Hammer Theatre Center Announces Black Cab Jazz Series

Hammer Theatre Center has announced it will once again heat up the South Bay with its sizzling Black Cab Jazz Series, presenting today's hottest jazz artists in its intimate Hammer4 Studio, which features cabaret style 4-top seating. Launching in November 2022 and continuing through February 2023, the series - a collaboration between the Hammer Theatre, San Jose Jazz, and San José State University - will introduce local audiences to a diverse lineup, from one of Africa's most popular musicians, to a leading jazz pianist, a groundbreaking Grammy-nominated saxophonist (and first female instrumentalist to win the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition), closing with another of America's most respected jazz pianists. Curated by San Jose Jazz, the Black Cab Jazz Series will be presented from November 6, 2022-February 22, 2023 (dates/times below) at the Hammer4 Studio, 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose.

For more information or to purchase tickets ($25-$35), the public may visit hammertheatre.com or call (408) 924-8501.

The Black Cab Jazz lineup includes:

Habib Koité

7:00pm, Sunday, November 6, 2022

Hammer Theatre Center launches its Black Cab Jazz series with Malian guitarist Habib Koité, one of Africa's most popular and recognized musicians - and one of the few African artists to appear on Late Night with David Letterman. He takes a unique approach to playing the guitar, tuning his instrument to the pentatonic scale and playing on open strings as one would on a ngoni, a traditional West African guitar. Unlike the griots, Koité's singing style is restrained and intimate with varying cadenced rhythms and melodies. With more than 400,000 albums sold and over 1,700 concerts performed around the world, Koité has built an exemplary career with a foot firmly rooted in his culture. He has also participated in memorable theme tours alongside other artists.

Emmet Cohen

7:00pm, Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Hammer Theatre Center rounds out November with multifaceted American jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen. Praised by DownBeat for his "nimble touch, measured stride, and warm harmonic vocabulary," Cohen has performed, recorded, or collaborated with Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, Jimmy Heath, Tootie Heath, Houston Person, Christian McBride, Kurt Elling, Billy Hart, Herlin Riley, Lea DeLaria, and Bill T. Jones. Past appearances include major international jazz festivals, Lincoln Center's Rose Theater, and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as headline performances at the Village Vanguard and other major New York jazz clubs. During the COVID-19 lockdown he created "Live From Emmet's Place," a weekly livestream that received millions of internet views worldwide. He is also the leader of the Emmet Cohen Trio and a Mack Avenue artist.

Melissa Aldana

7:00pm, Friday, February 3, 2023

Hammer Theatre Center continues its Black Cab Jazz series with Grammy-nominated saxophonist and composer Melissa Aldana, who has garnered international recognition for her visionary work as a band leader, as well as her deeply meditative interpretation of language and vocabulary. Her album Visions was among the best albums of 2019 for NPR Music and earned the saxophonist her first-ever Grammy nomination for "Best Improvised Jazz Solo." Born in Santiago, Chile, Aldana took up the saxophone at age six under her father's tutelage. She performed in Santiago jazz clubs in her early teens and was invited by pianist Danilo Pérez to play at the Panama Jazz Festival in 2005. In 2013, at the age of 24, Aldana became the first female instrumentalist and the first South American musician to win the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, in which her father had been a semi-finalist in 1991.

Orrin Evans

7:00pm, Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Hammer Theater Center ends its Black Cab Jazz series on a high note with pianist Orrin Evans. During his quarter-century career, Evans became the model of a fiercely independent artist who pushed the envelope in all directions. Never supported by a major record label, Evans made a name for himself, earning the #1 ranking as "Rising Star Pianist" in the 2018 DownBeat Critics Poll. Grammy nominations for the Smoke Sessions albums The Intangible Between and Presence, by Evans's Capital Black Big Band, solidifies his legacy as a bandleader and composer. His collaborative projects include the Eubanks Evans Experience, a duo with eminent guitarist Kevin Eubanks; the Brazilian unit Terreno Comum; Evans' working trio with bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Mark Whitfield, Jr.; and Tar Baby, a collective trio of 20 years standing with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Nasheet Waits.

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