Upcoming Events › Concerts

Renowned bassist and composer Kai Eckhardt presents his latest project, a blend of funk, jazz and world music ranging from blazing instrumentals to soulful contemporary vocals. Kai’s jaw-dropping credentials include music icon Wayne Shorter, legendary guitarist John McLaughlin, jam band Garaj Mahal, Stanley Clarke, Patrice Rushen, Dewey Redman, Billy Cobham, Steve Smith, Trilok Gurtu, Zakir Hussain and many others.

Zeitgeist features some of the Bay Area’s very hottest electric jazz players — Kai Eckhardt, bass and vocals; Osam Ezzeldin, keyboards; Chris Robinson, guitar; and Deszon Claiborne, drums. Do not miss this one!

Primavera blends Afro-Cuban rhythms, Brazilian bossa, and classic American jazz for a lively set of freshly arranged jazz standards and originals. Vocalist Ana Nitmar adds spice with soulful renditions of classics from the Latin Songbook. Also featuring Dave Casini, vibes; Jane Lenoir, flute; Rick Brown, trombone; Lena Johnson, piano; Jeff McNish, guitar; David Pinto, bass; Glen Iwaoka, drums; Al Standford, percussion.

Founded in 2011 for a performance and live concert recording at NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Anthony Wilson’s Seasons Guitar Quartet features the master guitarist, composer and arranger exploring his deep rapport with three of today’s finest young jazz guitarists: Julian Lage, Chico Pinheiro, and Larry Koonse. Much more than a chops-laden supergroup, the Seasons Guitar Quartet is an ensemble in the most complete sense of the word. They combine Wilson’s rich, detailed composing and arranging with the interpretive and improvisational voices of four exceptionally strong instrumentalists and empathetic accompanists, working together to create a modern chamber-group sound based on the guitar’s various traditions — from American “roots” forms such as blues and bluegrass, to Brazilian samba and choro, to the most traditional as well as the most current edge of modern jazz.

“Nothing short of gorgeous: as close to understanding the marriage
of artist and instrument as we’ll get in this lifetime.” — DownBeat

For the last ten years, Anthony Wilson has been a member of Diana Krall’s quartet and he has appeared with a who’s who of modern music. Willie Nelson, Bobby Hutcherson, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Madeleine Peyroux, Joe Sample, and producers Tommy LiPuma and Joe Henry are just a few of the artists with whom Wilson has forged lasting partnerships. Anthony Wilson’s harmonic sophistication, technical control, and sheer suave elegance place him in the major ranks of jazz guitarists. DownBeat Magazine noted Wilson’s resemblance to Jim Hall, “in his harmonic sense and his relaxed, softly sparkling romanticism.” And the Village Voice wrote “He’s the real thing, with a voice and manner all his own and a promise that stretches to the horizon.”

Bay Area audiences will need little introduction to guitar phenoms Chico Pinheiro, Julian Lage and Larry Koonse, whose collaborations with renowned artists such as Gary Burton, Dianne Reeves and Luciana Souza have helped to create a major buzz about all three of these legends-in-the-making.

Pianist Dick Hindman, bassist Seward McCain and drummer Colin Bailey present a set of jazz standards and originals.

Pianist Dick Conte and friends celebrate his birthday in the Jazzschool’s annual benefit concert to support the Dick Conte Jazz Piano Scholarship Fund.