THE 2023 Stanford Jazz Festival promises a fantastic season of great music! We’re very excited to present these amazing musicians, some of whom are legends in the field with a lifetime of stellar artistic achievements. Others are appearing at SJW for the first time, and are pushing the boundaries of jazz in wonderful ways.

Schedule:

Friday, June 23, 2023

7:30pm: Jazz Inside Out with Jim Nadel and Friends

Personnel

Jim Nadel, alto saxophone
Natalie Cressman, trombone
Skylar Tang, trumpet
Glen Pearson, piano
Sylvia Cuenca, drums

About Jim Nadel and Jazz Inside Out

If jazz seems confusing to you, let SJW Founder and Artistic Director Jim Nadel open the hood to show you how simple and fun it really is. In this show full of exciting music as well as enlightening commentary, Jim leads a band of top-notch players to help illustrate his good humored introduction into the elements of the art form. You’ll learn how jazz musicians silently communicate with each other to shape the sound of the music and to support the structure of improvised solos. How does the drummer know when to start and stop soloing? Why don’t the musicians need sheet music? Jim doesn’t just talk about jazz — he turns it inside-out, so you’ll have a deeper appreciation of the music you’ll hear all summer long at the Stanford Jazz Festival.

Location: Campbell Recital Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: Free
Non-Member: $20 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $12

Saturday, June 24, 2023

7:30pm: Terence Blanchard featuring the E-Collective & the Turtle Island String Quartet

Personnel

Terence Blanchard, trumpet
Taylor Eigsti, piano
Charles Altura, guitar
David Ginyard, bass
Oscar Seaton, drums

Turtle Island String Quartet        

David Balakrishnan, violin
Gabriel Terracciano, violin
Benjamin von Gutzeit, viola
Naseem Alatrash, cello

About Terence Blanchard featuring the E-Collective & the Turtle Island String Quartet

While Terence Blanchard is a leading candidate as the 21st Century’s definitive renaissance musician, the New Orleans trumpeter has never neglected his jazz roots. Forged in the searing cauldron of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, he has maintained one of jazz’s most prodigious bands at the same time he’s become a ubiquitous presence as a composer. Leaping across stylistic conventions and busting through long-barred doors while soaring to the top of each musical field he enters, Blanchard earned rapturous reviews in 2021 when his opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, became the first ever Met production composed by a Black artist. He’s also an A-list Hollywood composer with more than three dozen film scores to his credit, including 2022’s hit drama The Woman King. Given the diversity of his musical pursuits, it’s astonishing that the five-time Grammy Award winner continues to play an essential role in jazz. He returns to the SJF with his E-Collective and Turtle Island Quartet, the Bay Area jazz string ensemble led by violinist David Balakrishnan. He and Balakrishnan first connected in early 2020 and the budding relationship quickly manifested on the E-Collective’s 2021 Blue Note album, Absence, an homage to jazz legend Wayne Shorter. Amidst his various commissions and composing gigs, Blanchard has toured widely with the E-Collective and Turtle Island over the past year, allowing the ensembles to hone the collaboration. Always eager to share the spotlight, he created the E-Collective as a vehicle to work with drummer Oscar Seaton, an ace studio player who’s equally effective in jazz, R&B, pop, and gospel settings. The band’s repertoire includes tunes and arrangements by bassist David Ginyard, Jr. and Berkeley-raised guitarist Charles Altura. Holding down the pivotal piano chair is festival mainstay Taylor Eigsti, a renaissance artist himself whose 2021 album Tree Falls (featuring E-Collective mate Ginyard) won a Grammy for best contemporary instrumental album.

Location: Bing Concert Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: $104 | $89 | $64 | $34 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $24
Non-Member: $110 | $95 | $70 | $40 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $30

Sunday, June 25, 2023

4:00pm: Indian Jazz Journey, featuring Mahesh Kale and George Brooks

Personnel

Mahesh Kale, vocals
George Brooks, saxophone
Utsav Lal, piano
Julian Coryell, guitar
Mayookh Bhaumik, tabla
Scott Amendola, drums

Indian Jazz Journey, featuring Mahesh Kale and George Brooks

The world of Indian classical music is a vast sonic treasure trove that can seem daunting even to people acquainted with its riches. Over the past three decades Berkeley tenor saxophonist George Brooks has carved out a singular niche as a discerning curator known for designing creatively charged jazz collaborations with the most influential and renowned artists in the Hindustani and Carnatic traditions. It’s a role he’s embraced in organizing a series of unprecedented East/West encounters for the Stanford Jazz Festival over the past decade. This concert marks the next step in his evolving relationship with vocalist Mahesh Kale, who made his North American debut with Brooks at the SJF in 2016, a thrilling encounter between masters who embody the world’s two most sophisticated improvisational traditions. Now living in Mountain View, Kale catapulted to fame in 2015 when he won the best playback singer award at the 63rd National Film Awards, India’s equivalent of the Oscars, for his work in the epic musical Katyar Kaljat Ghusli (A Dagger Through the Heart). A lavish production of a 1967 stage musical that helped revive Natya Sangeet, the semi-classical Marathi musical theater tradition dating back the 19th Century, the film scored an unlikely honor for a regional art form far outside Bollywood’s mainstream Hindi-language fare, helping spark a revival. Born and raised in Pune, the cultural heartland of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, Kale became a disciple of Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki, a hugely influential figure who composed the musical Katyar Kaljat Ghusli. Moving to the South Bay put him right in the orbit of Brooks, who made his SJF debut with his all-star group Summit featuring tabla legend Zakir Hussain and drum star Steve Smith. Over the years he’s presented a dazzling array of Indo-jazz encounters, and the reunion with Kale and friends offers another chance to experience a unique cross-cultural journey.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $56 premium | $46 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $15
Non-Member: $62 premium | $56 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Friday, June 30, 2023

7:30pm: Ben Goldberg, Gerald Cleaver, Liberty Ellman

Personnel

Ben Goldberg, woodwinds
Gerald Cleaver, drums
Liberty Ellman, guitars

About Ben Goldberg, Gerald Cleaver, and Liberty Ellman

Ben Goldberg’s thoughtful, compelling music has tributaries from klezmer, bebop, and contemporary concert music. His unique approach to the clarinet and other woodwinds has been inspired and informed by artists as diverse as Joe Lovano and Steve Lacy. As a composer, Goldberg is a seeker and sorcerer all in one, delighting audiences with the unexpected. Joined by some of his closest musical friends, this performance will draw from his Porch Concert Material program.

Location: Campbell Recital Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: $39 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $47 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Saturday, July 1, 2023

7:30pm: Clairdee and Ken Peplowski with the SJW 50/50 Jazz Orchestra

Personnel

Clairdee, vocals
Ken Peplowski, clarinet
Fred Berry, director

SJW 50/50 Jazz Orchestra

Alto sax: Mary Fettig, Amelia Timbang Catalano
Tenor sax: Kris Strom, Tommy Occhiuto
Bari sax: Raffi Garabedian
Trumpet: Louis Fasman, John Worley, Skylar Tang, Neil Levonius
Trombone: Jeanne Geiger, Lori Stotko, Sarah Cline, Jonathan Seiberlich
Piano: Glen Pearson
Bass: Ruth Davies
Drums: David Rokeach

About Clairdee & the SJW 50/50 Jazz Orchestra

When a celebration is called for, Clairdee often gets the call. The vivacious Bay Area jazz vocalist inaugurated the beautiful new North Beach nightspot Keys Jazz Bistro last November, turning an anticipated event into a glorious consecration. In a career spanning some four decades, she’s performed similar benedictions around the world as an internationally touring artist who’s collaborated with some of America’s most celebrated jazz masters, including Dick Hyman, Bucky Pizzarelli, Houston Person, Cyrus Chestnut, and Ken Peplowski. Deeply informed by the music’s departed masters, Clairdee puts a personal stamp on whatever she sings, a gift aptly described by the inimitable Nancy Wilson, who declared that “in the tradition of all great vocalists she infuses each song with her own unique style while always remaining true to the song itself.” Equally at home singing various idioms in an array of settings, Clairdee has worked with symphony orchestras, big bands, small jazz combos, and intimate duos, though she’s never performed with an ensemble quite like the SJW 50/50 Jazz Orchestra. Directed by trumpeter Fred Berry, an eminent educator and Jazz Journalists Association 2023 Jazz Hero, the 16-piece band features a stellar cast divided equally between men and women. In many ways the ensemble marks the culmination of a struggle for inclusion that has shaped jazz since its birth, a fight embodied by players like 50/50 altoist Mary Fettig, who in 1973 became the first woman to join the Stan Kenton Orchestra. A multi-generational aggregation powered by a top-shelf rhythm section with Basie Orchestra pianist Glen Pearson, bassist Ruth Davies, and drummer David Rokeach, the orchestra boasts heavyweight players from top to bottom. The horn players include trombonist Sarah Cline, the director of Berkeley High’s award-winning jazz band, and 17-year-old trumpeter Skylar Tang, whose original big band piece “Kaleidoscope” won Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington festival Dr. J. Douglas White Composition and Arranging Contest last year.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $35 premium | $25 reserved |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $43 premium | $33 reserved |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Friday, July 7, 2023

7:30pm: A tribute to Burt Bacharach with Akira Tana and Friends, featuring Jackie Ryan

Personnel

Akira Tana, drums
Jackie Ryan, vocals
Hideki Kawamura, tenor Sax
Atsuko Hashimoto, Hammond B3 organ
Yutaka Hashimoto, guitar

About Akira Tana and Friends, featuring Jackie Ryan

For music lovers of all genres, the recent passing of the great songwriter Burt Bacharach marked the end of an era. Few composers reached as broad an audience, but Bacharach’s catchy and singable tunes coupled with Hal David’s storytelling dominated pop music culture the world over. At the mere mention of nearly any Bacharach tune, the music starts playing in your head.

Bacharach’s music offered much more than an emotional connection: The melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic sophistication of the music has always attracted jazz musicians. A Bacharach tune offers a lot of inspiration! Concert curator and drumming superstar Akira Tana along with beloved vocalist Jackie Ryan team up with a soulful jazz organ trio from Osaka to bring the timeless melodies of Burt Bacharach and the lyrics of Hal David to life.

Location: Campbell Recital Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: $39  |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $47  |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Saturday, July 8, 2023

11:00am: Early Bird Jazz for Kids with Jim Nadel and the Zookeepers

Personnel

Allegra Bandy, vocals
Cullen Luper, violin
Stefan Cohen, sax
Jim Nadel, sax
Jeff Sanford, sax, clarinet, flute
Emily Mannion, trumpet
Nicholas Oclassen, trombone
Nichole Boaz, piano
Tomoko Funaki, bass
Sylvia Cuenca, drums

About Jim Nadel and the Zookeepers

You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen hundreds of kids dancing, clapping, and smiling as they learn how much fun jazz can be! Each instrument gets its moment in the spotlight to engage your child, which often inspires kids to want to learn to play — so don’t be surprised when you’re asked if you can take home a bass saxophone (don’t worry, it’s already spoken for)! At Early Bird Jazz for Kids, jazz becomes an adventure in which every child is a participant, and every child is in on the comic dialog between the instruments. And there will be songs that kids love to sing along with, too. In this beloved annual event, SJW founder Jim Nadel shares his entertaining and informative introduction to jazz with you and your family, presented in a kid-friendly environment, at a parent-friendly price.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: FREE
Non-Member: $20 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $12

7:30pm: Omar Sosa Quarteto Americanos

Personnel

Omar Sosa, piano, keyboards
Sheldon Brown, sax
Ernesto Mazar Kindelán, bass
Josh Jones, drums

About Omar Sosa Quarteto Americanos

An astonishing constellation of Cuban jazz pianists has surged through doors first opened by Chucho Valdés, but even amidst this glittering array Omar Sosa stands out as a singular figure. It’s been far too long since he performed at the Festival, but the impact he made on the Bay Area scene during his relatively brief sojourn here is as remarkable as his ever-evolving music. Sosa first landed in Oakland in 1995 by way of the Afro-Ecuadoran province of Esmereldas and quickly earned attention with his commanding technique and percussive attack. By the late ’90s he was recording prolifically for his own label, Otá Records, while his music expanded exponentially, combining the sounds he was encountering in the Bay Area with the influences he brought with him. Every performance seemed to add another player into the mix as he somehow integrated Yoruba chants, hip hop rhymes, post-bop harmonies, and Moroccan cadences within a spectacular matrix of Afro-Cuban rhythms. Sosa’s musical universe has continued to expand since he settled in Barcelona around the turn of the century, with each recording capturing an evolving international cast of improvisers. The latest twist in his creative journey is his Quarteto Americanos, a group based on the formative relationships he forged here in the mid-90s. During a 2021 Bay Area run of gigs Sosa reconnected with saxophonist Sheldon Brown and drummer Josh Jones, who both toured and recorded with early iterations of his band. Supremely versatile musicians, they played an essential role in forging earthy and graceful sound. Adding Bay Area-based Cuban bassist Ernesto Mazar Kindelán into the mix completed the multi-directional quartet, which seamlessly combines funk, jazz, Afro-Cuban grooves and Sosa’s extravagant melodic imagination.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $44 premium | $34 reserved |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $52 premium | $42 reserved |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Sunday, July 9, 2023

7:30pm: Patrick Wolff Quartet & Noel Jewkes

Personnel

Patrick Wolff, tenor sax
Noel Jewkes, tenor sax
Adam Shulman, piano
Eric Markowitz, bass
James Gallagher, drums

About the Patrick Wolff Quartet & Noel Jewkes

There’s nothing like a jazz dialog between two great tenor saxophonists. The format has some serious precedents: Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, and John Coltrane and Hank Mobley, to name just a few. Noel Jewkes has long been considered one of the top jazz players in the West, and longtime SJW faculty member and alumnus Patrick Wolff has been on everyone’s list of rising stars to watch for many years. In this sublime pairing, these two masters of the idiom will show us all what friendship and mutual respect can do in a musical setting. They’ll each showcase their own playing with one of the finest rhythm sections around, and will likely combine their sounds a bit, too

Location: Campbell Recital Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: $39  |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $47  |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Friday, July 14, 2023

7:30pm: Sylvia Cuenca Group

Personnel

Sylvia Cuenca, drums
Essiet Essiet, bass
Peter Horvath, piano
Rico Jones, tenor sax

About the Sylvia Cuenca Group

A brilliant drummer with a list of credits that reads like a Who’s Who of jazz luminaries — including long stints in the bands of Joe Henderson and Clark Terry — Sylvia Cuenca has local roots that are as deep as SJW’s. One of the early Jazz Camp attendees, Sylvia soon became an indispensable member of the faculty and staff, shaping the programs that still thrive and inspire young musicians today. A meeting with Joe Henderson at Jazz Camp set her on a trajectory of jazz drumming that has taken her around the globe. Composition is yet another of her strong suits, and this show will feature her favorite musicians playing her own tunes and their interpretations of other repertoire.

Location: Campbell Recital Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: $39  |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $47  |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Saturday, July 15, 2023

7:30pm: Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott)

Personnel

Chief Adjuah, trumpet, flugelhorn
Samora Pinderhughes, keyboards
Kris Funn, bass
Weedie Braimah, djembe
Ele Howell, drums

About Chief Adjuah

Hailing from a storied New Orleans musical dynasty, trumpeter Chief Adjuah has fully embraced his world-shaking heritage. Formerly known as Christian Scott, he’s a masterly improviser, stylistically venturesome composer, and far-seeing conceptualist whose improvisation-laced sound is deeply inspired by West African forms. The grandson of legendary Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr., a leader of the Mardi Gras Indians whose knowledge of Black New Orleans was unrivaled, and nephew of alto saxophone jazz innovator and NEA Jazz Master Big Chief Donald Harrison, Jr., Chief Adjuah is steeped in jazz history and tradition. Over the past decade he’s explored astonishingly beautiful new realms of African-inspired sound, what he calls “stretch music,” while also designing and playing several ground-breaking new horns. In the New Orleans tradition, he approaches jazz as inextricably bound to a capacious continuum of social music, a sound and sensibility that has attracted artists such as Prince, Thom Yorke, McCoy Tyner, Marcus Miller, Eddie Palmieri, and Mos Def, who’ve all featured him on projects. In addition to six Grammy Award nominations, he’s a two-time Edison Award winner, the recipient of 2016’s JazzFM Innovator/Innovation of the year Award, and the 2020 Jazz Journalists Association trumpeter of the year, among many other honors. As a bandleader he’s sought out and showcased some of the music’s most exciting and talented young players, like on his 2015 album featuring the Berkeley-reared flutist and vocalist, Stretch Music (Introducing Elena Pinderhughes). The full scope of his ambitions became clear in 2017 with the release of three albums, collectively titled The Centennial Trilogy. Created in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the first jazz recordings the tryptic of Ruler Rebel, Diaspora, and The Emancipation Procrastination offered a cogent and penetrating socio-political analysis set to persuasively commanding compositions executed with virtuosity and elan.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $54 premium | $44 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $12
Non-Member: $62 premium | $52 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $20

Sunday, July 16, 2023

7:30pm: Richie Goods & Chien Chien

Personnel

Chien Chien, vibraphone
Richie Goods, bass
Matt Wong, keyboards
Quintin Zoto, guitar
Jerome Jennings, drums

About Richie Goods & Chien Chien, Connected

Bassist Richie Goods and vibraphonist Chien Chien met in trumpeter Jeremy Pelt’s band, and instantly formed a strong musical bond. During the pandemic, they talked deeply about the Black Lives Matter movement and the increasing acts of violence perpetrated against Asians. They decided to do a project that would unify people and invoke imagery of love and peace. Not only was the music they produced awesome, but their friendship deepened as they explored the stereotypical discord that often exists between the African American and Asian communities. The partnership produced three recordings, and led to an ongoing performing and recording project entitled Connected.  Chien Chien arrived in the US in 2015 to explore jazz, which led to studies with Vijay Iyer and a masters degree in Jazz Studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and a meeting with Jeremy Pelt which led to her joining Jeremy’s band, recording her own music, and being named as the Rising Star of the vibraphone in the 69th Downbeat Critic’s Poll. Richie has an amazing list of performing and recording credits, including a long stint playing bass with Mulgrew Miller, who Richie credits for much of his success. Other jazz and popular artists he’s played with include Chris Botti, Sting, The Headhunters, Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band, Lenny White, Milt Jackson, Whitney Houston, Lisa Fischer, The Manhattan Transfer, and Christina Aguilera.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $35 premium | $25 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $43 premium | $33 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Monday, July 17, 2023

7:30pm: Pluto Juice featuring Dayna Stephens & Anthony Fung

Personnel

Dayna Stephens, EWI, keyboards
Anthony Fung, drums
Billy Mohler, bass
Charles Altura, guitar

About Pluto Juice

A favorite SJW faculty member and legendary alumnus, Dayna Stephens expands his exploration of electric music with drummer Anthony Fung and bassist Billy Mohler in this eclectic and energetic band. Layering grooves exquisitely performed by Anthony, Dayna weaves soaring synth lines on his Electronic Wind Instrument and keyboards. Futuristic yet familiar, the music of this powerful quartet is stimulating and exciting.

Location: Campbell Recital Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: $39  |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $47  |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

7:30pm: Dawn Clement: Duo, Trio & More

Personnel

Dawn Clement, piano and voice
Anisha Rush, alto sax
Shawn Williams, trumpet
Seth Lewis, bass
Cory Cox, drums

About Dawn Clement

To experience Dawn Clement perform is to immerse yourself in pure joy. A brilliant pianist, vocalist, composer, and improviser, Dawn has been working with some of the leading artists in jazz. With her shining presence, consummate technique, and distinctive sound, Dawn has captured the attention and respect of musicians, critics, and fans around the world. “In all this world of jazz, there are very few individual voices, no matter what the instrument,” legendary trombonist Julian Priester has said. “But Dawn has come up with a voice that’s unique.” On her recent release for Origin Records, Tandem, Dawn performs in duo settings with Priester, Matt Wilson, Mark Taylor, Johnaye Kendrick, and Michael Glynn, exploring the conversational nature of jazz. For her performance at the Stanford Jazz Festival, Dawn will continue the conversation with several great artists, in duet, trio, and as she hints, other settings.

Location: Campbell Recital Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: $39  |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $47  |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

7:30pm: Ruth Davies’ Blues Night with special guest Ruthie Foster

Personnel

Ruth Davies, bass
Ruthie Foster, vocals and guitar
Kristen Strom, sax
John R Burr, piano and organ
Garth Webber, guitar
Leon Joyce Jr., drums

About Ruth Davies and Ruthie Foster

For more than two decades Ruth Davies’ Blues Night has anchored the Stanford Jazz Festival with one of the music’s essential wellsprings, providing musicians and audiences with a visceral blues experience courtesy of leading masters of the essential African-American idiom. A well-traveled veteran herself who’s toured and recorded with blues greats such as Elvin Bishop, Charles Brown, and John Lee ******, Davies has put her expansive network to work in bringing storied artists to Stanford, from harp legend Charlie Musselwhite and blues troubadour Keb’ Mo’ to guitarists Chris Cain and Robben Ford. Ruthie Foster, who makes a new batch of fans whenever she performs, was such a hit in her 2019 Blues Night performance that she’s returning for a reprise. Over the past two decades she’s taken home the Koko Taylor Award for Traditional Blues/Female Artist of the Year from the Blues Music Awards six times, earned three Austin Music Awards, and the Grand Prix du Disque award from France’s Académie Charles-Cros. Despite being pegged as a traditional blues artist, she exemplifies all the best impulses and practices on the contemporary blues scene, drawing from a deep well of sacred music. A full rich contralto, Foster’s magnificent voice brings glory to whatever kind of material she sings. She’s also an accomplished guitarist and songwriter with a series of acclaimed albums for Blue Corn Music, most recently 2022’s pandemic-inspired Healing Time. For this performance Ruth and Ruthie are joined by a stellar band featuring veteran drummer Leon Joyce Jr., ace saxophonist Kristen Strom, the consummate accompanist John R. Burr on piano and organ, and guitarist Garth Webber, an underappreciated master who’s played with everyone from Miles Davis, Mose Allison, and Merl Saunders to Gregg Allman, Bob Weir, and Joe Louis Walker.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $44 premium | $34 reserved |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $52 premium | $42 reserved |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Thursday, July 20, 2023

7:30pm: Markus Howell Quintet, featuring Roy McCurdy

Personnel

Markus Howell, alto sax
Roy McCurdy, drums
Andrew Stephens, trumpet
Sullivan Fortner, piano
Noah Garabedian, bass

About Markus Howell and Roy McCurdy

Markus Howell’s intensely beautiful alto sax has been heard the world over with both Count Basie’s Orchestra and Michael Bublé, and here he’s joined by his Quintet including two very special guests: drum legend Roy McCurdy and Grammy winner Sullivan Fortner on piano. You want swing at its finest? This is your show, as longtime Stanford Jazz Festival fans will already know, having watched Markus develop from SJW’s Mentor Fellow program to one of the most exciting rising stars of the alto saxophone.

Location: Campbell Recital Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: $39 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $47 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Saturday, July 22, 2023

7:30pm: Sullivan Fortner Trio plus Anat Cohen

Personnel

Sullivan Fortner, piano
Tyrone Allen, bass
Kayvon Gordon, drums
Anat Cohen, clarinet

About the Sullivan Fortner Trio plus Anat Cohen

Pianist and composer Sullivan Fortner exudes an inventiveness that many jazz artists develop growing up in the crucible of creativity that is New Orleans. His first appearance at the Stanford Jazz Festival with Cécile McLorin Salvant was jaw-droppingly fresh and gorgeous, and his work with Cécile led to their Grammy win for The Window. In this special performance, Sullivan appears with his trio, with whom he’s been extending the jazz piano trio tradition into swinging new territory. Anat Cohen is the preeminent virtuoso on clarinet and cut from the same improvisatory cloth as Sullivan, and together they’ll dazzle you.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $54 premium | $44 reserved |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $12
Non-Member: $62 premium | $52 reserved |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $20

Sunday, July 23, 2023

7:30pm: SJW Mentor Fellows / Bennett Paster Trio

Personnel

SJW Mentor Fellows
Anisha Rush, sax
Andrew Stephens, trumpet
Kilan Thorns, trombone
Jhoely Garay, guitar
Jenny Xu, piano
Hannah Marks, bass
Zach Adleman, drums

Bennett Paster Trio

Bennett Paster, piano
Josh Thurston-Milgrom, bass
John Sturino, drums

About the SJW Mentor Fellows and Bennett Paster

Many of the world’s great jazz artists got their start in SJW’s Mentor Fellowship program, and as you’ll hear, the current cohort of Mentor Fellows sounds extremely promising in their own set on this double bill.

For over 30 years, pianist and composer Bennett Paster has been involved with SJW as a faculty member, a Festival artist, and a few years before that, as a camper at Jazz Camp. He’s mentored hundreds of young artists and worked directly with dozens of the world’s greatest jazz artists on stage and in the classroom. In this show, he offers a rare chance to see his work with the beloved piano trio genre.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $35 premium | $25 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $43 premium | $33 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Monday, July 24, 2023

7:30pm: Jaimeo Brown Transcendence

Personnel

Jaimeo Brown, drums
Chris Sholar, guitar, electronics
Howard Wiley, saxophone

About Jaimeo Brown Transcendence

The biggest problem with the enduring but apocryphal story of jazz emerging from Storyville, the red-light district in New Orleans, is that it erases the essential role of the Black church, the music’s deepest source of power. Before blues and jazz, there were stately spirituals and ecstatic praise songs, and in drummer Jaimeo Brown’s Transcendence project he weaves a stunning musical tapestry by incorporating the sounds of Alabama’s Gee’s Bend quilters. On his visionary 2013 Motéma album Transcendence Brown not only sampled classic field recordings by Gee’s Bend singers performing traditional songs like “This World Is a Mean World” and “You Can’t Hide (Death’s Got a Warrant).” He draws on another deep and ancient spiritual tradition by incorporating Carnatic vocals by Mumbai-born, New York-based singer/songwriter Falu, composing music that elaborates on the various melodic themes and vocal cadences. The results are often stunning, as if Brown’s band was engaged in a real-time musical dialogue with the sampled artists. For this concert he’s joined on guitar and electronics by Chris Sholar, who also played on and produced the 2016 Transcendence follow up, Work Songs (which expanded the sonic matrix with samples drawn from Mississippi prisons to stonemasons in Japan). A well-traveled musician who worked with the Mingus Big Band for several years, Brown has performed and recorded with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Q-Tip, Kenny Garrett, Greg Tardy, and Joe Locke. Jaimeo’s name might look familiar to Bay Area jazz fans, because he spent his formative years in San Rafael, performing as a teenager with bassist Marcus Shelby, pianist Smith Dobson, and vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson. A comrade from Brown’s formative years, Oakland tenor saxophonist Howard Wiley rounds out Transcendence. Wiley provided a conceptual roadmap for Transcendence with his acclaimed 2007 album The Angola Project, which was inspired by field recordings of inmates at Louisiana’s Angola Prison.

Location: Campbell Recital Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: $39 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $47 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

7:30pm: New Standards, hosted by Naomi Moon Siegel & Carmen Staaf

Personnel

Naomi Moon Siegel, trombone
Carmen Staaf, piano

About Naomi Moon Siegel, Carmen Staaf, and New Standards

When drummer Terri Lynn Carrington asked two of her students at the Berkelee College of Music to find some lead sheets of jazz tunes by women composers, they came back and said they couldn’t find any. This inspired Carrington to compile over 100 compositions by women into a collection called New Standards, and to record an album of the same name which won the Grammy for Best Instrumental Album this year.

Among the many composers represented in New Standards are many current and former SJW faculty artists, including Melissa Aldana, Geri Allen, Sheryl Bailey, Regina Carter, Anat Cohen, Caroline Davis, Eliane Elias, Mimi Fox, Tia Fuller, Hiromi, Ingrid Jensen, Myra Melford, Allison Miller, Linda May Han Oh, Gretchen Parlato, Dianne Reeves, Patrice Rushen, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Bria Skonberg, Luciana Souza, esperanza spalding, and Carmen Staaf.

Trombonist Naomi Moon Siegel and pianist Carmen Staaf host this thrilling performance of the vibrant jazz music of women composers, featuring SJW faculty artists.

Location: Campbell Recital Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: $39 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $47 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

7:30pm: An Evening with Victor Lin

Personnel

Victor Lin, violin and piano

About Victor Lin

Expect to be delighted by Victor Lin’s mastery of the violin and piano, as well as his interpretations and arrangements of songs you didn’t even realize were embedded in your memory. Victor directs a large cast of talented SJW artist faculty and special guests in a dazzling spectacle that captures the imagination and gets to the heart of what SJW — and life — is all about.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $44 premium | $34 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $52 premium | $42 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Thursday, July 27, 2023

7:30pm: Lynn Speakman: Remembering Andrew Speight

Personnel

Lynn Speakman, saxophone
Carmen Staaf, piano
Bennett Paster, piano
Kristen Strom, tenor sax
Ben Flocks, tenor sax
Steven Lugerner, alto sax
Andrew Stephens, trumpet
Joshua Thurston-Milgrom, bass
Jayla Chee, bass
Sylvia Cuenca, drums
Austin Harris, drums

About Lynn Speakman and Andrew Speight

Saxophonist, educator, and bebop master Andrew Speight was an integral part of the Stanford Jazz Workshop family for many years. He mentored countless students and colleagues, offering hours of his time without hesitation, and sharing his experience and approach to jazz. His performances at the Stanford Jazz Festival — whether headlining his own shows or making guest appearances — were always exciting, uplifting, and full of positive energy. When Andrew passed suddenly this past Fall, the entire jazz world felt the immense loss.

Lynn Speakman is one of those artists who was profoundly influenced by Andrew’s playing and teaching. A brilliant arranger and composer as well as a virtuoso saxophonist and flutist, Lynn and a band of SJW faculty artists will present a program of music that meant a lot to the late master, as well as to all who knew him.

Location: Campbell Recital Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: $39  |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $10
Non-Member: $47  |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $18

Saturday, July 29, 2023

7:30pm: Anat Cohen & Romero Lubambo / Harold López-Nussa Duo plus Mike Rodriquez

Personnel

Anat Cohen, clarinet
Romero Lubambo, guitar
Harold López-Nussa, piano
Ruy López-Nussa, drums
Mike Rodriguez, trumpet

About Anat Cohen & Romero Lubambo / Harold López-Nussa Duo plus Mike Rodriquez

Jazz’s international reach manifests with startling beauty on this sensational double bill featuring two nonpareil duos (and one special guest). Israeli-born, New York City-based reed star Anat Cohen’s performances have been a highlight of the Festival in recent years, and she’s often collaborated with Rio-born New Yorker Romero Lubambo, the most esteemed Brazilian jazz guitarist of his generation. Working tête-à-tête, they glean one gem after another from the riches of the Brazilian songbook, interpreting luscious melodies and alluring rhythms by composers such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Egberto Gismonte, and Moacir Santos. A regular presence at the Festival performing with NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves, Lubambo has contributed to hundreds of recordings since he arrived in New York in 1984. Sharing the bill with Cohen and Lubambo is the extraordinary Cuban duo of Harold López-Nussa and his younger brother, drummer Ruy López-Nussa. The elder sibling, now 39, is a conservatory-trained pianist who has fully integrated his classical training and love of the jazz continuum with his Cuban roots. An improviser of astonishing gifts, he first gained international attention when he won top honors at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Piano Competition in 2005. While touring widely with Buena Vista Social Club vocalist Omara Portuondo from 2008-2011 he launched his solo career as the leader of a superlative trio with his younger brother. He made in indelible impression among US jazz musicians via work on 2011’s Ninety Miles, the all-star Cuban/American project with trumpeter Christian Scott (aka Chief Adjuah), vibraphonist Stefon Harris, and saxophonist David Sánchez. The same year Sánchez joined forces with López-Nussa’s trio on the electrifying album El País de las Maravillas. On several pieces the duo expands to a trio with Queens-born trumpeter Mike Rodriguez, who performed at the Festival last year with Yosvany Terry and recently joined the SFJAZZ Collective.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $54 premium | $44 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $12
Non-Member: $62 premium | $52 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $20

Sunday, July 30, 2023

8:00pm: Dafnis Prieto featuring Luciana Souza: Cantar

Personnel

Dafnis Prieto, percussion
Luciana Souza, vocals
Peter Apfelbaum, woodwinds
Martin Bejerano, piano, vocals
Matt Brewer, bass

Stanford Jazz Festival’s presentation of Dafnis Prieto Ensemble featuring Luciana Souza is supported through a Chamber Music America Presenter Consortium for Jazz grant in collaboration with Outpost Productions, Inc and The Jazz Salon. A component of the Doris Duke Jazz Ensembles Project, Presenter Consortium for Jazz is funded by the Doris Duke Foundation.

About Dafnis Prieto and Luciana Souza

Drummer Dafnis Prieto made an indelible impression at the Festival in the mid-1990s on his first trip from Cuba for a residency at the Workshop. By the time he moved to New York City in 1999 the connections he’d forged here and on following trips with the band Columna B catapulted him into prominence as he suddenly emerged in the midst of the jazz’s most exciting ensembles, working with Henry Threadgill, Eddie Palmieri, Steve Coleman, and Brian Lynch. Far more than an era-defining drummer, Prieto is an arranger, composer, bandleader, and 2011 MacArthur “Genius” Fellow who returns to the Festival with a whole new set of music that reveals his melody-besotted side. Working with Grammy Award-winning Brazilian-born singer Luciana Souza, Prieto released the 2022 album Cantar, a project featuring songs with his original music and lyrics. It turns out that he grew up with a great love of popular songs and melodies, absorbing the sounds of Cuban boleros and the Brazilian songbook (via Elis Regina, Antônio Carlos Jobim, and Caetano Veloso), as well as Queen, Stevie Wonder, and others. Inspired to create a record that would engage listeners through both music and words, he reached out to Souza, who he’s long admired as one of the world’s leading vocalists and interpreters. She ended up contributing lyrics on several tracks as well. Featuring songs in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, the project draws on the talents of an all-star cast, including Peter Apfelbaum on woodwinds, melodica, percussion, and keyboard, Martin Bejerano on piano and vocals, and Matt Brewer on acoustic and electric bass. They’ll all be on hand for the West Coast debut of Cantar.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $54 premium | $44 reserved |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $12
Non-Member: $62 premium | $52 reserved |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $20

Monday, July 31, 2023

8:00pm: George Cables Trio with Eric Revis, Caroline Davis & Terell Stafford

Personnel

George Cables, piano
Caroline Davis, alto sax
Terell Stafford, trumpet
Eric Revis, bass
Nasheet Waits, drums

About George Cables

George Cables is one of the true greats of jazz piano. He has the touch and swing of Oscar Peterson, the harmonic inventiveness of Herbie Hancock, the strength of McCoy Tyner, and yet his sound is unmistakably his own. George spent his formative years playing with saxophone giants Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, and Joe Henderson, and his collaborations with alto star Art Pepper, vibes virtuoso Bobby Hutcherson, and trumpet masters Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard yielded recordings that are on every critic’s must-have list. In this exclusive performance, George is joined by an amazing band featuring Caroline Davis, Terell Stafford, Eric Revis, and others.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $54 premium | $44 reserved |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $12
Non-Member: $62 premium | $52 reserved |  Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $20

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

8:00pm: Taylor Eigsti Group

Personnel

Taylor Eigsti, piano
Charles Altura, guitar
Maya Kronfeld, keyboards
Harish Raghavan, bass
Oscar Seaton, drums

About Taylor Eigsti

No musician is more closely or deeply associated with the Workshop than piano phenomenon Taylor Eigsti, so it might come as a surprise to hear that this concert is his first as a leader at the Festival in four years. The pandemic of course accounts for 2020-21, and last year he accompanied the spectacular vocalist Lisa Fischer, bringing a partnership born at the Festival in 2017 back to campus. Focusing more intently on his own music these days, Eigsti is still riding high after his first new album in more than a decade, Tree Falls, earned a 2022 Grammy Award for best contemporary instrumental album. He gleaned the sumptuous, song-centric program from an expansively lyrical body of music he’s sown largely out of public sight while touring internationally with trumpet stars Chris Botti and Terence Blanchard, among other luminaries. Continuing to write and hone his own compositions, he’ll be previewing new material at this concert, which features a group borrowed from Blanchard’s E-Collective. In a fascinating change of context, he’s joined by fellow Blanchardites David Ginyard, Oscar Seaton, and Charles Altura. The wild card is keyboardist Maya Kronfeld, who like Altura is a product of Berkeley High’s vaunted jazz program. Since earning a PhD in comparative literature from UC Berkeley she’s been serving as the Cotsen Fellow in Humanistic Studies at Princeton. Throughout her academic pursuits she’s maintained a steady presence as a player, displaying her deep feel for swing, funk and R&B grooves in a series of combos led by exhilarating drummers, including Justin Brown, Blaque Dynamite, Nikkie Glaspie, Thomas Pridgen, and a recent run with vocalist Thana Alexa’s ONA featuring trap set maestro Antonio Sanchez. Longtime compatriots through their shared Workshop history, Kronfeld is an ideal foil for Eigsti, an artist who always makes the most out of his homecoming Festival performances.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $54 premium | $44 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $12
Non-Member: $62 premium | $52 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $20

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

8:00pm: Terell Stafford Quintet featuring Ralph Moore, Nasheet Waits, & Taylor Eigsti

Personnel

Terell Stafford, trumpet
Ralph Moore, tenor sax
Taylor Eigsti, piano
Eric Revis, bass
Nasheet Waits, drums

About Terell Stafford

A mid-career master regarded by his peers as one of jazz’s very best trumpeters, Terell Stafford possesses a huge, lithesome sound, bountiful imagination and a full-spectrum emotional palette with infinite shades of tenderness, sorrow, aggression and awe. While he’s recorded about a dozen excellent albums as a leader, he’s been more visible as a dependably inspired sideman who adds a potent jolt of energy into setting. Over the past quarter century he’s been sought out by veteran masters such as saxophone legend Jimmy Heath, pianist Cedar Walton, altoist Bobby Watson (for both his quintet Horizon and Tailor Made Big Band), drummer Matt Wilson’s Arts and Crafts, and the Clayton Brothers and Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. A member of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, he won a 2009 best large ensemble Grammy Award for the ensemble’s Live at the Village Vanguard album. For this concert Stafford’s all-star quintet bristles with brilliant improvisers, starting with his partner in the front line, tenor saxophonist Ralph Moore. Bassist Eric Revis, a highly regarded composer and recording artist in his own right, is best known for his three-decade tenure with Branford Marsalis. Even on a scene brimming with trap set talent Nasheet Waits stands out as one of the era’s definitive drummers. The son of the late drum great Freddie Waits, he gained renown in the late 1990s with pianists Fred Hersch and Andrew Hill. For the past two decades he’s powered Jason Moran and the Bandwagon, a trio described by JazzTimes as “the most exciting rhythm section in jazz.” For Stafford, the concert offers a prime opportunity to explore his original compositions and arrangements. A leader on and off the bandstand, Stafford is the director of jazz studies and chair of instrumental studies at Temple University, while also serving as managing and artistic director of the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $54 premium | $44 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $12
Non-Member: $62 premium | $52 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $20

Thursday, August 3, 2023

8:00pm: Sounds, Swing, and Groove featuring Patrice Rushen

Personnel

Patrice Rushen, piano
Logan Richardson, alto sax
Dana Leong, trombone
Matt Brewer, bass
Dafnis Prieto, drums

About Patrice Rushen

Patrice Rushen’s music has accompanied some of the most iconic movie scenes as well as inspired Tik-Tok dance contests. Always soulful and deeply grooving, much of her most well-known music only hints at her jazz pedigree. A longtime leader on the Los Angeles scene, Patrice Rushen is a legend in the music industry, with major credits as a jazz performer, and film composer, as well as the music direction of major broadcasts (Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards) and tours (Janet Jackson), in addition to leading her own projects. Her brilliant playing has astonished audiences ever since Patrice was in high school, and can be heard on countless recordings, including her own Grammy-nominated releases.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $54 premium | $44 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $12
Non-Member: $62 premium | $52 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $20

Friday, August 4, 2023

8:00pm: SJW All-Star Jam

Personnel

Terell Stafford, trumpet
Caroline Davis, alto sax
Logan Richardson, alto sax
Patrick Wolff, tenor sax
Ralph Moore, tenor sax
Dana Leong, trombone
Sheryl Bailey, guitar
Dan Wilson, guitar
Dena DeRose, piano
George Cables, piano
Patrice Rushen, piano
Taylor Eigsti, piano
Dafnis Prieto, percussion
Matt Brewer, bass
Eric Revis, bass
Harold López-Nussa, piano
Ruy Adrian López-Nussa, drums

About the SJW All-Star Jam

An eagerly-anticipated annual tradition at SJW, this concert presents some of the greatest artists in jazz, performing in unique combinations familiar and unfamiliar, delivering performances of unrivaled intensity, passion, and excitement. You’ll hear intimate duos between artists of exceptional sensitivity who may have yearned for the opportunity to play together for years. You’ll hear the excitement build as masterful improvisers sense the support they get from a top-notch rhythm section. It’s always fresh, new, unexpected,  and tremendously exciting. Among the artists you’ll hear are George Cables, Taylor Eigsti, Dafnis Prieto, Matt Brewer, Terell Stafford, Caroline Davis, Eric Revis, Patrice Rushen, Dena DeRose, and many more.

Location: Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Tickets:

SJW Member: $54 premium | $44 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $12
Non-Member: $62 premium | $52 reserved | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $20

Saturday, August 5, 2023

7:30pm: Dena DeRose Trio featuring Ralph Moore

Personnel

Dena DeRose, piano
Ralph Moore, tenor sax
Peter Barshay, bass
Akira Tana, drums

About Dena DeRose

Dena DeRose is one of those incredibly rare talents who is not only a virtuoso singer and pianist, but whose mastery of the repertoire and ability to delight a room full of jazz fans can only be described as “world-class.” A swinging, two-fisted player with a command of bebop that makes even her hottest solos seem effortless, Dena is constantly touring Europe from her home base in Austria, so this chance to catch her in her SJW habitat is a real treat. Anchoring her trio is the phenomenal drummer Akira Tana performing alongside bassist Peter Barshay and saxophonist Ralph Moore, the brilliant tenor saxophonist who was last at the Stanford Jazz Festival with the Ray Brown Trio.

Location: Campbell Recital Hall

Tickets:

SJW Member: $54 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $12
Non-Member: $62 | Child (17 and under) & Student (present valid student ID card) $20

Date: Friday, June 23, 2023 - Saturday, August 5, 2023

Locations:

Bing Concert Hall, 327 Lasuen Street Stanford, CA 94305
Dinkelspiel Auditorium, 471 Lagunita Drive Stanford, CA 94305
Campbell Recital Hall, 541 Lasuen Mall Stanford, CA 94305

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