Drummer

The series opens on Wednesday, October 29, with an Athenaeum debut by the Kris Davis Trio, featuring Davis on piano, Robert Hurst on bass, and Johnathan Blake on drums. Recognized in the DownBeat Critics Poll as Pianist of the Year in 2025, 2022, and 2020, Davis has become one of the most celebrated jazz pianists of her generation.

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Kris Davis Trio

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

Kris Davis is a Grammy award-winning pianist and composer described by The New York Times as a beacon for “deciding where to hear jazz on a given night.”

Kris Davis Trio feat. Robert Hurst & Johnathan Blake

Cadillac Square

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 Quintet

SFJAZZ Center

The guitarist and composer’s third album for Blue Note Records
, Four, is a stunning 13-track meditation on loss, renewal, and friendships, proffering new interpretations of previously recorded Frisell originals as well as nine new tunes.

Bill Frisell ‘Four’

Cadogan Hall 

Chris Potter joins Brad Mehldau to create a new quartet with John Patitucci and Johnathan Blake that represents the jazz played in the 2000s at the highest levels.



Gil Evans' orchestra wrote one of the most beautiful chapters in the history of Umbria Jazz. Now Pete Levin, one of the members of that band, has brought together some musicians from Evans' orchestras of the 70s and 80s in the Gil Evans Remembered project.

Potter / Mehldau / Patitucci / Blake Gil Evans Remembered

Arena Santa Giuliana

Join us for an unforgettable evening of jazz with the Kenny Barron Quintet at the Paradise Jazz Series. This special performance will take place on Friday, April 19, 2024, at 8:00 pm in the iconic Orchestra Hall, located at 3711 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI. The concert promises to be a remarkable showcase of jazz mastery, lasting approximately 2 hours.

Kenny Barron, a composer, pianist, educator, and NEA Jazz Master, leads the quintet. Barron's illustrious career is highlighted by his induction into the National Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009 and the American Jazz Hall of Fame in 2005. With over 40 albums released, 13 Grammy nominations, and collaborations with legends like Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, Stan Getz, and Yusef Lateef, Barron's performance is a testament to his status as a jazz icon. His piano skills, known for timeless classics and innovative improvisations, make him a peerless performer recognized worldwide.

The Kenny Barron Quintet lineup features:
- Kenny Barron on piano
- Kiyoshi Kitagawa on bass
- Johnathan Blake on drums
- Mike Rodriquez on trumpet
- Riko Sasari on alto saxophone

Tickets for this must-see event start at a special price, offering everyone the chance to experience the magic of Kenny Barron and his quintet live. Don't miss this opportunity to witness a master of performance and composition in one of Detroit's most beloved venues.

For tickets and more information, visit the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's website or contact the box office directly. Join us for a night of exceptional jazz that celebrates the rich musical heritage and ongoing legacy of the Kenny Barron Quintet.

Orchestra Hall

For this exclusive evening, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane explores the music of his legendary parents John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane.

Although Coltrane has delved into his father’s work on occasion, including serving as artistic director for SFJAZZ’s weeklong celebration of the 50th Anniversary of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme in 2014, this performance is his serious re-examination of the singular work of both his parents. Coltrane is furthering his family legacy by “embracing jazz’s past only as a means to communicate his own modern-day voice.” (Okayplayer)

Ravi Coltrane: Cosmic Music with special guests

Coltrane’s powerful acoustic quartet with pianist David Virelles, bassist Dezron Douglas, and drummer Johnathan Blake honors the life and legacy of the saxophonist’s lifelong friend, mentor, and collaborator Pharoah Sanders who passed away in 2022. Joining them for this night of spiritual journeys and sonic exploration is a pair of very special guests, tenor master Joe Lovano and Sanders’ son, multi-instrumentalist Tomoki Sanders.

Ravi Coltrane: Pharoah Sanders Tribute

Ravi Coltrane settles into his week as Resident Artistic Director with a pair of cutting-edge bands that focus on his original compositions. His trio is a decidedly electrified distillation of the young band from his Cosmic Music project featuring keyboardist Gadi Lehavi and drummer Elé Howell. His veteran acoustic quartet, now dubbed Coltraxx, includes pianist David Virelles, bassist Dezron Douglas, and drummer Johnathan Blake.



Ravi Coltrane Electric Band & Coltraxx

Known worldwide for his 15-year membership in Kenny Barron’s working trio and sideman duty with Pharoah Sanders, Chris Potter, and Tom Harrell among others, one of the most accomplished and in-demand drummers in modern jazz makes his West Coast debut as a leader with these four nights, joined by his dynamic quintet Pentad. Featuring Bay Area raised saxophone great Dayna Stephens and piano phenom Fabian Almazan along with young vibraphone virtuoso Jalen Baker and Blake’s longtime collaborator, bassist Dezron Douglas, the group performs material from Blake’s fourth album and 2021 Blue Note debut Homeward Bound.



Johnathan Blake's Pentad

Expanding his stellar working trio to a quintet with the addition of SFJAZZ Collective trumpeter Mike Rodriguez and Bay Area-raised saxophone great Dayna Stephens, Kenny Barron explores new sonorities and textures in a program of originals and fresh takes on standards documented on his 2018 Blue Note album Concentric Circles.

Starting his week as Resident Artistic Director in grand style, Kenny Barron performs with his ironclad working trio with bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake. Kitagawa’s 27-year association with Barron and Blake’s nearly twenty-year tenure have made them the finest working piano trio in jazz, a unit that has developed a singular depth of communication as captured on Barron’s 2016 Impulse! album Book of Intuition — a sterling session nominated for “Best Instrumental Jazz Recording” at the 2016 GRAMMY Awards.

Kenny Barron Trio

Jazz at One returns to St. Paul's Chapel on November 6, at 1pm, with Johnathan Blake, one of the most accomplished drummers in a generation and a frequent presence on Blue Note records. Presented in collaboration with JAZZ HOUSE KiDS. Free.

Jazz at One: Johnathan Blake

St. Paul's Chapel

NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron is a “pianist, composer, and bandleader of apparently infinite resource and ingenuity” (The Guardian). At Carnegie Hall alone, Barron has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Freddie Hubbard, Charlie Haden, Kathleen Battle, and dozens more, and he now makes his long-awaited return during his 80th-birthday celebration year. His long-standing, Grammy-nominated Trio represents “the pinnacle of the jazz-piano tradition” (JazzTimes), with repertoire that spans 60 years of Barron’s original compositions and influential classics by Thelonious Monk and more.

Kenny Barron Voyage Trio

Carnegie Hall

An eagerly-anticipated annual tradition at SJW, this concert presents some of the greatest artists in jazz, performing in combinations familiar and unfamiliar, delivering performances of unrivalled intensity, passion, and excitement. Among the artists you’ll hear are Kenny Barron, George Cables, Peter Bernstein, Rufus Reid, Larry Grenadier, Taylor Eigsti, and many others.

SJW All-Star Jam

Stanford University

This is the jazz trio at its finest. Jazz legend Kenny Barron is one of the great composers and bandleaders, whose credits include long stints with Philly Joe Jones, Roy Haynes, Lee Morgan, James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Milt Jackson, Buddy Rich, Yusef Lateef, and many more. With Charlie Rouse, Ben Riley, and Buster Williams, he co-founded the band Sphere, devoted to the music of Thelonious Monk. Johnathan Blake is a trail-blazing musician, bandleader, and composer in his own right, but is also a regular member of Kenny’s trio — and his favorite drummer. Bassist Rufus Reid, an SJW family member for many years, is himself one of the greats of jazz, as a performer, educator, and composer. In fact, both Rufus and Kenny first played and taught at SJW in the 1980s with Stan Getz.

Kenny Barron with Rufus Reid and Johnathan Blake

One of the living legends of jazz, alto saxophonist Charles McPherson has been a sideman with some of the greatest artists in the history of the music, including Charles Mingus, Barry Harris, Billy Eckstein, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat Adderley, and many others. Many jazz fans may have marveled at Charles’ mastery without knowing it: He played Charlie Parker’s solo parts in the movie, Bird. Recording regularly for Prestige and Fantasy as a leader, his recordings comprise a veritable history of bebop and post-bop. Charles’ sound is the very definition of jazz, and his masterful playing represents bebop at its highest evolution.

Charles McPherson with Randy Porter, Russell Hall And Johnathan Blake

In her Run the Gauntlet album, Kris Davis, accompanied by the extraordinary talents of bassist Robert Hurst and drummer Johnathan Blake, pays homage to six trailblazing women pianists who have influenced her development as a pianist and composer. Seamlessly melding composition with improvisation, this album stands as a testament to Davis’ singular voice within the jazz landscape.

Drummer

Johnathan Blake

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 7, 2026

Kris Davis Trio · Celebrity Series of Boston

Past events

Oct 29, 2025

Kris Davis Trio · Chamber Music SoCal

Sep 1, 2025

Kris Davis Trio feat. Robert Hurst & Johnathan Blake · Detroit Jazz Festival

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