Drummer

Chris Potter is a phenomenon on the sax. Whether he is pulling solo angular melody lines out of his sleeve or creating soft harmonies with his ensembles, it is always an impressive performance. At the request of the leading San Francisco Jazz Festival – where Potter since last year has been artistic director-in-residence – he wrote a new work Generations. “A meditation on the links between people through time, and on the relationships between events in the past, present and future,” this is how the saxophonist describes his creation.

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Chris Potter: Generations

BOZAR

Music Center De Bijloke

De Doelen

Celebrate the great bandleader and composer Charles Lloyd on his 85th birthday tour when he returns to Boston with his longtime quartet

Charles Lloyd New Quartet

Berklee College of Music

As a soloist, composer and bandleader, saxophonist Chris Potter has emerged as a leading light of his generation. DownBeat called him, “One of the most studied (and copied) saxophonists on the planet,” while JazzTimes identified him as, “a figure of international renown” and saxophonist Dave Liebman called him simply, “one of the best musicians around.”

AZIZA: Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Lionel Loueke & Eric Harland

Blue Note Jazz Club

With her vocal prowess, it’s no surprise that Dianne Reeves has received five Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album, an honorary doctorate of music from Julliard, and was recently named a 2018 National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master – the highest honor the United States bestows on jazz artists. The albums in her Blue Note discography are among the finest jazz vocal albums every made, featuring side players who are all giants in their own rights — Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Tony Williams, Freddie Hubbard, and many others. To close this special 50th Anniversary concert, Dianne will be accompanied by her quintet and by a full orchestra conducted by multi-Grammy winner Vince Mendoza.
The SJW 50th Anniversary Band is truly a superband of musicians who have shaped the sound of jazz in recent decades. The astonishing artists of this ensemble share one thing in common: time at SJW as young jazz musicians. Now they’re going to be raising a glass — and their horns and voices — to celebrate 50 years of the Stanford Jazz Workshop.

Dianne Reeves with Quintet and Orchestra / SJW 50th Anniversary Band

Stanford University

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

It was at the Stanford Jazz Festival in 2017 that Lisa Fischer (Rolling Stones, Sting, 20 Feet from Stardom) and Grammy-winning pianist and SJW alumnus Taylor Eigsti first played as a duo — and the world stood still. Every note of those first songs still resonates with Lisa and Taylor, so much so that they took their duo on tour. Now they’ve crafted an entire evening of music for you. Lisa will astonish you with her vocal mastery and stage magic, and together with Taylor she’ll reach directly into your soul in this special concert.

Ms. Lisa Fischer with Taylor Eigsti, Ben Williams and Lisa Fischer

Touring regularly with trumpeter Terrance Blanchard’s band, Charles Altura is a singular new voice of jazz guitar. Adventurous yet melodic, Altura’s own music has elements of many of the great artists with whom he’s toured and recorded, such as the late Chick Corea, Tom Harrell, and fellow SJW alumni Ambrose Akinmusire and Dayna Stephens.

Peter Bernstein gave the classic organ trio format new life as a member of the Larry Goldings Trio in the early ’90s, and his mastery of the idiom and the guitar give him a style all his own. A virtuoso’s virtuoso, Bernstein’s music never fails to excite and delight the audience.

Charles Altura and Peter Bernstein featuring Larry Grenadier, Eric Harland and Johnathan Blake

James Francies has a talent that comes along only once in a generation. A graduate of the renowned Houston High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and an alumnus of SJW, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, James had joined the Pat Metheny Side-Eye trio, toured with Chris Potter, performed with R&B superstars such as Lauryn Hill and José James, appeared with The Roots on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon alongside his mentor and friend, Questlove — and released his Blue Note debut, Flight.

George Cables one of the true greats of jazz piano. He has the touch and swing of Oscar Peterson, the harmonic inventiveness of Herbie Hancock, the strength of McCoy Tyner, and yet his sound is unmistakably his own. George spent his formative years playing with saxophone giants Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, and Joe Henderson, and his collaborations with alto star Art Pepper, vibes virtuoso Bobby Hutcherson, and trumpet masters Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard yielded recordings that are on every critic’s must-have list. George is going to deliver a performance you won’t want to miss.

Eric Harland

Drummer

Events

9 - 11 Feb, 2024

Chris Potter: Generations · Casco Phil

Oct 15, 2023

Charles Lloyd New Quartet · Celebrity Series of Boston

17 - 20 Aug, 2023

AZIZA: Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Lionel Loueke & Eric Harland · Blue Note New York

Jul 30, 2022

Dianne Reeves with Quintet and Orchestra / SJW 50th Anniversary Band · Stanford Jazz Workshop

Jul 29, 2022

SJW All-Star Jam · Stanford Jazz Workshop

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