Cécile McLorin Salvant and More Set for SFJAZZ May 2025 Programming

SFJAZZ has revealed the lineup of upcoming arts for May 2025. The lineup includes Cécile McLorin Salvant, Javier Santiago and more. See full May programming here! 

Cécile McLorin Salvant

Thursday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 3 at 3 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Miner Auditorium
 
Three-time GRAMMY Winner Cécile McLorin Salvant is the “the most successful female jazz singer to emerge since the turn of the millennium” (JazzTimes). Salvant has developed a passion for storytelling and finding the connections between vaudeville, blues, theater, jazz, baroque and folkloric music. She is joined by her incredible quartet featuring pianist Sullivan Fortner piano, bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Kyle Poole.

Javier Santiago

Thursday, May 8 at 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab

Pianist, composer, and in-demand sideman Javier Santiago is one of the most promising voices in the international music scene. As an accomplished producer, beatmaker, arranger and educator, Santiago has become a notable force in both the beat and hip-hop scenes as well as in the jazz world. His newest album is the 2024 release Warrior Energy.
 

Jorge Luis Pacheco

Saturday, May 10 at 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 11 at 6 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab
 
Of the explosively talented pianists to emerge from Cuba in recent years, Jorge Luis Pacheco stands out with a staggering level of musicianship that will be clearly in evidence during this solo performance that integrates electronic loops to create counter lines, melodies, and vamps. 

Described by JazzTimes as “a revelation,” the young pianist and winner of the 2014 Montreux Jazz Piano Solo Competition matches astonishing technique with deep feeling and a mastery of the Afro-Cuban, modern jazz, and classical traditions.

Mikailo Kasha Plays Ray Brown’s Live at Starbucks

Thursday, May 15 at 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab
 
Described by trumpeter and Count Basie Orchestra director Scotty Barnhart as “in the top 1% of bassists worldwide,” the acclaimed bassist and former SFJAZZ High School All-Stars member Mikailo Kasha honors bass legend Ray Brown and his 2001 Telarc trio album Live at Starbucks.

A pioneering musician who was foundational to the development of bebop, Ray Brown is best known for his work with Oscar Peterson’s iconic trio and with Ella Fitzgerald in addition to his later career as a bandleader over his six decades in music.

He had lengthy associations with Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Carter, Barney Kessel, and the L.A. Four, and released dozens of albums under his own name.

In the late 1980s, Brown began a fruitful relationship with Telarc Records that saw the release of 21 albums over 24 years including his 2001 live trio date Live at Starbucks, recorded over two days in September of 1999 at a famous location of the coffee chain at 23rd and Jackson Streets in Seattle.

Caroline Chung & Citizens Jazz

Friday, May 16 at 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab
 
Led by Oakland bassist, composer and creative catalyst Caroline Chung, Citizens Jazz brings together some of the most versatile and imaginative players on the Bay Area scene for this night honoring the great bassists in jazz history.

An accomplished songwriter and composer, she earned widespread notice with her 2021 debut album Sounds of Haejin, a stylistically encompassing program featuring SF Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin, vocalist Lilan Kane, and guitarist Khalil Doak-Anthony (a key Chung collaborator who provides Citizens Jazz with a prodigious dose of funk). 
 

Kurt Ribak

Saturday, May 17 at 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab
 
“Joyous,” “grooving,” “bluesy,” “sophisticated,” and “masterful” could all be accurately use to describe bassist and composer Kurt Ribak’s music, but perhaps an assessment is best left to the man himself, who calls his rollicking mix of bebop sophistication and body-moving grooves “Charles Mingus meets The Meters.” In a change of pace, Ribak presents an evening devoted to simmering Latin jazz with a band of the Bay Area’s best.

A Berkeley native, Ribak parlayed his formative musical experiences as a cellist and member of the San Francisco Boys Chorus into a passion for the bass, studying at Cal Berkeley and Boston’s Berklee College of Music before returning to the East Bay and establishing a well-deserved reputation as one of the most respected creative forces on the scene.

Jeff Denson Trio

Sunday, May 18 at 6 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab
 
With “considerable gifts as an improviser, interpreter, and sonic trailblazer” (DownBeat), bassist Jeff Denson performs a mix of standards and original music from his most recent album Finding Light.

The renowned artist and educator has been a global force since the early aughts, when he co-founded the trio Minsarah with German pianist Florian Weber and Israeli drummer Ziv Ravitz. Before long, legendary alto saxophonist Lee Konitz adopted the group as his own, a relationship that spanned four albums and more than a dozen years.

Family Matinee with SambaDá — Point of Return: A Celebration of Afro-Brazilian and Haitian Cultures

Saturday, May 17 at 11 a.m.
Miner Auditorium
 
Vocalist, percussionist and bandleader Dandha da Hora and the SambaDá ensemble share music and dance that celebrates the powerful expressions of the African Diaspora in Brazil and Haiti. Join us for an energetic and uplifting journey tracing the legacies of Afro-descendent peoples who continued to carry on their spiritual, musical and cultural traditions across the ocean and around the globe.  
 

SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Spring Concert

Sunday, May 18 at 2 p.m.
Miner Auditorium
 
The SFJAZZ High School All-Stars display a technical brilliance and musical maturity rarely seen in the youth ensemble arena. Don’t miss the All-Stars in concert and support the next generation of jazz ambassadors!  

Heart Matter featuring Amy D & Dillon Vado

Thursday, May 22 at 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab

Co-leading “a quartet with a singularly spacious sound” (The Oaklandside), vocalist Amy D and vibraphonist Dillon Vado bring their Heart Matter project to the Joe Henderson Lab. Amy D is known to SFJAZZ audiences for her pair of Hotplate tribute concerts devoted to the music of the great Sarah Vaughan.

Heart Matter makes direct eye contact with the human experience.

Co-led by vocalist Amy D and vibraphonist Dillon Vado, the two composers share a kinship and collaborative spirit; weaving emotionally chromatic journeys through song. Vibraphone, electric bass, and drums form the group’s signature sonic palette, setting a potent foundation for powerful, timeless vocals.

Judith Owen

Friday, May 23 at 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab

Judith Owen is a provocative tour-de-force performer. Bold, beautiful, sexy, smart and fun - these are the words used to describe the pioneering vocalist and her merry band of New Orleans-based musicians, The Gentlemen Callers. With an amazing blend of song delivery prowesses and personality delighting fans across the globe, Judith and her band continue to sell-out shows across the world, with more than a hundred sold-out shows in the past 18 months. Her 2024 live album, Judith Owen Comes Alive, (voted one the best albums of 2024 by The London Times' Clive Davis), followed on the heels of her hugely successful 2022 album Come On & Get It (over 3 Million album streams and more than a million YouTube views), whilst her recent Big Band album- Judith Owen Swings Christmas - racked up over 1 million streams in only 6 weeks.

Emamaline

Saturday, May 24 at 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 25 at 6 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab
 
“A singer and songwriter possessing a smoky, jazz-infused, genre-fluid voice” (Broadway World), Emmaline Campbell is very much an artist on the rise, yet her list of accomplishments would be impressive for an established vocalist twice her age. This performance is her first since her sold-out debut at the 40th San Francisco Jazz Festival.

The Cincinnati native possesses a powerful, mellifluous voice and masterful skill on violin matched to a decidedly retro aesthetic and a beguiling gift for composition. She has received coverage in Rolling Stone and American Songwriter, opened for the legendary Chaka Khan, collaborated with funk icon Bootsy Collins, and headlined clubs all over the U.S.

Kneebody | Aaron Park’s Little Big

Thursday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Miner Auditorium
 
This double bill of visionary artists is a fitting close to this inaugural year of Terence Blanchard’s UpSwing series.

An explosive GRAMMY-nominated quartet made up of forward-thinking artists including saxophonist Ben Wendel, keyboardist Adam Benjamin, trumpeter Shane Endsley, and drummer and bassist Nate Wood, Kneebody channels rock-informed energy into their soul-jazz, bebop and electro-funk compositions. Formed by former Eastman School of Music and CalArts students who have worked with artists ranging from Prince, Snoop Dogg and Bruno Mars to Tigran Hamasyan, Donny McCaslin, Meshell Ndegeocello and De La Soul, the band has carved out a distinct group identity, releasing thirteen albums including their latest Edition Records release, Live at Le Crescent.

The Bad Plus

Friday, May 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Miner Auditorium
 
Returning to the Miner stage for the first time since expanding to a quartet with the addition of saxophonist Chris Speed and guitarist Ben Monder, The Bad Plus performs material from their recent self-titled album and more.

A uniquely audacious band that has crossed into the mainstream to draw jazz fans and rock aficionados alike, they rose to fame over two decades ago by transforming pop and rock anthems like Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” and Queen’s “We Are the Champions” into epic improvisational journeys.

Howard Wiley: California Love Part II

Saturday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Miner Auditorium
 
Bay Area saxophone great and SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director Howard Wiley returns for Part II of his California Love series, titled Love, Kale, Pride & Revolution. The all-star concert will be a celebration of soul-jazz, funk, gospel, and R&B steeped in West Coast flavor. Combining Wiley’s hard-driving originals with a funkified selection of classics, this is an evening of stirring uplift and non-stop party vibes. Wiley is joined by a cadre of groove masters including organist Lionel “LJ” Holoman, bassist (tbd), drummer Dante “Taz” Roberson and a number of special guests, including trombonist Robin Eubanks, pianist/ keyboardist Kev Choice, and vocalists Martin Luther McCoy and China Moses.

LOUIS with Wynton Marsalis, Cecile Licad, and 11-piece Orchestra Conducted by Andy Faber

Saturday, May 24 at 8 p.m.
Paramount Theatre, Oakland
 
Trumpeter, composer, and 2011 NEA Jazz Master Wynton Marsalis performs his live score to accompany a screening of director Dan Pritzker's 2010 silent Louis Armstrong biographical film LOUIS, joined by classical pianist Cecile Licad and an all-star 11-piece jazz ensemble conducted by Andy Faber with the captivating story-telling and classic visuals captured in Dan Pritzker’s LOUIS to provide a (not so) silent film experience at the Bay Area’s Art Deco movie palace, the Oakland Paramount.

A modern reimagining of early silent film in the Chaplin tradition, LOUIS follows a six-year-old Louis Armstrong (Anthony Coleman) and his adventures on the streets of New Orleans in 1907 as he dreams of being a musician and navigates the seamier side of life in the Big Easy. Directed by Dan Pritzker (Bolden) and gorgeously photographed in sepia tones by the legendary cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (The Deer Hunter, Deliverance, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), LOUIS celebrates the deep musical heritage of New Orleans, featuring an original score by Wynton Marsalis.

Harlem Gospel Travelers | Avery Sunshine

Sunday, May 25 at 2 p.m.
Miner Auditorium