CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing these photos on a mobile device
It wasn’t that long ago that the San Francisco Jazz Festival served as SFJazz’s flagship endeavor, providing a thoughtfully diverse three-week musical repast. Since the $64-million SFJazz Center opened in January 2013, the excitement once generated by the festival seems almost quaint, as each new season in the nation’s only free-standing building designed to present jazz arrives as a cornucopian flood brimming with so many heralded acts, it’s hard to comprehend.
The just-announced 2018-19 season features more than 350 concerts between Sept. 12 and May 19, kicking off with four-night runs by the incandescent 28-year-old multi-Grammy Award-winning vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant in the Miner Auditorium and DJ, producer, keyboardist, beatboxer, vocalist and composer Taylor McFerrin in the intimate Joe Henderson Lab with drummer Marcus Gilmore. Tickets ($30 and up) go on sale to members June 22 and to the general public on July 12 at www.sfjazz.org.
As part of the season announcement, SFJazz also unveiled its latest crop of resident artistic directors (RAD), a position that deputizes musicians as programmers, giving them the opportunity to present themselves or other artists in four-night Miner Auditorium engagements. The organization has often used the RAD positions to deepen relationships with artists, but most of the new artists are already well-ensconced in the SFJazz fold.
Cuban piano legend Chucho Valdés has been an SFJazz mainstay for decades, as has vocal star Dianne Reeves and saxophonist Joe Lovano, who spent several fruitful seasons with the SFJazz Collective. San Francisco bassist/composer Marcus Shelby, an artist whose ambitious, historically informed works are well suited for the center, is another long-time SFJazz pillar.
The wild card here is composer, violinist and vocal artist Laurie Anderson, whose initial fall engagement puts her in dialogue with Bay Area artists such as pianist Tammy Hall (Nov. 29’s “Songs For Women”), drummer and electronics explorer Scott Amendola (Dec. 1’s “Song For Men”), and guitarist Fred Frith (Dec. 2’s “Scenes From My Radio Play”). She also performs at Grace Cathedral on Nov. 30 with guitarist Steward Herwood and violist Eyvind Kang in “Lou Reed Drones, Viola Duets.”
Gleaning a brief list of recommended concerts from the season is a fool’s errand, but here are five that belong on your must-see, must-hear musical bucket list:
1 Thelonious Monk Birthday Concert
This brilliant keyboard triumvirate will celebrate the monumental legacy of pianist and composer Thelonious Monk on what would have been the modern jazz genius’ 101st birthday. Catch newly minted NEA Jazz Master Joanne Brackeen, as playful and full of surprises at 79 as ever, and the reliably inspired thirtysomethings Kris Davis and Helen Sung performing Oct. 10 at Miner Auditorium.
2 Jazzmeia Horn
A young vocalist with enviable poise and an exceptional sound, Jazzmeia Horn has rapidly ascended since winning the 2015 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition. Hear her perform Oct. 25-26 at the Joe Henderson Lab.
3 Myra Melford’s Snowy Egret
A pianist and composer whose music gracefully contains her volcanic and poetic impulses, Myra Melford is a master of band assemblage. Snowy Egret, which includes cornetist Ron Miles, drummer Tyshawn Sorey, guitarist Liberty Ellman and acoustic bass guitarist Stomu Takeishi, fully inhabits her emotionally expansive works. Hear them Nov. 2-3 at the Joe Henderson Lab.
4 Leyla McCalla
Singing in French, English and Haitian Creole, New Orleans-based cellist Leyla McCalla, a former member of the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, has crafted a luminous body of songs that distill folk wisdom and various Caribbean rhythms. Catch her Feb. 9-10, 2019, at the Joe Henderson Lab.
5 Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spalding and Leo Genovese
One of the era’s definitive drummers, NEA Jazz Master Jack DeJohnette is the first among equals in this multi-generational collective quartet, which includes powerhouse saxophonist Joe Lovano, bass star Esperanza Spalding and Argentina-born pianist Leo Genovese. It’s a band that can and will go anywhere the imagination leads. Follow yours to Miner Auditorium on April 24 to hear them live.
Contact Andrew Gilbert at jazzscribe@aol.com.
