SFJAZZ Reveals April 2026 Programming - KEB' MO', August Lee Stevens and More
The lineup will also feature Michael Carvin, Håkon Kornstad and more.
Spring is in full swing at SFJAZZ this April, with a vibrant lineup of concerts spanning jazz, blues, soul, and beyond, including Keb' Mo', August Lee Stevens, and more.
Ken Okada Group Featuring Yoyoka
Thursday, April 2, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Friday, April 3, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Joe Henderson Lab
Bassist, composer, and bandleader Noriyuki “Ken” Okada leads the Ken Okada Group in a special album release concert celebrating the debut of the band’s third studio album. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, this forward-looking modern jazz-fusion ensemble brings together groove-driven compositions, high-energy improvisation, and a distinctly global musical voice.
Keb' Mo'
Thursday, April 2, 7:30 PM
Friday, April 3, 7:30 PM
Saturday, April 4, 7:30 PM
Sunday, April 5, 7 PM
Miner Auditorium
An iconic artist who helped re-introduce electric blues into the pop music mainstream, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and five-time GRAMMY winner Keb’ Mo’ gained worldwide fame by embracing the country-blues style of Robert Johnson and combining it with modern blues, R&B, and soul.
Family Matinee w/ Alphabet Rockers
Saturday, April 4, 11 AM
Miner Auditorium
Grammy-winning Alphabet Rockers return to SFJAZZ with music from their impactful new album about climate liberation, Shades, created with artists and children from around the world. The Rockers make music that sparks change, creating inclusive spaces to shape a world of belonging and a hopeful future. Audiences explore elements of hip hop, have shared moments to express and uplift affirmations and reflections, and make moves together. Featuring Kaitlin McGaw, Tommy Shepherd, Samara Atkins and Roza Do.
August Lee Stevens
Saturday, April 4, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Sunday, April 5, 6 PM & 7:30 PM
Joe Henderson Lab
Hailing from the East Bay town of Hercules, August Lee Stevens is a masterful young singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose work encompasses elements of soul, jazz, and modern folk. Possessed of a velvet-smooth voice and an innate gift for lyrical expression, Stevens is an artist whose profile is destined to rise. She makes her first appearance since her February 2025 performance as part of the Noise Pop festival.
Ravi Shankar Ensemble
Curated by Sukanya & Anoushka Shankar
Saturday, April 4, 8 PM
Herbst Theatre
For the inaugural year of our new annual concert series presented in honor of our friend and tabla master Zakir Hussain, a sparkling all-star ensemble assembled by Ravi Shankar’s wife and daughter honor the legacy of the late sitarist and legendary musical figure — one of the greatest musicians of all time. The Ravi Shankar Ensemble is a multi-generational collective of world-class artists dedicated to the masterful compositions and enduring legacy of the uniquely legendary sitarist and builder of cultural bridges, led by sitar master Shubhendra Rao — a student and protégé of the late music icon.
Michael Carvin Experience
Thursday, April 9, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Joe Henderson Lab
Among the most influential drummers in jazz and a veteran bandleader, Michael Carvin is an iconic artist whose résumé includes work with Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Alice Coltrane, and dozens more. His Joe Henderson Lab debut focuses on his working trio, appropriately named the Michael Carvin Experience.
Emmet Cohen Quintet
Thursday, April 9, 7:30 PM — Sold Out
Miner Auditorium
Winner of the 2019 American Pianists Award and finalist in the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition, virtuoso Emmet Cohen is among the most acclaimed pianists in jazz, known widely as a member of bass great Christian McBride’s Tip City and music director with vocal phenom Veronica Swift, along with his stellar work as a bandleader. His debut in Miner Auditorium will include his working quintet and focus on the music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane in honor of their centennials in 2026.
Tribute to Randy Weston
Featuring African Rhythms Alumni Ensemble
Friday, April 10, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Saturday, April 11, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Sunday, April 12, 6 PM & 7:30 PM
Joe Henderson Lab
A member of Randy Weston’s African Rhythms ensemble for nearly four decades, T.K. Blue honors the legacy and spirit of his mentor with the African Rhythms Alumni Ensemble. Bassist Alex Blake appears on eight of the pianist’s albums beginning in the early 1990s, and also worked widely with the Sun Ra Arkestra, Billy Cobham, and Pharoah Sanders. Percussion master Chief Baba Neil Clarke performed with African Rhythms from 1992 to the end of Weston’s life in 2018. Rounding out the ensemble is pianist Sharp Radway, Weston’s chosen protégé who has performed with Yusef Lateef and Benny Golson, and veteran trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy, a former member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers best known as a bandleader and for work with Lester Bowie and the Mingus Big Band.
Stewart Copeland & Police Deranged
With San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra Conducted by Edwin Outwater
Friday, April 10, 7:30 PM — Sold Out
Saturday, April 11, 7:30 PM — Sold Out
Miner Auditorium
Stewart Copeland’s Police Deranged for Orchestra is a high-energy orchestral evening celebrating the work of legendary rock star and composer Stewart Copeland and focuses on his career in music that has spanned over four decades.
Lee Ritenour & Friends
Saturday, April 11, 7:30 PM
Sunday, April 12, 7 PM
Miner Auditorium
Known widely as “Captain Fingers,” a moniker he earned for his remarkable dexterity and musicianship, GRAMMY-winning guitar hero Lee Ritenour began his sparkling career as a solo artist and bandleader at the height of the jazz fusion era of the mid-1970s.
Jason Hainsworth Quintet Featuring Jalen Baker
Friday, April 17, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Joe Henderson Lab
The recorded collaboration of jazz legends Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson is celebrated in April, Henderson’s birthday month, by saxophonist Jason Hainsworth’s quintet featuring vibraphonist Jalen Baker.
Håkon Kornstad
Saturday, April 18, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Joe Henderson Lab
Norwegian saxophonist and vocalist Håkon Kornstad is a multitalented jazz artist unlike any other. Among the most acclaimed and innovative instrumentalists on the European scene, Kornstad has recorded and performed with a vast swath of the continent’s best, including Bugge Wesseltoft, Paal Nilssen-Love, Ketil Bjørnstad, and Jon Christensen, as well as American jazz guitar giant Pat Metheny.
Instant Alter with Special Guest Will Calhoun
Saturday, April 19, 6 PM & 7:30 PM
Joe Henderson Lab
Led by saxophonist Emilio Modeste and vocalist Natasha Agrama, INSTANT ALTER is a project that, more than any other electro-acoustic jazz ensemble, delivers on the promise of its name — a philosophy of transformation and immediacy to change a listener’s emotions and state of mind in the blink of an eye. For this collaborative presentation with Oakland’s Lo-Fi Oyster Co., the band will be joined by powerhouse drummer Will Calhoun of Living Colour and Wayne Shorter fame.
SFJAM: Free Community Jam Session
Monday, April 20, 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.
Ulysses Owens Jr. & Generation Y
Thursday, April 23, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Friday, April 24, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Joe Henderson Lab
Three-time GRAMMY-winning drummer and composer Ulysses Owens Jr. is one of the busiest instrumentalists in modern jazz, a veteran of work with Christian McBride, Kurt Elling, and Gregory Porter. He presents his Generation Y ensemble of young masters over two nights in Joe Henderson Lab, playing music from his debut with the band A New Beat.
Gerald Clayton Trio
Thursday, April 23, 7:30 PM
Friday, April 24, 7:30 PM
Miner Auditorium
Possessing an exquisite touch, astonishing technique, and a sound that somehow combines the dynamic finesse of Ahmad Jamal with the hurtling swing of Oscar Peterson, six-time GRAMMY nominee Gerald Clayton ranks among the very best pianists of his generation. His two nights are his first at SFJAZZ since the release of his 2025 Blue Note album Ones & Twos. He will be joined by bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Justin Brown.
SFJAZZ Student Poetry Showcase
Saturday, April 25, 11 AM
Joe Henderson Lab
SFJAZZ’s Education Department welcomes nationally renowned spoken word poets and jazz musicians to celebrate the youth we serve. This event will feature students from Jazz in the Middle, SFJAZZ’s premiere middle school arts programs, student musicians, youth poets from the Bay Area, and our star-studded staff of Teaching Artists for an afternoon of poetry, jazz and reflection on how these art forms work together to move us toward a brighter future.
Allan Harris: The Poetry of Jazz
Saturday, April 25, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Sunday, April 26, 6 PM & 7:30 PM
Joe Henderson Lab
The Miami Herald aptly described Allan Harris’ gifts when it praised him for projecting “the warmth of Tony Bennett, the bite and rhythmic sense of Sinatra, and the sly elegance of Nat ‘King’ Cole.” Admired for his resonant baritone, graceful phrasing and natural way with a wide range of material, the Brooklyn-born, Harlem-based singer, guitarist and composer is a prized New York jazz and cabaret performer who’s equally commanding singing songs by Lerner and Loewe and Ahmad Jamal, Duke Ellington and Elton John.
Sullivan Fortner Trio / Endea Owens & The Cookout
Saturday, April 25, 7:30 PM
Miner Auditorium
New Orleans piano maestro Sullivan Fortner debuted at the SFJAZZ Center in the superlative company of Cécile McLorin Salvant. He makes his Miner Auditorium debut as a bandleader with his exquisitely calibrated trio.
Detroit-reared bassist Endea Owens also makes her SFJAZZ debut with her band The Cookout. She’s won an Emmy, a George Foster Peabody Award, and a GRAMMY for her work on Jon Batiste’s album We Are, and her debut album Feel Good Music showcases her as a creative force.
Global Jazz Workshop: Honoring Zakir Hussain
Sunday, April 26, 11 AM
Joe Henderson Lab
Join us with celebrated percussionist Selva Ganesh alongside percussionist Jim Santi Owen and faculty from the Ali Akbar Khan College as we honor the musical life and legacy of Ustad Zakir Hussain in this interactive masterclass.
Aaron Diehl Trio
Sunday, April 26, 7 PM
Miner Auditorium
An artist who “gracefully melds two worlds, merging the improvisational spirit of jazz with the compositional intricacies of Western classical music” (DownBeat), pianist Aaron Diehl brings his working trio for this headlining date.
Connie Han
Thursday, April 30, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Friday, May 1, 7 PM & 8:30 PM
Joe Henderson Lab
“Creating an edgy blend of modern and traditional jazz, Connie Han is pushing the music forward with her own unique vision” (Paste Magazine).
Meshell Ndegeocello
Thursday, April 30, 4:30 PM (Open Soundcheck), 7:30 PM
Friday, May 1, 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 2, 3 PM & 7:30 PM
Miner Auditorium
GRAMMY-winning bassist, singer, and songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello brings her powerful, genre-defying work exploring protest music, identity, and culture, joined by special guest poets for select performances.
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