Isaac Mizrahi, Sona Jobarteh, And More Come To SFJAZZ In April

SFJAZZ has announced the lineup of upcoming arts for April 2025. Performances will be held at SFJAZZ, either in the Joe Henderson Lab or Miner Auditorium (unless otherwise noted) (201 Franklin St., San Francisco). 

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Justin Rock Plays Music of Pat Metheny

Thursday, April 3 at 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab

Over the past decade guitarist Justin Rock has cut a brilliant swath across the Bay Area music scene as an accomplished bandleader and collaborator, working with Dillon Vado's Never Weather, Logan Kane's Open Eyes, and Steven Lugerner's Sluggish Ensemble. For this Hotplate night, Rock focuses on the music of jazz guitar giant Pat Metheny, playing music from across his monumental career.

Since emerging as a teenage prodigy with Gary Burton in the early 1970s, Pat Metheny has become the most ubiquitous guitarist in jazz, a musician who constantly seeks and finds new creative realms. Whether playing acoustic or highly processed, effects-laden electric guitar, his sound is instantly identifiable. While cultivating a huge worldwide fan base, he's tackled every imaginable setting from angular harmonics with Ornette Coleman to pastoral landscapes with Charlie Haden and Jim Hall and the pioneering electro-acoustic Orchestrion project.

Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, Marcus Gilmore

Thursday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 6 at 7 p.m.
Miner Auditorium

These four exclusive concerts bring together three of the greatest artists in jazz today, including pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Marcus Gilmore.

Mehldau has done more to extend and refine the piano trio's possibilities than any artist in the last quarter century.

McBride is an eight-time GRAMMY winner and former SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director who is widely regarded as the premier jazz bassist in the 21st century and an innovative composer and bandleader. 

An heir to jazz royalty as the grandson of iconic drummer Roy Haynes, Gilmore is a remarkably dynamic musician known for his work with Vijay Iyer, Chick Corea, Nicholas Payton, Steve Coleman, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Ravi Coltrane.

Sona Jobarteh

Friday, April 4 at 8 p.m.
Herbst Theatre

London-born kora virtuoso Sona Jobarteh is a pioneer of the 21-string African lute. She is the first female kora master to have emerged from an established family of West African griots, bucking a long-held hereditary tradition that restricted instruction on the instrument to males only. Starting as a prodigy, Jobarteh began studies with her brother, kora great Tunde Jegede, at age four and gave her first public performance on the instrument at London's Jazz Café at five. 

Give The Drummer Some: Billy Hart with Joe Warner & Tarus Mateen

Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab

Titled “Give the Drummer Some,” this four-night series curated by the eminent Bay Area pianist Joe Warner brings an amazing group of the world's great drummers to the Joe Henderson Lab for intimate performances with Warner and master bassist Tarus Mateen, celebrated for his work with Jason Moran's omnivorous trio The Bandwagon.

A 2022 NEA Jazz Master, Billy Hart has provided the backbone for the most adventurous modern jazz since the early 1960s, including Herbie Hancock's explosive Mwandishi band and the loose juggernaut chronicled on Miles Davis's hugely influential 1972 release On the Corner. Beginning his career with jazz legends Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery in his hometown of Washington D.C., Hart moved to New York in 1968. In addition to his contribution to definitive statements by Hancock and Davis, work with Pharoah Sanders, Eddie Harris, Joe Zawinul, Eddie Henderson, Wayne Shorter, Stan Getz, and McCoy Tyner followed in rapid order. He made his first venture as a bandleader with 1977's Enchance and currently leads an acclaimed quartet including pianist Ethan Iverson, saxophonist Mark Turner, and bassist Ben Street. Hart is also a member of the all-star veteran ensemble The Cookers.

Give The Drummer Some: Herlin Riley with Joe Warner & Tarus Mateen

Friday, April 11 at 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab

Titled “Give the Drummer Some,” this four-night series curated by the eminent Bay Area pianist Joe Warner brings an amazing group of the world's great drummers to the Joe Henderson Lab for intimate performances with Warner and master bassist Tarus Mateen, celebrated for his work with Jason Moran's omnivorous trio The Bandwagon.

New Orleans native Herlin Riley is the quintessential Crescent City rhythm master whose style is the ultimate mix of post-bop edge and second-line swagger.

He came to prominence as a member of fellow New Orleans jazz hero Wynton Marsalis's various ensembles, recording over 30 albums with the trumpeter including several of his Standard Time releases and the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1997 jazz oratorio Blood on the Fields with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, for which he originated the signature percussion parts.

Riley has recorded and performed with a roster of major artists including George Benson, Marcus Roberts, and Harry Connick Jr., and was a member of piano icon Ahmad Jamal's working quartet for over three decades. He's released four albums as a leader for the Criss-Cross and Mack Avenue labels including his latest, 2019's Perpetual Optimism.

Give The Drummer Some: Nasheet Waits with Joe Warner & Tarus Mateen

Saturday, April 12 7 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab

Titled “Give the Drummer Some,” this four-night series curated by the eminent Bay Area pianist Joe Warner brings an amazing group of the world's great drummers to the Joe Henderson Lab for intimate performances with Warner and master bassist Tarus Mateen, celebrated for his work with Jason Moran's omnivorous trio The Bandwagon.

Son of the legendary drummer Freddie Waits (Lee Morgan, McCoy Tyner), Nasheet Waits is a virtuoso percussionist best known as a member of pianist Jason Moran's longstanding Bandwagon trio with Tarus Mateen. 

A student of the great Michael Carvin, Waits gained early experience as a member of the percussion ensemble M'Boom founded by his father and drumming icon Max Roach. He's a charter member of the explosive Tarbaby trio with Orrin Evans and Eric Reevis and has supplied his polyrhythmic pulse to albums and dates with Andrew Hill, Christian McBride, Ethan Iverson, Dave Holland, John Scofield, Dave Douglas, and countless others. 

He's released three albums as a leader including his latest, 2024's New York Love Letter (Bitter Sweet) for the Giant Steps Arts label, featuring a quartet including saxophonist Mark Turner, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, and bassist Rashaan Carter.

Give The Drummer Some: Marvin ‘Smitty' Smith with Joe Warner & Tarus Mateen

Sunday, April 13 at 6 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Joe Henderson Lab

Titled “Give the Drummer Some,” this four-night series curated by the eminent Bay Area pianist Joe Warner brings an amazing group of the world's great drummers to the Joe Henderson Lab for intimate performances with Warner and master bassist Tarus Mateen, celebrated for his work with Jason Moran's omnivorous trio The Bandwagon.

A powerhouse drummer whose ferocious chops and daunting speed is tempered by his unfailing taste, sensitivity, and touch, Marvin “Smitty” Smith first gained attention through his association with singing great Jon Hendricks. A studio heavyweight, Smith has appeared on more than 200 albums and had extended musical partnerships with bassist Dave Holland and saxophonist Steve Coleman as well as recording credits with Benny Golson, Archie Shepp, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer, Robin Eubanks, and Terence Blanchard. He performed nightly with guitarist Kevin Eubanks on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Jay Leno Show for fifteen years and toured with non-jazz acts including Sting and Willie Nelson. Smith recorded a pair of albums as a leader for Concord Jazz including 1987's Keeper of the Drums and 1989's The Road Less Traveled, both featuring M-Base originator Steve Coleman. 

Kenny Barron Quintet with Christian McBride, Johnathan Blake, Immanuel Wilkins, and Mike Rodriguez

Thursday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Miner Auditorium

Barron performs with a new all-star quintet featuring bass legend Christian McBride, rising saxophone master Immanuel Wilkins, longtime drummer Johnathan Blake, and trumpeter and SFJAZZ Collective member Mike Rodriguez. They will be performing a range of material including music from Barron's new Artwork Records release, Beyond This Place, featuring Blake and Wilkins.

Kenny Barron, Solo

Friday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Miner Auditorium

A solo recital by Kenny Barron is a rare opportunity to witness the unadorned creative process of one of the greatest living pianists — an artist who leads a peerless career as a bandleader, sideman, composer, arranger, educator, and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master recipient. Though he is often heard in a trio setting — a format Barron has honed to its highest level of expression — the pianist as soloist creates an entire orchestra from the instrument, as heard brilliantly on his GRAMMY-nominated 2022 release The Source.

Kenny Barron with Orchestra

Saturday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Miner Auditorium

Kenny Barron's third night highlights his work as a composer and arranger in addition to his sterling pianism, focusing on original material and jazz classics performed with a chamber orchestra. 

Kenny Barron with Gregoire Maret, Elena Pinderhughes, and Noah Jackson

Sunday, April 13 at 7 p.m.
Miner Auditorium

Kenny Barron's final night as Resident Artistic Director is devoted to the West Coast premiere of new chamber work with an ensemble including Swiss-born harmonica virtuoso Grégoire Maret, flutist and former SFJAZZ High School All-Star Elena Pinderhughes, and cellist Noah Johnson. Don't miss this special night of new music!

Hiromi's Sonicwonder

Thursday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 19 at 4:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 20 at 7 p.m.
Miner Auditorium

No jazz pianist alive is possessed of more explosive virtuosity or thrilling unpredictability than Hiromi – a GRAMMY-winning artist the All Music Guide calls “one of the most remarkable pianists of the past half century.” Her second SFJAZZ residency with her Sonicwonder quartet features the masterful trumpeter Adam O'Farrill, French-born bass phenom Hadrien Feraud, and monster drummer Gene Coye, celebrating the release of her new Concord album, the follow-up to her 2023 debut with this project. 

Family Matinee with Grupo Falso Baiano + Special Guest

Saturday, April 19 at 11 a.m.
Miner Auditorium

Choro is Brazil's earliest popular music, and like jazz, it reflects the melding of African rhythms with European classical music and other influences. Grupo Falso Baiano's exploration of choro spans nearly 100 years, including everything from traditional to more contemporary versions and jazz-influenced reinterpretations. Join us for a lively program that traces the nuances of Brazilian choro music and its shared roots with American Jazz, showing how each evolved to create a national musical identity.

Isaac Mizrahi

Friday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Renaissance man Isaac Mizrahi is a global star — a fashion designer, television personality, actor, director, producer, and entrepreneur. To this extensive and yet incomplete list, you can add cabaret entertainer. He performs at SF Conservatory of Music's Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall with his finely wrought backing band, bringing an evening of witty commentary and cabaret classics delivered with his singular style.

Best known for his eponymous clothing brands, he is the subject and co-creator of Unzipped, a documentary that traces the evolution of his Fall 1994 collection which received an award at the Sundance Film Festival. He hosted his own television talk show The Isaac Mizrahi Show for seven years, has written two books, and has made countless appearances in movies and on television, most recently as a judge on Project Runway: All-Stars. He published his memoir IM in 2019, and in 2022 he played Amos Hart in the long-running Broadway revival of Chicago.

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