynamic series that matches Bay Area artists with
jazz icons, begins with a feast in its new home at the
SFJAZZ Center with the:
1st Annual Hotplate Festival
Thursday, February 14 through Sunday, February 17.
Each of the four nights will reprise the “best of” concerts from our 3
years of presentations at Amnesia in the Mission District.
featuring harry allen
Please note: Hotplate will continue at Amnesia, 853 Valencia Street,
on second Thursdays through January 10.
Wed, Feb 20, 7:30pm
SFJAZZ Hotplate sponsored by:
Tenor saxophone luminary Scott Hamilton was at the forefront of a new
generation of young artists that helped revitalize mainstream acoustic jazz
in the mid-1970s, possessing a fat, buttery sound that harkens back to
Ben Webster, Don Byas and Zoot Sims. Recording prolifically for Concord
Records as both a leader and featured sideman on classic sessions by singers
Rosemary Clooney, Maxine Sullivan and Susannah McCorkle, he was a regular
Bay Area presence, playing the major jazz clubs and the Concord Jazz Festival.
He released his 1977 debut, Scott Hamilton Is A Good Wind Blowing Us No Ill,
at a time when jazz/rock fusion dominated the market. Hamilton and collaborators including trumpeter Warren Vaché, trombonist Dan Barrett and guitarist
Howard Alden helped revive the sophisticated sound of small group swing,
ushering in the “young lion” jazz renaissance. Unfortunately, since he moved to
Europe in the late 1990s, Hamilton has been a scarce presence in the Bay Area.
This concert is a rare and welcome return for an artist whose impact continues to
reverberate through the jazz world. He’s joined by tenor saxophonist Harry Allen,
one of the brilliant players who followed in Hamilton’s footsteps, honing
a beautifully expressive sound informed by the tenor titans of the 1930s.
Public: $25/35/55 • Members: $19/26/41
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Spoken Word
to Come in June
SFJAZZ Poet Laureate Ishmael Reed — noted poet, novelist,
playwright and essayist — will curate and participate in the
first annual festival of spoken word and jazz, as part of the
inaugural Season of the SFJAZZ Center.
Spoken Word Fest
June 6–9
The Ensemble Room in the SFJAZZ Center
Look for announcements of Spoken Word Fest and Hotplate Festival
in October at sfjazz.org.
February 21–24
Juan de Marcos & the
Afro-Cuban All Stars
Thu, Feb 21, 7:30pm
Fri, Feb 22, 7:30pm
Sat, Feb 23, 7:30pm
Sun, Feb 24, 7:30pm
A legendary Afro-Cuban band comes to the SFJAZZ Center. After gaining
international fame for reviving the classic sound of Cuban son, tres master
Juan de Marcos turned the Afro-Cuban All Stars into a sensational showcase
for Cuba’s most prodigious young musicians. While long revered in Latin America
and Europe as a founding member of Cuba’s great son revival band Sierra
Maestra, de Marcos first gained notice in the US through the Buena Vista
Social Club. It was de Marcos who assembled Ibrahim Ferrer, Eliades Ochoa,
Ruben Gonzalez and the rest of the crew for Ry Cooder when he came to
Havana looking for illustrious old timers. But de Marcos is just as interested in
promoting Cuba’s brilliant young musicians as in highlighting Cuba’s senior
talent. The Afro-Cuban All Stars not only features a multi-generational cast, the
group draws on both classic Cuban styles like son and danzón and contemporary
dance rhythms like timba. “What I’m trying to do is create a bridge between
contemporary and traditional Cuban music,” de Marcos says. “I’m trying to mix
both things so people can realize that Cuban music didn’t stop in time, that it
developed in this long period when Cuban music disappeared from the market.”
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
21: $25/45/65
22: $25/45/65
23: $30/50/70
24: $25/45/65
Events
Ana Moura
February 28—march 3
voice
ana moura
meklit hadero
patricia barber
A lineup of spellbinding singers marks this week, which includes a masterful jazz performer,
a homegrown songwriter and a Portuguese fado star, each with fresh takes on the legacy of song.
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ana moura
Meklit Hadero
patricia barber
Thu, Feb 28, 7:30pm
Fri, Mar 1, 7:30pm
Sat, Mar 2, 7:30pm
Sun, Mar 3, 7:30pm
Ethiopian-born San Francisco singer and songwriter
Meklit Hadero returns to SFJAZZ following her
triumphant double bill with R&B singing star Lizz
Wright last spring. Following her directorial stint
at San Francisco’s Red Poppy Art House and being
named a TED Global Fellow, Hadero became a
sensation with the release of her 2010 debut On A
Day Like This, an enchanting album featuring her
delicately luminous original songs and traditional
Amharic melodies. The album received rave reviews
and featured coverage on PBS, National Geographic
and NPR. The singer has been on a meteoric rise
ever since, spreading her distinctive brand of magic
on numerous international tours, including a pair
of trips to her native Ethiopia, and criss-crossing
the U.S. Whether performing with her transfixing
world-trance band Nefasha Ayer, grooving with
classic R&B belter Quinn DeVeaux on their new
album Meklit & Quinn, or breaking down walls with
her African hip-hop project CopperWire, Hadero has
established herself as a modern queen of soul.
If there’s such a thing as a typical jazz vocalist,
Patricia Barber doesn’t fit the profile. What
distinguishes the cerebral performer from virtually
all of her peers is the keen intelligence of her
original material, which is often informed by her
literary ambition. Quirky, insistently independent
and emotionally cool, she’s attracted a dedicated
following with her rigorous songwriting craft
and sly, harmonically deft piano work. She won
a Guggenheim Fellowship Award in 2003 to
compose an ambitious song cycle based on Ovid’s
epic poem “Metamorphoses,” making her the first
singer-songwriter to ever receive the prestigious
grant. A savvy bandleader who has honed a tight,
telegraphic style with her quartet, Barber is known
for transforming unlikely pop tunes into sleek jazz
numbers, reinventing Cole Porter, and constantly
reworking her impressive book of originals. Barber’s
previous two albums were recorded at the storied
Chicago jazz spot The Green Mill, where she’s held
down a weekly gig for more than a decade, and this
performance celebrates the release of her Concord
Jazz debut, Smash. Whether she’s interpreting
standards or her incisive original tunes, Patricia
Barber has created a richly rewarding body of
work unlike anything else on the scene.
We welcome this superstar fado vocalist back to
SFJAZZ. Sparked by a remarkable generation of
young singers, fado has emerged over the past
decade or so as a force on the world music scene,
and the brightest light bringing the soul-baring
music to new audiences is Ana Moura. Draped in
a lacy black gown, her raven tresses cascading
down her bare shoulders, she captures the spirit of
the iconic fadista, a singer devoted to the traditionbound Portuguese musical style that marries poetry
about love, loss and the vicissitudes of fate to
sumptuously plaintive melodies. While she hews
to many of the genres conventions, performing
accompanied by 12-string Portuguese guitars,
Moura embodies fado’s contemporary spirit. With
her gorgeous voice and riveting stage presence
she’s captured fans like Caetano Veloso, the Rolling
Stones and Prince, who made a surprise backstage
visit during her first SFJAZZ performance. In an
inspired pairing, four-time Grammy Award winner
Larry Klein produced her new album, his latest
collaboration with this supremely gifted female
artist (his credits include Joni Mitchell, Luciana
Souza, Melody Gardot, and Madeleine Peyroux).
Much like the blues, fado is defined by its unabashed emotional intensity and preoccupation
with heartbreak, betrayal and separation. In Moura’s
hands, this ritualized form of emotional release
takes flight, soaring to new emotional heights.
Feb 28: $25/40/55
Mar 1: $25/45/65
$25/35/50
$25/35/50
Events
28 / Events
March 5 & 7–10
“It’s hard to imagine
a better champion
for Indian classical
music in the West
than Zakir Hussain”
—San Jose Mercury News
Steve Smith
zakir hussain
Zakir Hussain is universally acknowledged as the world’s greatest tabla virtuoso, the scion
of a legendary Hindustani percussion dynasty and a master of classical North Indian music
who has collaborated with a glittering roster of international stars. Bay Area audiences have
been fortunate to experience Hussain’s groundbreaking creative journey up close since he
settled in the region to teach at San Anselmo’s Ali Akbar Khan College of Music in 1970.
As a bandleader, a dogged promoter of Hindustani and South Indian Carnatic traditions,
a Bollywood and Hollywood film composer, and a pioneer of world music and Indo-jazz fusion,
he’s blazed a mind-boggling array of musical trails. His SFJAZZ Center residency showcases
a cross section of his creative pursuits, building on longstanding relationships and
introducing several new ones.
Rakesh Churasia
Listening Party
Rhythm: Hussain, Hidalgo,
Harland, Smith
Hussain, Churasia,
Kumar, Selvaganesh
Tue, Mar 5, 7:30pm
Thu, Mar 7, 7:30pm
Fri, Mar 8 , 7:30pm
In his most recent Listening Party for SFJAZZ,
Zakir Hussain proved he is also a masterful
storyteller with a career that tranverses much
of modern music. This is a perfect introduction
to this week of diverse concerts curated by
such a singular voice.
Rhythm is a genre-bending percussion showcase
featuring Giovanni Hidalgo, Eric Harland, and
Steve Smith, drum giants with whom he shares
deep ties. Hussain and Hidalgo, the revered Puerto
Rican conguero, started collaborating two decades
ago in Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum, and Hussain
toured and recorded with Harland in Charles Lloyd’s
spiritually charged trio Sangam. The tabla genius
has a history with ex-Journey drummer Smith in
Summit, the innovative Indo-jazz ensemble led
by Berkeley saxophonist George Brooks. Together,
it adds up to an incredible evening of drumming
firepower.
Getting back to his roots, Hussain leads a classical
ensemble of rising North and South Indian masters
featuring flutist Rakesh Churasia, the nephew
of flute legend Hariprasad Chaurasia, sitarist
Niladri Kumar, who toured with Hussain’s Masters
of Percussion series, and V. Selvaganesh, a master
of the kanjira, or South Indian frame drum, and
a member of Hussain and John McLaughlin’s
Remember Shakti. This promises to be an
unforgettable presentation of Indian classical
music by four master musicians.
Public: $10 • Members: $5
$25/45/65 • World Premiere
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$25/45/65
Joshua Redman
Hussain, Fleck, Meyer
Duo with Joshua Redman
Sat, Mar 9, 7:30pm
Sun, Mar 10, 7:30pm
On Saturday night, Hussain reconvenes his
celebrated collaboration with esteemed bassist
Edgar Meyer and banjo-plucking superstar Béla
Fleck, the trio with whom he composed and recorded
2009’s masterful The Melody of Rhythm — Triple
Concerto & Music for Trio. A unique and harmonious
convergence of wide-ranging musical traditions, the
trio’s last SFJAZZ performance sold out instantly,
and their debut at the SFJAZZ Center will be very
special indeed.
Sunday marks a first-time duo encounter between
Hussain and saxophone giant Joshua Redman.
A Berkeley native, Redman has established himself
as the preeminent tenor player of his generation,
recording 13 albums as a leader, co-founding the
SFJAZZ Collective and touring the world with the
recent co-op quartet project, James Farm. For this
momentous meeting, the shared improvisational
prowess of these two titans from the jazz and
Indian classical worlds will bridge cultures in
the name of fresh exploration.
$30/50/70/95
$25/45/65 • World Premiere
Events
march 14–17
Mariza
Thu, Mar 14, 7:30pm
Fri, Mar 15, 7:30pm
Sat, Mar 16, 7:30pm
Sun, Mar 17, 7:30pm
“The Sade of fado.”
—The New York Times
No one has embraced fado with more passion and charisma than Mariza,
the music’s greatest star and a full-throated singer who revels in the music’s
emotional power. After decades of neglect when fado was dismissed as a relic
from Portugal’s past, a new generation has reinvigorated the nation’s cherished
musical style and re-established its relevance with global audiences. With its
blend of Portuguese folk poetry, Arabic cadences and African and Brazilian
rhythms, fado was an unintended harvest from Portugal’s far-flung empire.
These days, it’s Mariza who’s conquering the world as the first Portuguese
musician nominated for a Grammy and three BBC Radio 3 Best European Artist
awards. Her multi-platinum 2008 album Terra introduced a truly international
sensibility with a scintillating mix of songs from Brazil, Cuba, Cape Verde and,
of course, Portugal. But with 2010’s Fado Tradicional she returned to her roots,
revisiting classic songs in an intimate setting, backed only by acoustic guitar.
In performance Mariza is a captivating presence, with her close-cropped blonde
hair, swan-like neck and glorious belle époque gowns. While fado singers
traditionally stand motionless as they sing, Mariza stalks the stage looking like
an apparition from another era, infusing the timeless melodies of her homeland
with a singular style.
Mar
Mar
Mar
Mar
14: $25/45/65
15: $30/50/70
16: $35/55/80
17: $30/50/70
“… she’s been reviving and
reinventing the traditional
fado style, and the results are
nothing short of spectacular.”
—the washington post
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Events
“One of the best.
He knows our music
and everything that
puts it together.”
—dizzy gillespie
Omar Sosa
Pavel Urkiza
March 21–24
Papo Vazquez
Sandra Garcia Rivera
Kenny Endo
john santos
resident artistic director
Far more than a master percussionist, John Santos is an invaluable
educator and cultural activist, a keeper of the Afro-Caribbean flame
steeped in Cuban and Puerto Rican folkloric traditions as well as salsa
and Latin jazz. Born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District
amidst an extended family of Puerto Rican musicians, he’s been at the
center of the Bay Area’s Latin music scene for nearly four decades.
As a visionary bandleader and noted historian, he has served on the
Smithsonian Institution’s Latin Jazz Advisory Committee.
Santos has played an essential role in expanding Latin jazz’s rhythmic
lexicon beyond the foundational Cuban grooves. His programming as
a Resident Artistic Director reflects his pan-Caribbean sensibility.
De Akokán
Thu, Mar 21, 7:30pm
De Akokán, which means “from the heart” in Yoruba,
is a project based on the 2011 duo album Buscando
la esquina by Ukranainian-born Cuban singersongwriter Pavel Urkiza and Puerto Rican reed
expert Ricardo Pons. This collaboration explores
filín, an expansive Cuban song style that draws
heavily on jazz, and rhythms from West Africa,
Brazil, the Mediterranean, and India.
$20/30/40
Papo Vazquez Mighty
Pirates Troubadours
Fri, Mar 22, 7:30pm
Pre-Concert Talk at 6:30pm
The formidable trombonist, arranger and composer
Papo Vazquez presents the West Coast debut of
Pirates Troubadours, an eight-piece Afro Puerto
Rican jazz combo that melds Caribbean percussion
with a blazing jazz horn section on material inspired
by traditional Puerto Rican forms.
$25/35/50
Filosofía Caribeña II
Uncommon Time
Sat, Mar 23, 7:30pm
Sun, Mar 24, 7:30pm
Santos presents the second installment of his
Filosofía Caribeña, a project he premiered as part
of the 2011 Spring Season featuring his Latin jazz
sextet. The project embodies the triune nature of
Caribbean culture, which is woven from Iberian,
African and indigenous influences, and features
special guests such as Cuban-born timbales legend
Orestes Vilató, award-winning Nuyorican poet and
vocalist Sandra Garcia Rivera, and powerhouse
Puerto Rican trumpeter Jerry Media, a co-founder of
the seminal Latin fusion band Batacumbele.
The week closes with Uncommon Time, an explosive
multicultural percussion summit featuring Santos,
taiko drummer Kenny Endo, tabla master Abhijit
Banerjee, and Cuban pianist Omar Sosa, a frequent
Santos collaborator who approaches his instrument
like 88 tuned drums.
$25/45/65
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$25/35/50
Events
March 28–31
Sfjazz
collective
Thu, Mar 28, 7:30pm
Fri, Mar 29, 7:30pm • Pre-Concert Talk at 6:30pm
with Stefon Harris
Sat, Mar 30, 7:30pm
Sun, Mar 31, 7:30pm
Launched in 2004, the SFJAZZ Collective is one of the most critically
acclaimed groups on the scene. Hailing from Puerto Rico, New York, Venezuela,
Philadelphia, Santa Cruz, New Zealand and Israel, the Collective’s multi-cultural
lineup mirrors the explosion of jazz talent around the globe. Each year, this allstar ensemble has paid tribute to a legendary composer, from Thelonious Monk
to Ornette Coleman, with fresh arrangements of their classic tunes. Each band
member also contributes an original composition, commissioned by SFJAZZ.
After the blockbuster success of the group’s take on the work of soul legend
Stevie Wonder, this season the Collective turns their focus to the music
of jazz keyboard giant Chick Corea.
The inaugural season in the SFJAZZ Center welcomes a pair of new members
to the Collective. Tenor saxophonist David Sánchez has garnered a welldeserved reputation as one of the foremost instrumentalists in jazz. As a
member of the Collective, he reunites with alto saxophonist Miguel Zénon,
who performed on Sánchez’s Grammy-winning album Coral, and vibraphonist
Stefon Harris, who recently partnered with Sánchez on the Cuban music
project Ninety Miles. Drummer and Santa Cruz native Jeff Ballard has
established himself as a modern jazz luminary, co-leading the eclectic
ensemble Fly and working extensively in pianist Brad Mehldau’s vaunted trio.
The choice of Chick Corea’s music this season is serendipitous for Ballard, who
spend a number of years with Corea powering his Origin sextet and New Trio.
An NEA Jazz Master and musical chameleon acclaimed for his work in the
worlds of hard bop, fusion and classical music, Chick Corea has made a vast
contribution to the jazz legacy. From his iconic stint with Miles Davis in the late
‘60s to the boundary-pushing Return To Forever and his stunning solo projects,
Corea is the perfect composer for exploration. His timeless pieces are tantalizing
canvases for reinterpretation, and over these four nights the Collective can be
expected to take them to new and unexpected places.
Miguel Zenón: alto saxophone
David Sánchez: tenor saxophone
Avishai Cohen: trumpet
Robin Eubanks: trombone
Stefon Harris: vibraphone
Edward Simon: piano
Matt Penman: bass
Jeff Ballard: drums
Mar 28:
Public: $20/30/40 • Members: $15/22/30
Mar 29: $25/40/60
Mar 30: $25/45/65
Mar 31: $25/40/60
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April 4–7
Hiromi
Hiromi:
The Trio
Project
featuring anthony jackson
and simon phillips
Thu, Apr 4, 7:30pm
Fri, Apr 5, 7:30pm
Sat, Apr 6, 7:30pm • Pre-Concert Talk at 6:30pm
Sun, Apr 7, 7:30pm
An utterly original improviser and composer who turns each piece into
a thrilling ride, Japanese-born pianist Hiromi creates kinetic soundscapes
in which through-composed passages segue seamlessly into open-ended
improvisation. What’s most impressive isn’t her commanding technique.
It’s her cohesive group approach in which no instrument is confined to its
traditional role. She introduced her latest hi-octane ensemble The Trio Project
on 2011’s Voice (Telarc), featuring electric bass master Anthony Jackson
and British drummer Simon Phillips, whose gaudy resume includes stints
with Brian Eno, Jeff Beck, Stanley Clarke, and The Who. For Hiromi, he was
the ideal rhythmic catalyst for her sonically expansive concept. “I want to treat
the three instruments as three pieces of an orchestra, and extend the sound,”
says Hiromi, 34. She worked with Jackson on her first two albums and had
long thought about bringing him into the studio again. After playing several
shows as a trio, she knew Phillips was the right man for her latest power trio.
“He’s got a very diverse, very unique sound,” Hiromi says. “He has an amazing
understanding of all kinds of music, the same as Anthony, and that’s what
I was looking for.” For this run of dates at the SFJAZZ Center, the trio
supports their second Telarc release.
Anthony Jackson
Apr 4:
Public: $20/30/40 • Members: $15/22/30
Apr 5: $25/40/55
Apr 6: $25/45/65
Apr 7: $25/35/50
Simon Phillips
Events
April 11–14
weimar
germany
ute lemper
max raabe & palast orchester
club foot orchestra
This week focuses on artists whose projects are
often associated with the rich cultural renaissance
of Germany’s Weimar Republic during the 1920s
and early 1930s, from cabaret to futurist film.
ute lemper
The Bukowski Project
Thu, Apr 11, 7:30pm
For this inspired pairing, Ute Lemper, the searing
siren of Brechtian theater, turns her gimlet-eye to
poet Charles Bukowski, the late prophet of skid row.
Drawing from books like The Last Night of the Earth
Poems, and You Get So Alone At Times That It Just
Makes Sense, Lemper has crafted an evening-length
program weaving together songs derived from
Bukowski poems set to appropriately noir themes
composed by Lemper, drummer Todd Turkisher,
and pianist Vana Gierig. One of the most dynamic
theatrical singers of her generation, Lemper has
built her reputation playing the most vivid female
antiheroes in the musical canon, from the irrepressible Sally Bowles in “Cabaret” to the vampy Velma
Kelly in “Chicago,” a role for which she won the 1998
Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Featured
as an actress in films by Robert Altman (Prêt-àPorter), Peter Greenway (Prospero’s Books) and
Norman Jewison (Bogus), she has also collaborated
with groundbreaking choreographer Pina Bausch.
Lemper is probably best known as the foremost
interpreter of celebrated composer Kurt Weill,
whose songs often blend sensuality and romanticism
with biting satire and violence, an ideal preparation
for exploring the work of Charles Bukowski.
$35/55/75
“In the grand style
of performers from
Germany’s Weimar
Republic, Max Raabe
likes to party like
it’s 1929.”
—The New York Times
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Max Raabe
& Palast Orchester
Fri, Apr 12, 7:30pm • Pre-Concert Talk
at 6:30pm with Ian Wekwerth
Sat, Apr 13, 7:30pm & 10pm
In the 1920s and early 30s, Berlin was a roiling
cauldron of creative energy where avant-garde
art movements intersected with popular culture,
birthing theatrical and musical forms that continue
to influence our world today. Walking a narrow line
between madcap kitsch and sublime musicality,
Max Raabe and Palast Orchester evoke the
heady, dancing-on-knife-point mood of the Weimar
Republic. A conservatory-trained baritone besotted
with the Weimar era vocal style exemplified by the
Comedian Harmonists, Raabe interprets vintage hits
while also writing original songs and reinventing
contemporary pop tunes in a retro style, such as
“Oops!... I Did It Again” from Britney Spears and
“Sex Bomb” by Tom Jones. With his slicked back
hair and ingratiating stage presence, Raabe is a
master entertainer whose irony-laced performances
combine arresting spectacle with sophisticated,
jazz-steeped arrangements. The resulting music
is consistently dizzying, delightful and devilishly
catchy. Backed by his polished 12-piece orchestra,
Raabe possesses a supremely flexible voice, full
and resonant in lower registers and pure and clear
in his falsetto range. His latest album, Küssen
kann man nicht alleine (One cannot kiss alone),
was produced by German new wave icon Annette
Humpe, who gives his music a sleek and sensuous
sheen. Expect a party from a bygone era, and don’t
be surprised if the audience dresses up in true
Art Deco style!
Apr 12: $35/55/80
Apr 13:
7:30pm $40/60/85 • 10pm: $40/60/85
club foot orchestra
Accompany Fritz Lang’s
Metropolis
Sun, Apr 14, 4pm & 7:30pm
Founded in 1983 by San Francisco composer and
multi-instrumental wind expert Richard Marriott,
Club Foot Orchestra has earned international
renown performing dramatic, intricately jazz-infused
original scores for classic silent films. Over the years
the ensemble has featured some of the most vivid
and expressive musicians in the Bay Area (and New
York City, where Marriott is now based). In an ideal
pairing of band and material, Club Foot performs
its heralded score to a carefully restored version
of the 1927 expressionist masterpiece Metropolis,
including many scenes cut from the original
American release. Premiered on April 7, 1991 at
the Castro Theatre, Metropolis marked a major leap
for Club Foot as its first collaboratively composed
score, with compositions by Marriott, Steve Kirk,
Beth Custer, Sheldon Brown, Nik Phelps and Myles
Boisen. A product of Weimar Germany’s creative
ferment, visionary director Fritz Lang’s film is set in
a dystopian future (the year 2026) where wealthy
intellectuals rule over teeming industrial workers
who toil mostly underground. An initial box office
flop that was scorned by critics, Metropolis came
to be recognized as a cinematic landmark for its
innovative special effects, gorgeous Art Decoinspired art design and trenchant social critique.
Don’t miss this return engagement of Club Foot and
Metropolis, back with SFJAZZ after two decades.
4pm & 7:30pm: $20/30
Events
Allen Ginsberg
April 18, 20 & 21
bill
frisell
resident
artistic
director
Behind guitarist Bill Frisell’s
affable demeanor there’s a steelywilled artist whose creative
ambitions span the continent.
Since his early days on the
Downtown Manhattan scene in
the mid-1970s, when he became
a key collaborator with John Zorn,
Frisell has steadily expanded his
sonic purview, staking a claim to
an ever-greater range of media,
material, and musical traditions.
From Charles Ives and Aaron
Copland to Buster Keaton and
Bob Dylan, from urban thrash and
American Songbook ballads to
country blues and Nashville twang,
Frisell distills the essence of the
American experience.
Allen Ginsberg’s Kaddish
Thu, Apr 18, 7pm & 9:30pm
As a Resident Artistic Director, Frisell premieres two
of his latest and most ambitious multi-media
projects with a powerhouse ensemble that builds
on his 858 Quartet with violinist Jenny Scheinman
and cellist Hank Roberts. Rather than showcasing
his protean guitar playing, both works foreground
Frisell as a composer who has honed a singular
language marked by vintage Americana cadences
and post-modern juxtapositions. A collaboration
with the prolific, Grammy Award-winning producer
Hal Willner, Kaddish is a beautiful and harrowing
work based on the devastating poem Allen Ginsberg
wrote upon the suicide of his mother. With recitation
by Willner and director Chloe Webb, the piece
features Frisell’s score and visual design by artist
Ralph Steadman, renowned for his twisted,
pitch-perfect graphics for the gonzo journalism
of Hunter S. Thompson.
7pm: $40/60/80 • 9:30pm: $35/55/75
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Hunter S. Thompson’s
The Kentucky Derby
Sat, Apr 20, 7:30pm (Members only)
Sun, Apr 21, 4pm & 7:30pm
Steadman is also central to Frisell’s other program,
the world premiere of The Kentucky Derby Is
Decadent and Depraved, from last year’s album
of the same name on 429 Records. Designed like
a radio play, Kentucky Derby features a cast of
well-known actors delivering Hunter S. Thompson’s
notorious article about the 1970 horse race for
Scanlan’s Monthly. According to JazzTimes, Frisell’s
score “has the soured grandeur of faded Southern
aristocracy, as if Stephen Foster had been soaked
in Benzedrine and bourbon.” These events are
can’t-miss evenings of hallucinatory beauty and
raucous humor from an American original.
Apr 20 (Members only): $35/55/75
Apr 21: 4pm: $35/55/75 • 7:30pm: $40/60/80
Events
“Mehldau is a modern jazz star often characterized as a cerebral
explorer, a dynamic, incisive improviser…In fact, the guy is a lot
of fun, too…beautiful and direct, the art of the trio at its apex.”
—Mojo
April 25–28
brad melhdau
The most celebrated young pianist in jazz returns with a multifaceted week of stunning shows. Over the past two decades,
Brad Mehldau has earned a spot in the jazz piano firmament next
to Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and Fred Hersch as a supremely
expressive improviser who turns performances into emotionally
wrought journeys. He’s an ambitious composer and adventurous
song sleuth, as likely to interpret an atmospheric Bjork tune as a
treasured Irving Berlin ballad, at times seamlessly blending the two.
An artist whose wide-ranging vision is impossible to sum up in one
sentence or performance, Mehldau settles into the SFJAZZ Center
for a four-day residency, stretching out in a fascinating array of
intimate settings.
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solo
Duo with Kevin Hays
Duo with Mark Guiliana
Thu, Apr 25, 7:30pm
Fri, Apr 26, 7:30pm
Sat, Apr 27, 7:30pm
The week begins with the pianist in a rare solo
performance that puts artist and audience as close
as possible. Mehldau is at his most expansive in solo
recitals where he gives free rein to his imagination,
as captured on 2011’s authoritative Live in Marciac
double album and DVD set.
In 2011, Mehldau also released a gorgeous duo
project with fellow piano master Kevin Hays,
Modern Music (Nonesuch), a fascinating project
focusing on the compositions and arrangements of
jazz/classical composer Patrick Zimmerli. On Friday,
Hays joins Mehldau again for a special night
of keyboard wizardry.
In another and decidedly electrified duo encounter,
Saturday sees Mehldau on electric piano and
synthesizer, joining forces with the endlessly
inventive drummer Mark Guiliana for the west coast
debut of their Mehliana project. Best known for
his long association with bassist Avishai Cohen,
the world-funk infused Guiliana has also worked
widely with saxophonist Donny McCaslin and
vocalist Gretchen Parlato.
$30/50/70
$30/50/70
$30/50/70
Trio with Larry Grenadier
& Jeff Ballard
Sun, Apr 28, 7:30pm
Mehldau completes his residency with a
performance by his celebrated trio featuring two
brilliant Northern California-raised compatriots,
bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard.
As documented on the new Nonesuch CD Where Do
You Start, the trio’s strikingly beautiful group sound
is distinguished by the way the players continuously
trade roles, often eschewing traditional solos while
elaborating on the form of a song.
Whatever the setting, whether playing his own
stunning compositions, American Songbook
standards, or more contemporary tunes by
Nick Drake, Radiohead or the Beatles, Mehldau’s
long, emotionally arching improvisations turn each
performance into an epic, unforgettable journey.
$30/50/70
Events
Jason Moran
solo
Fats Waller Dance party
Thu, May 2, 7:30pm
Fri, May 3, 7:30pm
Giving free rein to his muse in a solo recital,
Moran ranges widely across the jazz continuum,
referencing stride, bebop, hip hop and the avant
garde, while making canny use of electronics
and pre-recorded segments. It will be an intimate
evening of piano music like none you’ve ever
experienced, from the mind of a modern master.
Moran’s historical engagement can be seen in
the West Coast premiere of his Fats Waller project,
a collaboration with renowned bassist and vocalist
Meshell Ndegeocello. Rather than interpreting
Waller’s ebulliently swinging songbook directly,
Moran breaks down melodies and riffs and then
“the band built on those fragments, in rhythms
coming out of 1960s-and-beyond dance music:
Motown, house, hip-hop,” the New York Times
reported. This night will be a raucous party with
an open dance floor and copious quantities of fun.
$25/40/60
Jason Moran
Meshell Ndegeocello
$30/40/50
may 2–5
Bandwagon
Bandwagon
& Skateboarders
Sat, May 4, 7:30pm
Sun, May 5, 7:30pm
He closes his programming with a two-day
installation engaging the Bay Area skateboarding
tradition, an unprecedented meeting of jazz
improvisation and aerial artistry that will only
happen at SFJAZZ. Moran’s Bandwagon combo
performs along side a who’s-who of Bay Area
skating luminaries who will take flight on a
specially constructed skating half-pipe installed
in front of the SFJAZZ Center stage. Don’t miss
this thrilling blend of visual and aural magic!
$20/30/40
jason moran
resident artistic director
An ambitiously creative musician who frequently collaborates with artists in film and dance, pianist
Jason Moran is jazz’s wild card, a probing conceptualist who transforms everything he touches into
a bracingly contemporary statement. His music combines jagged, kinetic expressionism and unabashed
romanticism, bristling with ideas lifted from some of the less explored corners of the jazz piano pantheon.
Winner of numerous awards and honors, including a coveted MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship in 2010, the
37-year-old pianist has released a series of projects as satisfying conceptually as they are sonically,
showcasing his capacious intelligence, rollicking touch, and road-less-traveled sensibility. Since he emerged
in the late-90s in the quartet of alto saxophonist and ace talent scout Greg Osby, Moran has developed at
an exponential rate in the company of his supremely flexible quartet the Bandwagon, honing an approach
that soaks up influences and reconfigures them to suit his own exacting needs. As a Resident Artistic Director,
the multi-faceted Moran is performing in a wide-ranging array of settings.
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Jason Moran as Fats Waller
Events
Charlotte Blake Alston
John Blake
African Roots of Violin
with John Blake
Fri, May 10, 7:30pm
Pre-Concert Talk at 6:30pm
Determined to present the underappreciated
composer, educator and improviser John Blake, Jr.
(“One of my mentors when I first started
playing jazz,” Carter says), she has engaged
the Philadelphia violin master for two programs.
The African Roots of Violin is a revelatory concert
exploring the African roots of the violin and its
evolution as a jazz instrument.
$20/30/40
Fiddlin’ With Stories
with John Blake
& Charlotte Blake Alston
Sat, May 11, 11am
Fiddlin’ With Stories is an enchanting family
matinee also featuring Blake and his sister, master
storyteller and African music expert Charlotte
Blake Alston, which interweaves folkloric stories
with jazz and traditional African music. This will
be a uniquely wonderful performance tailored to
audiences of all ages.
Southern Comfort
Sat, May 11, 7:30pm
A transition from the exploration of her African
ancestry to her family history marks the premiere of
her new Reverse Thread program, Southern Comfort.
Trading the West African kora for a slide guitar, she
has collected songs redolent of her father’s roots in
Alabama for a celebration of the joyous music that
infused her early childhood.
$25/40/60 • World Premiere
$15 General Admission adults
$10 Adults with children
$5 Children and seniors
Carolina
Chocolate Drops
Sun, May 12, 3pm & 7:30pm
The week closes with collaboration between Carter
and the Carolina Chocolate Drops, an ensemble
that has proudly reclaimed the African-American
string band tradition. While old-time music is often
associated with white Appalachia, the Chocolate
Drops reveal the celebratory, interconnected
currents running through blues, country and
bluegrass, bringing brash, youthful energy to music
rooted in the red soil of the southern Piedmont.
3pm: $20/30/40 • 7pm: $25/35/50
may 9–12
regina carter
resident artistic director
Jazz Violin Listening Party (Members only)
Thu, May 9, 7:30pm
She kicks off her first season as Resident Artistic Director with an exclusive listening
party devoted to the history of violin in jazz. Join Carter and Executive Artistic Director
Randall Kline for this special evening of great music and enlightening conversation.
Free, includes complimentary reception. Limit two tickets per household
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For Regina Carter, the violin isn’t merely an improvisational vehicle. It’s a passport to unexpected realms,
a Rosetta stone that unlocks the door to a myriad of cultures and worlds. Since emerging from the Detroit
scene in the late 1980s, Carter has recorded a series of dazzling albums, joining forces with piano giant
Kenny Barron on Freefall, celebrating her hometown on Motor City Moments, and breaking new ground with
a legendary violin on Paganini: After A Dream. An intrepid musical explorer, Carter has greatly expanded her
violin odyssey since being awarded a coveted 2006 MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellowship. She began
researching the African roots of the violin, which resulted in her acclaimed 2010 album Reverse Thread,
an entrancing sojourn exploring compositions by artists from Kenya, Mali, and Senegal.
Events
May 16–19
“One of the world’s most
accommodating virtuosos.”
—The New York Times
Béla fleck
solo
Thu, May 16, 7:30pm
Fri, May 17, 7:30pm
Sat, May 18, 7:30pm
Sun, May 19, 7:30pm
In the course of his staggering career, banjo maestro Béla Fleck has taken
the instrument where it’s never gone before, and carried it back to its roots
in West Africa. As a brash young explorer feeling his oats in the 1980s he
added a jolt of energy to bluegrass as part of New Grass Revival. In the 1990s
he attained rock star status as the leader of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, a
brilliant communion of similarly self-invented instrumental masters. Since then
he’s collaborated with a dazzling array of artists across the musical spectrum,
garnering Grammy Award nominations in more categories than any other artist,
ever. Whether he’s interpreting the classical Western canon with bassist
Edgar Meyer, recording a series of revelatory sessions with a diverse array of
African musicians, or joining the trio of piano great Marcus Roberts on his latest
album Across the Imaginary Divide (Rounder), Fleck combines consummate
musicianship with improvisational panache. His unprecedented SFJAZZ Center
engagement finds him stretching out in the most unfettered setting, playing
a series of solo recitals. With a vast universe of music at his fingertips,
Fleck turns the banjo into a magic carpet capable of reaching just about
any destination.
May 16:
Public: $20/40/60 • Members: $15/30/45
May 17: $25/45/65
May 18: $30/50/70
May 19: $25/45/65
“He has helped to reestablish the
banjo as a cool, contemporary and
cutting edge instrument.”
—JazzTimes
46 / sfjazz.org • Public 866-920-5299 • Members 415-788-7353
Events
48 / Events
“Mr. Bennett has steadfastly
remained the embodiment
of heart in popular music.””
—The New York Times
may 23—26
standards
tony bennett
dianne reeves
Two world-renowned interpreters of American popular song hold court this week, each a treasured artist
who has earned a place in the pantheon of greatest vocalists of all time.
48 / sfjazz.org • Public 866-920-5299 • Members 415-788-7353
tony bennett
dianne reeves
Thu, May 23, 7:30pm • Davies Symphony Hall
Fri, May 24, 7:30pm
Sat, May 25, 7:30pm
Sun, May 26, 7:30pm
F. Scott Fitzgerald famously quipped that there are no second acts in American
life, but he didn’t count on Tony Bennett. In a twist worthy of one of the Jazz
Age writer’s masterly short stories, it’s the music from Fitzgerald’s own era that
has sustained and fueled Bennett’s resurgence as a major force in American
music. The consummate interpreter of standards, Bennett built his career on the
bedrock of the American Songbook. Time has lent his voice a husky, burnished
quality that adds a tinge of rue to his deep-seated optimism; an ebullient sense
of swing that has earned him a staggering 17 Grammy Awards and the supreme
honor of being named an NEA Jazz Master in 2006. At a time when most of his
pop star peers had long since faded from the scene, his appearance on MTV’s
“Unplugged” series (and the resulting 1994 album) brought Bennett to the
attention of a new generation. A priceless treasure whose expressive power is
undimmed at 85, he has recorded some of his best work in recent years, including
a series of duets sessions featuring everyone from Paul McCartney and James
Taylor to Lady Gaga, Aretha Franklin and Norah Jones. Bennett was recently the
subject of a celebrated documentary film, The Zen of Bennett, and his newest
release, Viva Duets, features collaborations with Latin singing stars including
Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Miguel Bosé and Maria Gadú.
$75/95/130/170
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco 94102
The most beloved jazz singer on the scene makes her SFJAZZ Center debut.
More than two generations have passed since jazz stars took on aristocratic
titles, otherwise Dianne Reeves would surely be known as The Queen.
Possessing a glorious voice and majestic stage presence, she’s one of jazz’s
most regal figures, an artist who embodies the music’s enduring values of
elegance, class and improvisational poise. Though her jazz roots run deep —
pianist/producer George Duke is her cousin — Reeves first hit the road with
Brazilian pianist and bandleader Sergio Mendes in the early 1980s, and before
long she attracted the attention of Harry Belafonte. Reeves started gaining
attention in her own right through her collaboration with keyboardist Billy Childs
in the early 80s. She won the Best Jazz Vocal Album Grammy Award for three
consecutive releases, an unprecedented feat. More recently, she earned another
Grammy for the soundtrack of George Clooney’s 2005 film Good Night, and Good
Luck, which featured her prominently on screen. While her crushed velvet
vocals helped establish the film’s period feel, her follow-up, 2008’s George
Duke-produced When You Know was a decidedly more contemporary affair,
and she makes her SFJAZZ Center debut with a brand new Blue Note recording.
Making any era she explores her very own realm, Dianne Reeves reigns
uncontested as jazz royalty.
May 24: $30/50/70
May 25: $35/55/85
May 26: $30/50/70
Events
may 30–June 2
miguel Zenón
Resident artistic director
As a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective in 2004, Miguel Zenón was a conspicuously talented, largely
unknown 27-year-old saxophonist getting set to release his second album. Almost a decade later, Zenón is the
most celebrated altoist of his generation, a multi Grammy nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur “Genius”
Fellow who has extended jazz’s conceptual reach with a series of albums exploring the music of Puerto Rico,
where he was born. Deepening his relationship with SFJAZZ as a Resident Artistic Director, Zenón presents
a series of projects that showcase his ever-expanding vision as a composer inspired by West Africa and an
ingenious interpreter of the folkloric and popular music of Puerto Rico.
Luis Perdomo
Paoli Mejias
“This young musician and composer
is at once reestablishing the artistic,
cultural, and social tradition of jazz
while creating an entirely new jazz
language for the 21st century.”
—MacArthur Foundation
50 / sfjazz.org • Public 866-920-5299 • Members 415-788-7353
Rhythm Collective
Alma Adentro
Identities
Thu, May 30, 7:30pm
Fri, May 31, 7:30pm
Pre-Concert Talk at 6:30pm
Sat, Jun 1, 7:30pm
Initially assembled for a 2003 tour of West Africa,
his Rhythm Collective features a brilliant cast
of Puerto Rican musicians playing original pieces
and Zenón’s arrangements of songs from the
Caribbean lexicon. “The music is all about creating
this rhythmic energy that surrounds us Puerto
Ricans,” says Zenón, who is releasing the
group’s first album Oye!!! Live in Puerto Rico.
$20/30/40
Assembled to interpret Latin American standards
written by Puerto Rican songwriters, his orchestral
project Alma Adentro makes its West Coast
debut featuring a 10-piece woodwind ensemble
and Zenón’s sensational quartet. With Zenón’s
arrangements and Guillermo Klein’s orchestrations,
the project debuted on the altoist’s critically
hailed 2011 Marsalis Music album Alma Adentro:
The Puerto Rican Songbook.
Zenón presents another West Coast premiere with
Identities, his most ambitious project yet. A song
cycle for his quartet augmented by a 12-piece big
band and video installation by David Dempewolf,
the evening-length work explores the experience
of Puerto Ricans who have moved to the mainland,
particularly New York City. Inspired by a series of
interviews Zenón conducted with Nuyoricans,
Identities weaves audio and video excerpts
throughout the cycle.
$25/35/45
$25/35/45
Duos: Luis Perdomo
and Paoli Mejias
Sun, Jun 2, 7:30pm
The week closes with an evening of duos featuring
Venezuelan-born pianist Luis Perdomo (a founding
member of Zenón’s quartet) and Puerto Rican
percussion maestro Paoli Mejias, a program that
concludes with all three musicians on stage.
$20/30/40
sfjazz education > new education programs
new sfjazz
education
programs
digital lab
The SFJAZZ Digital Lab offers an array of instruction in digital music
production, including theory and musicianship, MIDI basics, notation skills,
sequencing and audio recording as well as basic introduction to the digital
workstation environment. Students will explore a variety of software-based
tools and programs while gaining an understanding of essential music
skills such as song form, compositional technique and the aesthetics of
digital production. Introductory courses are offered in two sections, on
Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings (for adults) and Tuesday and
Saturday afternoons (for teens ages 15 and older). Our intimate Digital Lab
space is ideally suited to providing small-group instruction with top-notch
faculty in a state-of-the-art environment.
monday night band
Digital Lab
Musical Concepts and
the Digital Environment
instructor: David White
SECTION 1: Tue, Feb 12–Mar 19
(Teens) 4:30-6pm • (Adults) 6:30-8pm
SECTION 2: Sat, Feb 16–Mar 23
(Teens) 1-2:30pm • (Adults) 11am-12:30pm
Designed for older teens and adults, this six-week course takes concepts
of music creation into the digital age. Using iMacs, MIDI controllers, Sibelius
and Logic Studio as the primary medium, we will explore MIDI and the basic
DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) setup. Throughout the course, elements
of musicianship and composition are examined, and applied directly to
software environments. Students will create their own loops and samples
as well as their own compositions and lead-sheets using various software
applications, exploring the modern age of music production. This course
is ideal for the casual artist or aspiring professional. Maximum 15 students
per class.
Public: $35 per class, $210 full course
Members: $25 per class, $150 full course
Adam Theis
Digital Music Production
instructor: Phil Hawkins
With the opening of the SFJAZZ Center,
we are delighted to announce a number
of new educational programs designed for
children and adults, aspiring musicians and
experienced singers and instrumentalists.
These programs include master classes
with established professionals, recording
and electronic production in our state-ofthe-art digital lab, and our exciting Monday
Night Band.
Monday Night Band
Mondays, Feb 11–May 20, 7-9:30pm
The new Monday Night Band at SFJAZZ provides aspiring jazz musicians of
all ages (older teens through seasoned adults) with a structured approach to
learning and interpreting diverse repertoire in a hip community band setting.
Open to intermediate-advanced level instrumentalists and vocalists – from
high school age hotshots to retired pros and everyone in between (by audition)
– this ensemble will introduce participants to various styles and genres of jazz
with the primary goal to develop a performance-ready program. The band will be
directed by acclaimed Bay Area musician, composer and bandleader Adam Theis.
The series will culminate in a final public performance on Monday, May 20th in
Miner Auditorium.
Public: $490
Members: $420
52 / sfjazz.org • Public 866-920-5299 • Members 415-788-7353
Saturdays, Apr 13–May 4
(Adults) 10am–1pm and (Teens) 1:30–4:30pm
For older teens and adults with moderate skills and familiarity with
the digital music environment, this four-week intensive course will
survey the software, hardware and procedures involved with digital
audio recording, MIDI sequencing and post-production. Specific subject
areas include recording techniques, non-linear editing, mixing, plug-ins,
mastering, digital audio for video and song creation using a Pro Tools
based DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). Students will complete several
hands-on projects in order to develop their technical and musicianship
skills. The course will incorporate the use of jazz standards to
demonstrate song form, basic notation, and musical style.
Maximum 15 students per class.
4-class series
Public: $60 per class, $240 full course
Members: $45 per class, $180 full course
sfjazz education > master classes & group instruction
Master Classes
& Group Instruction
SFJAZZ master classes and group lessons delve into the nuances of jazz and world music performance
techniques and composition, highlighting stylistic elements and exploring the extraordinary work of
pioneering artists. From the Afro-Puerto Rican drum to Wes Montgomery solos, these classes bring musicians
deeper into the music. SFJAZZ Education offers an exciting array of programs with our extraordinary faculty
— from one-day intensives to multi-part series — designed for older teen and adult musicians of all abilities.
For our opening Season at the SFJAZZ Center we are thrilled to offer the following programs:
Club Skills for Brass Players
— Chuck MacKinnon
Afro Puerto Rican Drum & Song
— Hector Lugo & Grupo Aguacero
Sundays, Apr 7–May 19, 1–2:30pm • The Ensemble Room
Sun, Jun 2, 1-3pm • The Ensemble Room
Taught by jazz trumpeter Chuck MacKinnon, Club Skills is a six-week group
lesson that prepares trumpeters and trombonists for the club performance
environment. This will be a supportive atmosphere where you will attain the
repertoire and improvisational skills necessary to perform in the jazz tradition,
focusing on memorization of the easiest songs that can be played at jam
sessions worldwide. Individualized, level-appropriate repertoire preparation
will be developed for each participant in addition to instruction in jam session
etiquette. Space is limited to ten (10) aspiring brass players (older teens
and adults) with knowledge of major scales and the desire to improvise.
This hands-on workshop will focus on four of the most popular Seises
de Bomba (Bomba sub-genres) from the Santurce tradition: the sicá, the
yubá, the cuembé and the holandés. Participants will learn the basic
rhythmic patterns characteristic of each one of these styles, as well as
techniques of playing the barriles and distinct songs for each of these
styles, exploring the origins, evolution, and significance of Bomba in
Puerto Rico’s rich musical culture. Directed by musician and educator
Héctor Lugo, the session will begin a fabulous demonstration of Bomba
music and dance by Grupo Aguacero! No previous experience necessary;
instruments provided.
6-week series
Public: $35 per class, $210 full course
Members: $25 per class, 150 full course
Keith Terry
Public: $35
Members: $25
Paul Contos
The Lyrical Side of Jazz Playing
— Paul Contos
Wed, Jun 5, 7-9pm • The Ensemble Room
Hector Lugo
The Great Guitars
— Mimi Fox
Thursdays, Feb 21–May 23, 7-8:30pm
The Ensemble Room
An exciting interactive class for aspiring jazz
guitarists and interested jazz guitar enthusiasts
taught by award-winning guitarist Mimi Fox,
“The Great Guitars” will cover the playing styles
and music of many great guitarists in jazz including
Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, Joe Pass, Kenny
Burrell and others. Note-for-note transcriptions of
the artists’ actual solos will be analyzed in great
detail and students will be encouraged to play the
solos along with the original recordings. The class
is open to all intermediate and advanced guitarists
with a good foundation in jazz theory and guitar
technique and also to interested aficionados wanting
more insight into these great artists and their music.
This 14-week class culminates with exciting
performance featuring Fox along with guest artists
on Thursday, May 23rd in the The Ensemble Room.
14-week series
Public: $30 per class, $420 full course
Members: $25 per class • $350 full course
Afro-Cuban All Stars
— Rhythm Nation
From Cuba With Love
Sat, Feb 23, 1–2:30pm
The Ensemble Room
SFJAZZ Education is pleased to host the legendary
Afro-Cuban All-Stars in a rare and intimate master
class setting during their four-night run at the
SFJAZZ Center. Musical director and front man
Juan de Marcos – long-time director of Sierra Maestra
before the explosion of the Buena Vista Social Club
phenomenon – shares his wealth of knowledge and
experience alongside pianist, composer and SFJAZZ
Director of Education Rebeca Mauleón for this rare,
hands-on event. Participants will be encouraged
to play, sing, dance, and experience the full
immersion into the joyous world of Afro-Cuban
music. No previous experience necessary. Musicians
are encouraged to bring claves, maracas and other
small percussion.
Public: $30
Members: $25
54 / sfjazz.org • Public 866-920-5299 • Members 415-788-7353
Chuck MacKinnon
Public: $40
Members: $30
Putting the ‘Fun’
in Fundamentals
— Kitty Margolis
Core Concepts for the
Vocal Jazz Improviser
Sat, Mar 2, 1-4pm • The Ensemble Room
Want to make the transformational leap from
“jazzy” singer to “Jazz” singer? In this master class,
critically acclaimed vocalist, educator and recording
artist Kitty Margolis will offer her unique insight into
the secrets of vocal jazz from the nuts and bolts to
the heart and soul. Margolis – whose award-winning
recordings have earned her top-ten airplay and an
international fan-base – has been a guest lecturer
in the jazz studies programs of the world’s renowned
universities and high schools. A world-class
accompanist will be on hand. This unique
session will be limited to ten (10) intermediate
and advanced-beginner level vocalists.
Public: $150
Members: $120
In this very special master class for musicians of all levels, renowned
saxophonist, educator and SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Director Paul
Contos demonstrates how to express various forms of melody in the jazz
language through playing techniques, including varying techniques to
improve your improvisational skills, and using harmonic knowledge to
enhance melodic playing. Open to all melodic instruments, this unique
class will help push musicians to embrace a more creative side of
melodic interpretation and highlight the many possibilities within the
standard jazz repertoire. Open to musicians and vocalists of all levels,
and ideal for students having a basic familiarity with chords and scales
as well as proficiency on his/her instrument.
Body Music — Keith Terry
Wednesdays, May 15, 22 & 29, 7–8:30pm
The Ensemble Room
Body Music – also known as Body Percussion and Body Drumming – is the oldest
music on the planet. Join Keith Terry in a three-part hands-on exploration of
this amazing music played on the instrument we all share – the human body.
Each session will offer a distinct topic — from African-American hambone and
Flamenco palmas to the contemporary style of Body Music has Terry been
developing over the past thirty-five years, based on his training as a jazz
drummer, as well as his years of intensive study and collaboration with world
rhythmic systems. Session three (5/29) culminates the series with a performance
featuring Keith with guest artists. No previous experience necessary.
3 sessions
Public: $35 per class • $105 full course
Members: $25 per class • $75 full course
scholarships
A limited number of full and partial
need-based scholarships are available
to all programs. Please contact
SFJAZZ Education for information at
scholarships@sfjazz.org or 415-283-0343
and visit sfjazz.org/education.
sfjazz education > Koret discover jazz series
Koret
Discover
Jazz series
Jazz history, live performance, classic audio and
exciting video make the Koret Discover Jazz Series
the most distinctive jazz appreciation course available
for adults. For the first time we will offer this program
in the new SFJAZZ Center while also maintaining our
presence in the community through events with our
partner organizations such as the Jazz Heritage Center
and the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD).
Marcus Shelby
Koret Discover Jazz
course #1: THE BAss
Instructor: Cory Combs
Wed, Feb 13–Mar 20, 7-8:30pm
The Ensemble Room
In our first spring Koret Discover Jazz series,
we will go in depth on the bass, showcasing the
development, sounds, influential musicians, and
legacy of the bass. We will also highlight how the
bass grew from a simple background instrument
to a primary creative force and explore the
contributions of our most admired bassists,
including Charlie Haden, Paul Chambers, Ron
Carter, Dave Holland and Charles Mingus among
many others. Joining us will be several worldrenowned bassists and many surprise guest artists.
Taught by bassist and educator Cory Combs, this
course may be enjoyed individually or as a series.
koret Discover Jazz
course #2: Ain’t I Got a
Right to The Tree of Life
Instructor: Linda Tillery
Wed, Apr 3–May 8, 7-8:30pm
The Ensemble Room
Join vocalist, educator and Bay Area treasure Linda
Tillery on a six-week exploration of music and
rhythms of the African Diaspora. Participants will
learn African chants, African-American spirituals,
field hollers, work songs, children’s play songs, ring
shouts, traditional Afro-Caribbean songs and music
from the Gullah traditions of Georgia and South
Carolina. Class sessions will include plenty of
singing along with multi-media examples to
stimulate discussion, and a compilation of selected
reading materials reflecting the socio-historical
experiences of African-Americans and Africans.
6-class series
Public:
$25 per class • $125 full class
6-class series
Public:
$25 per class • $125 full class
SFJAZZ Members:
$18 per class • $90 full course
SFJAZZ Members:
$18 per class • $90 full class
Koret Discover Jazz Series is generously supported by
56 / sfjazz.org • Public 866-920-5299 • Members 415-788-7353
koret Discover Jazz
course #3: Jazz and Blues
Legends of the Bay Area
Tue, May 7–28, 7-8:30pm
Jazz Heritage Center
We are thrilled to co-present another dynamic
program in the historic Fillmore District of
San Francisco! This unique four-part series in
partnership with the Jazz Heritage Center
highlights the rich tradition of extraordinary jazz
and blues musicians in the Bay Area, featuring
distinct renowned guest artists each week in the
visually inspired setting of the Lush Life Gallery.
Combining story-telling, live performance and
multi media, this program will bring audiences up
close and personal with the legends in our midst.
4-class series
Public:
$25 per class • $100 full class
SFJAZZ Members:
$20 per class • $80 full class
sfjazz education > high school all-stars
SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Combo
sfjazz
high school
all-stars
Foundations of Jazz:
From Old School to
the New & Now
combo & orchestra
sfjazz high school all-stars combo
Sat, Mar 30, 2pm • Miner Auditorium
The SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Combo features the best high school
jazz musicians in the Bay Area, lead by renowned musicians and educator,
Dann Zinn. For their Spring Season performance the Combo will team up
in a fabulous double bill with the Mondavi Center High School All-Stars
— a group of accomplished Sacramento area jazz musicians established
in 2011. Don’t miss this stellar line-up of award-winning young musicians
and composers, featuring special guest appearances by members of the
SFJAZZ Collective!
$15 General Admission adults
$10 Adults with children
$5 Children and seniors
sfjazz high school all-stars orchestra
Sat, May 18, 2pm • Miner Auditorium
To celebrate the inauguration of the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars’
premiere performance at the new Center, the big band will feature
sparkling contemporary works for jazz orchestra exploring new colors as
well as the improvisational prowess of the best of the Bay Area’s young
jazz players. Pieces highlighted will be from the pens of Kenny Werner,
Maria Schneider, McCoy Tyner, and many other Modern Masters! The awardwinning SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Orchestra – under the superb
direction of renowned saxophonist and educator Paul Contos – will share
the stage with the Advanced High School Jazz Ensemble from our friends
at the Jazzschool.
$15 General Admission adults
$10 Adults with children
$5 Children and seniors
58 / sfjazz.org • Public 866-920-5299 • Members 415-788-7353
Family
Matinees
Howard Wiley at a Family Workshop
SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Orchestra
Both fun and educational, Family Matinees provide a window into the
exciting world of live jazz. Each one-hour matinee features live performance,
audience participation, Q&A and amazing music. New for SFJAZZ Education,
we are thrilled to kick off our opening season with the one and only Lemony
Snicket, who will dazzle and delight families with his wacky and wonderful
take on jazz in our first two matinees. Also, we are pleased to offer an
interactive experience following each matinee performance with our Family
Workshops. Although designed for elementary school students, our Family
Matinees and Workshops are open to music fans of all ages. In our opening
season at the SFJAZZ Center we are thrilled to offer five distinct matinee
programs and workshops, each lead by some of the most creative artists and
educators in the Bay Area. Enjoyed individually or as a series, these Family
Matinees and Workshops will change the way you hear jazz and get
families playing together.
Daniel Handler
Sat, Feb 9
Matinee 1 — The Mystery of Jazz: An Unnerving Investigation with Lemony Snicket
Family Workshop 1 — Swingin’ It: Hands-On Jazz with Marcus Shelby & Friends
Sat, Mar 9
Matinee 2 —Dissecting a Jazz Standard: A Musical Autopsy with Lemony Snicket
Family Workshop 2 — It’s All About the Blues with Marcus Shelby,
Faye Carol & Friends
Sat, Apr 13
Matinee 3 — The Great Band Leaders with Marcus Shelby and Friends
Family Workshop 3 — Now’s the Time: The Jazz-Orff Connection
with Doug Goodkin
Sat, May 11
Matinee 4 — Fiddlin’ With Stories with John Blake, Jr. & Charlotte Blake Alston
Family Workshop 4 — Tales In the Tradition with John Blake, Jr.
& Charlotte Blake Alston
Sat, Jun 8
Matinee 5 — The Next Generation with Marcus Shelby and the
SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Combo
Family Workshops 5 — Kool Kids Jam with Marcus Shelby and the
SFJAZZ High School All-Stars
Matinees take place the 2nd Saturday of the month at 11am in Miner
Auditorium. Free to Matinee ticket-holders, Family Workshops begin at
12:10pm in the The Ensemble Room immediately following each Matinee.
Pre-Concert
talks
Every season, SFJAZZ Education hosts intimate conversations with international
performing artists prior to select performances. Free to ticket holders,
Pre-Concert Talks provide deep insight into the performers’ music and creative
process. They begin one hour before show time in Miner Auditorium.
Spring Schedule:
Fri, Feb 8
Fri, Mar 22
Fri, Mar 29
Sat, Apr 6
Fri, Apr 12
Fri, May 10 Fri, May 31 Dave Holland (p. 23)
John Santos (p. 33)
Stefon Harris (p. 34)
Hiromi (p. 35)
Ian Wekwerth (p. 37)
Regina Carter (p. 44)
Miguel Zenón (p. 51)
INFO > Maps, parking & transit
Sponsors &
Underwriters
maps
Parking &
Transit
Hyde St.
Larkin St.
Ave.
Polk St.
Van Ness
Franklin St
.
.
Gough St
Grove St.
hS
8t
t.
Hayes St.
9t
t.
hS
Fell St.
10
th
Oak St.
11
Parking
SFJAZZ CENTER
Civic Center Garage
McAllister between Polk & Larkin
Performing Arts Garage
Grove between Franklin & Gough
205 Franklin Street (at Fell)
San Francisco, CA 94102
Public: 866-920-5299
Members: 415-788-7353
sfjazz.org
official sponsors
Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners
Capital Public Radio, KXJZ
The Fairmont San Francisco
Foxxdance Productions
Hathaway Dinwiddie
Hotel Carlton
Hotel Kabuki
JazzTimes
KPFA
North Coast Brewing Co.
Orchard Hotel
Orchard Garden Hotel
Phoenix Hotel
St. Regis San Francisco
Yamaha Piano
Public Transit
For detailed directions, visit 511.org.
Muni Lines: 6, 16X, 21, 47, 49, 71, 71L, 90
Muni Metro: Van Ness Station
BART: Civic Center Station
St
.
ion
St
.
.
The SFJAZZ Center opens on
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 21, 2013.
Visit sfjazz.org/center for more information.
Mi
ss
Ma
rke
t
St
.
th
St
Major sponsors
LINDEN STREET
LINDEN STREET
TERRACE
THE
ENSEMBLE
ROOM
LOBBY
ROBERT N. MINER
AUDITORIUM
LOBBY
TERRACE
CAFE/BAR
FELL STREET
60
LESTER YOUNG
GREEN ROOM
Floor
1
FELL STREET
= Performing Space
TERRACE
Floor
2
FRANKLIN STREET
BOX OFFICE
& STORE
FRANKLIN STREET
ROBERT N. MINER
AUDITORIUM
sfjazz is generously
supported by
foundations, corporations
& government agencies
Autodesk
Aaron Copland Foundation
The Capital Group Co. Charitable Foundation
Columbia Foundation
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Bill Graham Supporting Foundation
Grants for the Arts — San Francisco Hotel Fund
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Koret Foundation
Walter & Elise Haas Fund
Stanley S. Langendorf Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
San Francisco Foundation
U.S. Bank
Wells Fargo Foundation
corporate
& institutional support
You can support either SFJAZZ’s annual
operations or target any of our diverse musical
programs, which include the acclaimed San Francisco Jazz Festival and the SFJAZZ Spring Season,
as well as innovative community and education
initiatives. For more information on supporting jazz,
please contact:
Laura Hamilton
Interim Director of Development
415-283-0303
lhamilton@sfjazz.org
in-kind donors
Bruce De Benedictis
Google, Inc.
Hood & Strong
Jeremiah’s Pick Coffee
Roederer Estate
Seyfarth Shaw
Shartsis Fries LLP
Vintage Berkeley
special thanks
A very special thanks to
SFJAZZ members and our fabulous volunteers!
Support > the world is listening campaign
the world is listening
Campaign for the SFJAZZ Center
volunteEr and join
a dynamic group of
dedicated individuals
100%
$60M
GOAL: $63 MILLION
90%
As we embark on a new era at SFJAZZ, we are looking for energetic
candidates to help usher in our next 30 years. Our volunteers have
a unique opportunity in the Bay Area to work with some of the greatest
musicians from around the globe while serving some of the most
enthusiastic patrons. Our volunteers reflect the cultural diversity of
our area, and embody the proud traditions and heritage of this amazing
art form. They contribute valuable services on many levels to a renowned
nonprofit institution.
80%
$50M
70%
$40M
$30M
RAISED
$55
MILLION
$20M
60%
50%
40%
Volunteers assist with ushering at performances, support our community
outreach and educational programs, as well as perform essential assistance
in our office and at our events.
30%
Qualified candidates should possess a love for the music, a connection
to the community, and a desire to contribute to a world-class organization.
Although space is limited, we are always looking for talented people,
especially in the areas of development and education. If you would like
to join this team, please contact Glenn Larsen, Events Coordinator at
glarsen@sfjazz.org. We will send you information on how to register
and get involved.
20%
$10M
10%
Data as of September 12, 2012
A premiere facility for jazz
performance and education
Inspired by an anonymous lead gift of $25 million, the largest ever given
to a jazz organization, the SFJAZZ Center is located in San Francisco’s Hayes
Valley neighborhood at the corner of Franklin and Fell Streets. As the first
concert hall of its type in the U.S. built for both jazz performance and education,
the new SFJAZZ Center represents a milestone for this authentic American art
form — and the city of San Francisco.
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Every donor and every dollar matters
You can help us finish the SFJAZZ Center by donating today. Whether you
give $10, $100, $1,000 or more, your contribution makes a difference to the
many thousands of people who benefit from SFJAZZ programs every year.
There are several ways to make your gift:
•
•
•
Use the QR reader app on your smartphone
to scan the code
Visit sfjazz.org/contribute
Contact Brenda Laribee, Campaign Manager
at 415-283-0306 or blaribee@sfjazz.org
for more information
Name a seat forever
— dedicate a piece of jazz history
Step up and be immortalized. Celebrate your passion for the music,
honor a loved one or your favorite jazz artist, or simply commemorate
the opening of the SFJAZZ Center by naming a seat in Robert N. Miner
Auditorium. When you make a gift of $5,000 or more to The World is
Listening campaign, a plaque bearing your dedication will be permanently
affixed to a seat in our state-of-the-art home for jazz.
Here’s how
Please visit sfjazz.org/seat to learn more about this unique opportunity
to participate in our campaign to build the SFJAZZ Center. You can also
contact Katie Neubauer, Individual Giving Director, at 415-283-0324
or kneubauer@sfjazz.org for more information.
Support > SFJAZZ Membership
SFJAZZ
Membership
Insider access that helps you save money, enjoy
more music and supports America’s authentic art
form. Membership is tax-deductible, good for a full
year and there is no limit to the number of tickets
you can buy. Benefits include:
Uri Caine, Leaders Circle Member Srinija Srinivasan & Ben Perowsky
SFJAZZ
Leaders
Circle
The Members of the Leaders Circle are the
philanthropic soul of our organization. With your
gift of $1,200 or more each year you receive
all the benefits of SFJAZZ membership, plus you:
Best seats first
Your chance to pick up tickets at all price levels before the public.
Members on-sale period for the first season in the SFJAZZ Center runs
October 13 — November 2.
create the future of jazz
Being a proud and important part of the music by supporting its creation,
education and presentation for thousands around the Bay Area and beyond.
No ticket service fees
Save up to $7.50 per ticket — this benefit alone can cover the cost of
your membership.
Enjoy vip service & seating
A Night in Treme
Christian McBride with Leaders Circle Member Verna Gibbs
Receive up to 35% off tickets
Access to the best seats in the house and a direct line to personalized
ticketing service.
Brushes with greatness
Combine the following two discounts to maximize your savings:
Mingle with the world’s finest artists at Leaders Circle Lounges and
other events throughout the year. Leaders Circle Members also enjoy all
of the Member-only events on page 62.
25% off select shows
Including Dave Holland (2/7), Scott Hamilton Quintet (2/20),
SFJAZZ Collective (3/28), Hiromi (4/4), and Béla Fleck (5/16).
For levels and benefits:
sfjazz.org/leaders-circle
or contact Katie Neubauer
at 415-283-0324 or
kneubauer@sfjazz.org
10% off orders of 10 or more tickets
Any combination of seats or shows is eligible, within a single purchase.
members only events
Listening Parties
Artists share perspectives, anecdotes and a playlist of favorite recordings
designed to give you further insight into the music. Each event includes
a reception and chance to meet the artist. Season 1 parties include:
Regina Carter (5/9) — see page 44 for more.
Zakir Hussain (3/5) — see page 28 for more.
Exclusive Concerts
Rare moments in music reserved just for Members, including the world
premiere of Bill Frisell’s orchestration of Hunter S. Thompson’s The Kentucky
Derby. See page 39 for more.
All of the above benefits are available starting at the
$60 Individual level. Additional benefits at other levels
of support include:
•
•
•
“SFJAZZ has opened up a whole new world for my
wife and me. We have journeyed from the roots of
jazz history to the [Joshua] Redman concert that
will be recognized as a landmark performance of
jazz music from the future.”
Free ticket exchanges
Invitation to intermission receptions
Behind-the-scenes rehearsals
To sign up or learn more:
sfjazz.org/join or 415-788-7353
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—Sfjazz Leaders circle member jerry street
Members get the best seats to all shows