SFJAZZ Gala 2025 Raises $1.4 Million

The SFJAZZ Gala 2025 raised $1.5 million to support the organization’s artistic and education programs with the goal of advancing jazz in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Held on Thursday, June 12 at San Francisco’s SFJAZZ Center, this year’s gala honored legendary producer, musician, and Blue Note Records President Don Was with the SFJAZZ Lifetime Achievement Award.

The annual Gala is SFJAZZ’s largest fundraiser of the year and featured a number of exciting events, including a festive VIP Cocktail Reception and Dinner catered by Paula LeDuc Fine Catering located in the Gala Tent; a Luminary Reception at SFJAZZ Center; and an All-Star Gala Concert, hosted by award-winning actor Delroy Lindo and legendary actor and comedian Paul Reiser and featuring Terence Blanchard; honoree Don Was; vocal great Kurt Elling and Lisa Fischer; trumpet superstar Ambrose Akinmusire; rising star saxophonist Melissa Aldana; guitar icon Bill Frisell; jazz legend Charles Lloyd and his Sky Quartet with pianist Jason Moran, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Eric Harland; rising star vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa, and the award-winning ensemble SFJAZZ Collective!

The evening also included a heartfelt tribute celebrating the remarkable life and legacy of the late Zakir Hussain, a tabla virtuoso and former SFJAZZ Trustee. The tribute performance included longtime collaborators and saxophone great Charles Lloyd and Eric Harland, along with guitarist Bill Frisell, pianist Jason Moran, and bassist Larry Grenadier performing "Hymn to the Mother", followed by an extended raga from Salar Nader (tabla) & Alam Khan (sarod). These performances were followed by a special video tribute celebrating Zakir Hussain's life.

The festivities continued into the night with the lively Gala After Party featuring an unforgettable dance party with musical entertainment, as well as late-night bites, wine, beer, and craft cocktails throughout the SFJAZZ Center.

The Gala Host Committee—led by Co-Chairs Jeffrey Whipps and Susan Greenleaf Whipps—included Rafael Costas, Molly Joel Coye, Bruce and Hala Cozadd, David and Natasha Dolby, Lauren Harwell Godfrey and Patrick Godfrey, Rodney Haynes and Reno Cross, Jay Jeffers, Katie Hall and Tom Knutsen, Betsy Linder, Delroy and Nashormeh Lindo, Divesh and Diksha Makan, Mike and Alison Mauzé, Shakeya A. McDow,, Lisa S. Pritzker, Timothy Simon and Kimberly Brandon, Rick and Darian Swig, and Denise S. Young.

The Gala Luminary Committee—led by Co-Chairs Navid Armstrong and Rich Hanif—included Katie Colendich, Susan Corlett, Matthew Denckla, Beth Feingold, Lindsey Humphrey, Jeannine Lewis, Mica Eades Mayo, and Heather Rangel.

The Gala After Party—led by Co-Chairs Camilla de Bragança and Jacqueline Mills—included Theresa Brockett, Rob Canali, Erik Greenfrost, Louise Ireland, Ayden Johnson, David Miro Llopis, Cara Pardo, Anisa Qureshi, Jason Garcia Ragonton, Farah Shirzadi, Ambika Rustagi, and Bryce Wied.
 
Since 1991, SFJAZZ has awarded the annual Lifetime Achievement Award to artists and visionaries who have represented the highest level of creative endeavor and whose careers have had a broad impact on culture and society as a whole. This award acknowledges those who have not only demonstrated a career-long commitment to excellence, but those who have moved the music forward through their work, embodying our organization’s core value that jazz is a living and ever-evolving art form. Past honorees have included Wynton Marsalis, Mavis Staples, Chucho Valdés, Preservation Hall, Zakir Hussain, Joni Mitchell, Mary Stallings, Tony Bennett, and many more.