Cyrille Aimée, Hiromi, and More Set for SFJAZZ October 2026 Programming

SFJAZZ's October programming will feature a wide-ranging lineup of performances, including Cyrille Aimée, Snarky Puppy, Lila Downs, John Scofield, and more, with concerts taking place throughout the month at the SFJAZZ Center and venues across the Bay Area.

Cyrille Aimee

Thursday, October 1, 7 & 8:30 PM

Friday, October 2, 7 & 8:30 PM

Saturday, October 3, 7 & 8:30 PM

Joe Henderson Lab

Winner of the Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition, Cyrille Aimée truly has jazz in her blood. A performer possessed of an infectious joy, lightness of touch and deep feeling for the lyric, Aimée released her breakout 2014 hit on Mack Avenue, It's a Good Day, mixing Roma jazz inspirations, bossa nova, flamenco and the Great American Songbook. A relocation to Costa Rica and new motherhood have instilled a fresh inspiration in Aimée, and for these performances, she performs a cross-section of her wide-ranging repertoire including music from her latest Whirlwind release, à Fleur de Peau and live session, Cyrille Aimée: 4.24.

HIROMI & KAZUNORI KUMAGAI

Thursday, October 1, 7:30 PM – SOLD OUT

Saturday, October 3, 7:30 PM

Miner Auditorium

Virtuoso pianist Hiromi returns to the Miner stage with four exclusive nights with projects ranging from solo to trio. She kicks off her residency with a remarkable duo evening with Japanese tap dance master Kazunori Kumagai, revisiting their ongoing collaboration that goes back to their showstopping debut performance at the 2011 Tokyo Jazz Festival.

HIROMI

Friday, October 2, 7:30 PM

Miner Auditorium

No pianist alive imbues the solo piano format with more explosive virtuosity or thrilling unpredictability than Hiromi Uehara – a GRAMMY-winning artist the All Music Guide calls “one of the most remarkable pianists of the past half century.” For the second night of her 2026-27 residency, Hiromi brings her inimitable fire and passion to this solo performance.

SNARKY PUPPY

Friday, October 2, 8 PM

Paramount Theatre, Oakland

The five-time GRAMMY-winning juggernaut Snarky Puppy returns to Oakland's Paramount Theatre for a highly anticipated performance.

The global collective which features a revolving cast of up to a dozen musicians makes what it likes to call “music for your brain and booty.” Led by bassist and composer Michael League, the band features a rotating lineup of world class instrumentalists whose résumés boast work with stars like Erykah Badu, Marcus Miller, Justin Timberlake, Roy Hargrove, Snoop Dogg and John Mayer.

HIROMI: THE TRIO PROJECT WITH JAMES GENUS AND Simon Phillips

Sunday, October 4, 7 PM – SOLD OUT

Miner Auditorium

An utterly original improviser and composer who turns each piece into a thrilling ride, Japanese-born pianist Hiromi reunites with her power-packed Trio Project, featuring drumming phenomenon Simon Phillips and electric bass master James Genus, who picks up the mantle from the late genius Anthony Jackson. From 2011 to 2016, this supercharged band released four albums that stretched the boundaries of the possible, forging a dynamic that transcended their matchless individual abilities to form a cohesive group approach in which no instrument is confined to its traditional role.

BLAQUE DYNAMITE

Sunday, October 4, 6 & 7:30 PM

Joe Henderson Lab

GRAMMY-nominated drummer, producer, and composer Blaque Dynamite has become one of the most dynamic and influential beat masters of his generation, celebrated for a style that merges explosive technical mastery with deep groove, humor, and boundless creativity. Born Mike Mitchell Jr. in Houston, Texas, he emerged as a prodigious talent at a young age, absorbing gospel, jazz, funk, and hip-hop into a singular musical language. His remarkable versatility quickly made him one of the most sought-after drummers in contemporary music.

In recent years, Blaque Dynamite has expanded his profile as a bandleader, producer, and multimedia artist, releasing projects that blur the boundaries between jazz fusion, beat culture, electronic music, and comedy-infused performance art. His latest work continues to push contemporary Black music into adventurous new territory, combining virtuosic musicianship with fearless experimentation and unmistakable personality.

Kurt Elling & THE YELLOWJACKETS

Thursday, October 8, 7:30 PM

Friday, October 9, 7:30 PM

Miner Auditorium

Modern jazz giants Kurt Elling and The Yellowjackets make their joint debut on the Miner Auditorium stage in tribute to the groundbreaking fusion of Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter's Weather Report.

There is simply no artist in jazz having more fun than vocalist Kurt Elling. Over the past decade, the 17-time GRAMMY Award nominee (and two-time GRAMMY winner) has cut loose, following his quicksilver muse wherever it flows. With The Yellowjackets he soars into the universe of fusion's definitive band, transforming beloved instrumental pieces into enthralling songs. It's a powerhouse collaboration that captures the celestial explorations, deep funk, world rhythms, and extended forms that made Weather Report a creative juggernaut.

SFJAZZ HOTPLATE SERIES

TIFFANY AUSTIN SINGS Carmen McRae'S CARMEN SINGS MONK

Thursday, October 8, 7 & 8:30 PM

Friday, October 9, 7 & 8:30 PM

Joe Henderson Lab

An L.A. native, Austin spent five years in Japan as a singer before moving to the East Bay in 2009 to study at the UC Berkeley School of Law. During her studies, the pull of music was too strong to ignore, and she earned a full scholarship to the California Jazz Conservatory (formerly known as the JazzSchool), where she worked extensively with renowned Brazilian pianist Marcos Silva.

Recorded live for the Novus label at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall in 1988, Carmen Sings Monk was one of the final albums McRae completed in her lifetime, receiving a GRAMMY nomination for the vocalist and featuring a stunning lineup of greats including longtime Monk saxophonist Charlie Rouse, saxophonist Clifford Jordan, pianist Larry Willis, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Al Foster. With titles changed due to copyright restrictions, the songs were adapted with lyrics by Jon Hendricks, Abbey Lincoln, Mike Ferro, and Sally Swisher, and have become the definitive versions of Monk's compositions with vocals, particularly McRae's luminescent takes on “Ruby, My Dear” (“Dear Ruby”), and “Rhythm-A-Ning' (“Listen to Monk”).

Marcus Shelby NEW ORCHESTRA

Saturday, October 10, 7:30 PM

Miner Auditorium

To celebrate Thelonious Monk's birthday — an SFJAZZ tradition — Marcus Shelby and his New Orchestra honor the large ensemble work of the iconoclasic jazz legend with special guests including pianist Cyrus Chestnut, saxophonist Sarah Hanahan, and vibraphonist Warren Wolf.

Bassist, composer, arranger, educator and bandleader Marcus Shelby is a figure synonymous with Bay Area jazz and the spirit of collaboration. A recipient of the Charles Mingus Scholarship, Shelby attended Cal Arts and studied with Charlie Haden and James Newton while working simultaneously with the all-star jazz ensemble Black/Note, who released a series of highly regarded albums in the 1990s. Since moving to the Bay Area, he has led a highly regarded jazz orchestra and numerous small groups, with large-scale commissions focused on the history, present, and future of the African-American experience.

SOMI

Sunday, October 11, 7 PM

Miner Auditorium

Vocalist, composer, actor, and playwright Somi Kakoma is a sublimely gifted artist possessed of rare power and clarity. She is a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award winner, TED Senior Fellow, and the first African artist nominated for the GRAMMY for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Following her standout performance at the 42nd San Francisco Jazz Festival in 2025, she returns for a night on the Miner Auditorium stage.

Born into a Rwandan & Ugandan family, the Illinois-born Kakoma spent her early childhood in Zambia, where she absorbed the music of her adopted home before returning to the States for college studies in anthropology and music — a balance of interests that has come to define her singular vision. Her latest album, What Does It Take To Bloom?, is a deeply personal song cycle on becoming and the courage to come home to oneself.

LILA DOWNS

Thursday, October 15, 7:30 PM

Friday, October 16, 7:30 PM

Saturday, October 17, 7:30 PM

Sunday, October 18, 7:30 PM

Miner Auditorium

With “a stunning voice, a confident multicultural vision grounded in her Mixtec Indian roots” (LA Times), Lila Downs is one of Latin America's most influential voices - an artist with a singular sound, magnetic stage presence, and recognized with multiple GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY Awards, including the recipient of the 2026 Latin GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award. With her new album Cambias mi Mundo (You Change My World), she returns to the Miner stage for four nights after her hugely successful run of Día de los Muertos performances at the Paramount. The album marks a return to her essence: deeply committed to global causes, passionate, intimate and celebratory.

Rooted in Oaxaca and shaped between Mexico and the United States, she weaves Mexican tradition with jazz, cumbia, folk, and contemporary rhythms. Her music is both celebration and conscience; she turns each concert into a gathering—intimate, fearless, and deeply human.

Mathis Picard TRIO

Thursday, October 15, 7 & 8:30 PM

Joe Henderson Lab

Known for his work with Braxton Cook and his brilliant string of releases as a leader, the rising pianist and composer Mathis Picard debuts at SFJAZZ with his trio.

Picard has emerged as one of the most innovative young voices in contemporary jazz, blending classical precision, stride piano, electronic textures, and global rhythms into a style uniquely his own. His latest acclaimed album, Heat of the Moment, explores themes of climate change, community, and resilience through rich collaborations and bold compositions. The album confirms Picard as not only a remarkable pianist, but also a visionary composer shaping the future of jazz.

ZACCAI CURTIS SEXTET

Friday, October 16, 7 & 8:30 PM

Saturday, October 17, 7 & 8:30 PM

Joe Henderson Lab

For these two nights, pianist Zaccai Curtis leads a fiery sextet reviving Afro-Cuban bebop. His 2024 release Cubop Lives! reimagines jazz history with bold, modern swing, winning a GRAMMY for Best Latin Jazz Album. Born in New York and raised in Hartford, Connecticut, Curtis grew up immersed in jazz, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and the rich musical traditions of his Puerto Rican and African American heritage

Over the years, Curtis has collaborated with major artists including Eddie Palmieri, Brian Lynch, Christian Scott, Donald Harrison, and Santana, while also building a celebrated musical partnership with his brother, bassist Luques Curtis. Together, they co-founded the Truth Revolution Recording Collective and have become leading voices in contemporary Latin jazz.

MARINA CROUSE

Sunday, October 18, 6 & 7:30 PM

Joe Henderson Lab

A jazz vocalist with “an awe-inspiring voice” (The Mercury News), Marina Crouse is known for her latest album Canto de mi Corazón and for her sold-out Hotplate tributes to Eydie Gormé and Ernestine Anderson. A powerful and versatile Bay Area artist, Crouse blends jazz, blues, soul, Latin music, and classic bolero traditions into performances marked by emotional honesty and deep cultural connection. Raised in California and deeply influenced by her Chicana heritage, she first gained recognition for her expressive interpretations and remarkable vocal control, shaped in part by early classical training. Her 2018 debut album, Never Too Soon, introduced audiences to a singer equally at home with blues, R&B, and jazz-inflected storytelling.

SFJAM: FREE COMMUNITY JAM SESSION: ALL MONK

Monday, October 19, 7 PM

Joe Henderson Lab

These monthly open jam sessions provide a space for all Bay Area musicians to come together and perform in an inclusive, multigenerational setting. Each session features a musical director and curated repertoire. We invite musicians of all levels and ages to sign up, and each session is free and open to the public - no reservations or tickets needed to attend!

JULIAN LAGE QUARTET FEATURING JOHN MEDESKI, KENNY WOLLESEN, & JORGE ROEDER

Monday, October 19, 8 PM

Davies Symphony Hall

“One of jazz's breezier virtuosos, possessed of an unflappable technical facility and a seemingly boundless curiosity” (The New York Times), guitarist and former SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director Julian Lage returns with original music from his newest Blue Note album Scenes from Above with his superlative quartet including organ star John Medeski, bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Kenny Wollesen.

RJAM SIDE-BY-SIDE: CELEBRATING JOHN COLTRANE

Thursday, October 22, 7:30 PM

Joe Henderson Lab

Side-By-Side concerts pair select faculty from the Roots, Jazz and American Music (RJAM) program at The San Francisco Conservatory of Music with their young artist proteges. The stellar faculty cast includes the SFJAZZ Collective's Warren Wolf, David Sanchez, Edward Simon and Matt Brewer, along with luminaries Anthony Hervey, Matt Wilson, Helen Sung and many others.

TROY ROBERTS NU-JIVE

Friday, October 23, 7:00 & 8:30 PM

Joe Henderson Lab

'A force to be reckoned with no matter the setting” (JazzTimes), Troy Roberts is a powerhouse saxophonist shaping modern jazz — a three-time GRAMMY nominee known widely for his work with Orrin Evans, Veronica Swift, and Kurt Elling, among many others. He's released five albums as a leader including his latest, 2024's Green Lights, and his ongoing quintet project Nu-Jive fuses groove, virtuosity, and bold improvisation into a fresh, high-energy sound.

Influenced by the electro-acoustic fusion tradition, Roberts's Nu-Jive quintet is possessed of telepathic interplay and superlative musicianship, best experienced as a living, breathing groove machine on stage.

Edward Simon: FEMENINAS W/ MAGOS HERRERA, LUIS QUINTERO, MATT BREWER, & RAFAEL BARATA

Friday, October 23, 7:30 PM

Miner Auditorium

Described as “the best of us all” by no less an authority than Cuban piano giant Chucho Valdés, pianist and composer Edward Simon kicks off our series devoted to SFJAZZ Collective member projects with his all-star Femeninas project featuring vocalist Magos Herrera, percussionist Luis Quintero, bassist Reuben Rogers, and more.

The 2023 album, Femeninas, celebrates the music of an underrecognized group of master composers. In Simon's words, “This project spotlights the contributions of Latin American women songwriters, living and past, well-known and unknown, such as Violeta Parra (Chile), Marta Valdes (Cuba), Chabuca Granda (Peru), Elizabeth Morris (Argentina), and Joyce [Moreno] (Brazil). These incredible songwriters have created beautiful songs that should be internationally known.”

WEBOP AT SFJAZZ: STOMPERS

Saturday, October 24, 10 AM

Joe Henderson Lab

The perfect preamble to our Family Matinee program and designed for youngsters between the ages 2-5 and their caregivers, WeBop at SFJAZZ is designed to introduce young children to jazz music and performance in a safe, welcoming and interactive setting. Classes are 45 minutes long and provide plenty of opportunities to learn, explore, and play.

Imaginative, spontaneous, and exploratory play are key for the Stompers age group, with guided activities that highlight the rhythmic energy and emotional content of jazz music. Stompers will become characters in musical stories, interact with others in call and response singing and movement, and express themselves through shaking, tapping, thumping, and striking instruments. Grownups interact with children as partners throughout the lesson and reinforce activities with specially designed materials.

FAMILY MATINEE W/ Marcus Shelby & FRIENDS

Saturday, October 24, 11 AM

Miner Auditorium

Bassist, arranger and bandleader Marcus Shelby highlights the many moods of the bebop era and the jazz legends who developed this musically adventurous genre. From Dizzy, Bird and Monk and other noted pioneers to the icons of today, we amplify one of jazz music's most enduring styles.

CONNECTED FEATURING Richie Goods & CHIEN CHIEN LU

Saturday, October 24, 7 & 8:30 PM

Sunday, October 25, 6 & 7:30 PM

Joe Henderson Lab

Born out of the angst, fear, and strife that engulfed the United States in 2020, bass maestro Richie Goods' and vibraphonist Chien Chien Lu's album Connected speaks to the balming power of human contact in the face of alienation. They bring this invigorating new collaborative project to SFJAZZ with a superlative band.

Excited by the new music they were creating, often in response to intense discussions about the political upheaval that followed the murder of George Floyd, Goods and Chien decided to co-lead Connected, a band that's a vehicle for ongoing conversations amongst some of the jazz's most exciting young improvisers. The self-titled debut album won “Best Instrumental Album” from the 34th Golden Melody Awards from Taiwan's Ministry of Culture.

Charles Tolliver PRESENTS AFRICA/BRASS: TRANE FOREVER

Sunday, October 25, 7 PM

Miner Auditorium

A towering figure in the 1960s and 70s post-Coltrane movement now known as “spiritual jazz,” trumpeter and composer Charles Tolliver honors the legacy of John Coltrane for his centennial, performing the jazz legend's landmark 1961 large ensemble album Africa/Brass with his power-packed quintet and brass orchestra.

With his visionary approach to the concept of the jazz orchestra, Tolliver is the perfect artist to pay tribute to Africa/Brass. Coltrane's debut for Impulse! Records, the album consists of three expanded compositions including an arrangement of “Greensleeves” by pianist McCoy Tyner and a pair of originals by the leader, “Africa” and “Blues Minor,” arranged by multi-reedist Eric Dolphy. Based around Coltrane's quartet with Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Elvin Jones, Africa/Brass features contributions by Dolphy, and brass greats Booker Little, Freddie Hubbard, and Julian Priester, among others.

DISCOVER JAZZ: IMPRESSIONS OF JOHN COLTRANE

Thursday, October 29, 7 PM

Joe Henderson Lab

In celebration of John Coltrane's centennial, Terrence Brewer and a host of musical guests explore myriad aspects of Coltrane's legacy, from his many artistic collaborations and seminal recordings to his profound spiritual awakening and partnership with his wife, pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane. Delving into a treasure trove of material—some of it only recently discovered and released—this Discover Jazz series provides a glimpse into the vast territory of Coltrane's genius and his many contributions to the jazz continuum.

DAVID SÁNCHEZ'S CARIB PRESENTS TAMBÓ

Thursday, October 29, 7:30 PM

Miner Auditorium

For his night in our series devoted to solo projects by SFJAZZ Collective members, tenor saxophonist and composer David Sánchez brings his Carib ensemble to the stage, presenting the West Coast premiere of his new work, Tambó. Formed to record his 2019 album of the same name, Carib represents a deeply personal journey for Sánchez, and the GRAMMY-nominated debut recording was a trailblazing use of modern jazz to explore the kinship between the West African drum rhythms of Yuba, Calinda, and Sika and traditional music in Haiti, Carriacou, and his native Puerto Rico.

EL David Aguilar

Friday, October 30, 7 & 8:30 PM

Joe Henderson Lab

Singer-songwriter El David Aguilar has become one of the most inventive and emotionally resonant voices in contemporary Latin music, blending folk, bolero, jazz, and rock into songs marked by poetic lyricism and fearless experimentation. Aguilar has collaborated with celebrated artists including Natalia Lafourcade, Jorge Drexler, and Mon Laferte, establishing himself as a central figure in the new generation of Latin American troubadours. His work has received multiple nominations from the Latin GRAMMY Awards, including five 2018 nominations for his 2017 album Siguiente Segundo including Album of the Year and Song of the Year for Embrujo.

Aguilar's latest album, Compita del Destino, showcases the artist at his most adventurous and intimate. Filled with vivid storytelling, intricate harmonies, and warm acoustic textures, the record explores fate, friendship, love, and personal transformation. The album confirms Aguilar's reputation as a songwriter capable of turning deeply personal experiences into music of universal emotional power.

JOHN SCOFIELD'S ELECTROSPECTIVE FEATURING OTEIL BURBRIDGE, LARRY GOLDINGS, ADAM DEITCH

Friday, October 30, 7:30 PM

Saturday, October 31, 7:30 PM

Sunday, November 1, 7 PM

Miner Auditorium

For this exclusive week, guitar giant John Scofield revisits his hugely influential electric jazz songbook from his iconic career with an all-star quartet including organist Larry Goldings, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and drummer Adam Dietch.

Though Scofield is recognized as one of jazz's most creative guitarists of the past half century, the three-time GRAMMY Award winner has often branched off from the straight-ahead path to get his funk on. After five decades of prolific touring and recording, he's looking back at many of his now classic fusion groove compositions with Electrospective.

DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE

Friday, October 30, 8 PM

Grace Cathedral

The sacred space of Grace Cathedral will transform into a grand movie palace for a special Halloween week screening of John S. Robertson's 1920 adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novella of a doctor wrestling with split identities, starring John Barrymore and featuring a live score performed on Grace's famous pipe organ by renowned organist and composer Dorothy Papadakos.