Bassist

Known as a saxophonist who continues to pioneer a robust fusion of swing, bebop, R&B and blues, Hainsworth is in demand as a musician and composer/arranger. Hainsworth also serves as Associate Dean, and Executive Director Roots, Jazz, and American Music (RJAM) program. 

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Jason Hainsworth, RJAM

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

With “considerable gifts as an improviser, interpreter, and sonic trailblazer” (DownBeat), bassist Jeff Denson performs a mix of standards and original music from his most recent album Finding Light.

The renowned artist and educator has been a global force since the early aughts, when he co-founded the trio Minsarah with German pianist Florian Weber and Israeli drummer Ziv Ravitz. Before long, legendary alto saxophonist Lee Konitz adopted the group as his own, a relationship that spanned four albums and more than a dozen years. Since the release of first solo project, 2012’s Secret World, Denson has honed a melodically verdant body of original works and has performed with some of the brightest stars in jazz and beyond such as Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, Mike Clark, Omar Hakim, Rachel Z, Walter Smith III, Warren Wolf, Jane Ira Bloom, Cuong Vu, Ralph Alessi, Dayna Stephens, Wu Man, and many others.

Jeff Denson Trio

SFJAZZ Center

The Jeff Denson/Mimi Fox duo is a powerful coupling of two virtuoso musicians who are at the height of their creative talent. The marriage of guitar and bass in these two artists’ hands sounds more like an entire ensemble rather than two musicians. Denson’s expressive and powerful tenor vocals adds another dimension to the duo’s range and repertoire. With their passion, musicianship, and wealth of original compositions, as well as their unique treatment of standard and not-so-standard fare, this is a special duo not to be missed.

Jeff Denson & Mimi Fox

Paul Mahder Gallery

With “a wide harmonic palette, a sophisticated rhythmic sensibility and a refined sense of dynamics, along with an urge to swing” (DownBeat), flutist and composer Lori Bell brings her quartet The Modern Line for this celebration of Joe Henderson and more.

A San Diego-based artist originally hailing from Brooklyn, Bell is a three-time recipient of the Global Music Award who has released a dozen albums in jazz and classical settings since her 1992 debut. Her 2016 album Brooklyn Dreaming is a loving tribute to her family and birthplace was named to “Best of the Year” lists from the Huffington Post and DownBeat, who enthused, “Bell flaunts prodigious chops on both C flute and alto flute, though her pen might be mightier than her sword. Her originals all reveal a wide harmonic palette, a sophisticated rhythmic sensibility and a refined sense of dynamics, along with an urge to swing.”

Lori Bell Quartet

February 23 brings the San Diego debut of the San Francisco String Trio, featuring Bay Area-based artists Mimi Fox on guitar, Jeff Denson on bass and vocals, and Mads Tolling on violin. Denson is familiar to Athenaeum audiences from his past appearances with Parisian guitarist Romain Pilon and Brian Blade, with Lee Konitz, and with the multinational Minsarah Trio. He is joined in the San Francisco String trio by two-time Grammy winner Tolling and six-time DownBeat International Critics Poll winner Fox, who come together to create an eclectic, riveting mixture of beautiful and passionate music. Crossing every genre from tango to funk, gorgeous ballads to sizzling up-tempo originals, the San Francisco String Trio provides its audiences with a special musical experience that is both poignant and compelling. Downbeat praised the trio for its “masterful musicianship and innovative arrangements that combine elements of jazz, pop, country, rock, swing, and world music. 4 stars!” Guitar Player called them “undeniably transcendent players, arrangers, and composers.” JazzTimes celebrated guitarist Fox for her “remarkable artistry… virtuosity… and inherent musicality,” calling her a “guitarist’s guitarist.”

Bassist

Jeff Denson

Events

Past events

Feb 16, 2026

Jason Hainsworth, RJAM · San Francisco Conservatory of Music

May 18, 2025

Jeff Denson Trio · San Francisco Jazz

About

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