The 10 Best Jazz Shows in the Bay Area This Fall

You’re probably read reports about “the jazz revival” every year for the past 10 years, with a different framing each time. Millennials! Kendrick! London! Spiritual jazz! Chicago! Robert Glasper! Japan! Laufey! Gen Z!

The fact is, in the Bay Area (as in every major city in the world), jazz has never gone away. The mainstream pokes its head in every once in a while and goes, “huh, cool,” and Pinterest mood boards light up for a while. But you can’t revive something that’s already alive and well.

For proof, look no further than the variety of venues hosting jazz in the Bay Area this fall: rock clubs, folk havens, big theaters, back rooms, basements and concert halls. Read on for our picks of the next few months’ best jazz shows.

The Messthetics with James Brandon Lewis

Sept. 10, 2024
Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco

They’re one of the all-time great punk rhythm sections: former Fugazi bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty. Throw in a guitarist equally adept at angular solos as noisy chords and melodic riffs, and a saxophonist known for avant-garde live sets, and you’ve got a quartet ready to take you on an unforgettable ride. I routinely advocate for jazz getting into non-jazz spaces like rock clubs — this may be the first time a group signed to Impulse Records plays at the Rickshaw Stop.

Jazzmeia Horn

Sept. 10, 2024
Yoshi’s, Oakland

Yoshi’s may have a reputation for R&B and fusion these days (and, increasingly, the occasional hip-hop veteran), but straight-ahead jazz still has a cozy home at the venerable club. As examples, see upcoming shows by saxophonist Kenny Garrett (Nov. 1) or pianist Benny Green (Nov. 20) — or, this Monday night show with rising phenomenon Jazzmeia Horn, a dazzling singer who delivers full-throated belters and hushed ballads with emotional precision.

Khalil El’Zabar and the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble

Sept. 17, 2024
Cornerstone, Berkeley

If you’re already plotting to see the Sun Ra Arkestra’s three-night residency at the Great American Music Hall in November, consider this a nearly required pre-game. Performing what he calls “improvised soul,” Khalil El’Zabar formed the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble in the 1970s and has spread its soothing musical balm ever since. Most recently seen in the Bay Area for a duo performance with saxman David Murray, El’Zabar returns to do what he’s done best for over 50 years.

Kenneth Whalum

Sept. 19-22, 2024
Black Cat, San Francisco

Hot on the heels of an Isaiah Collier residency (Sept. 12–15), the Black Cat brings back Kenneth Whalum for four sure-to-be-packed nights. A saxophonist and former backup singer for Maxwell, Kenneth Whalum has carved his own path of modern, off-kilter soul. Skittering drum patterns and effective loops underpin his heart-on-the-sleeve songwriting, and in a small basement club like the Black Cat, the effect is mesmerizing.

Marcos Valle and Azymuth

Sept. 22, 2024
UC Theatre, Berkeley

Once the haven for midnight screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show as well as the site of film director Werner Herzog’s famous shoe-eating, the UC Theatre has of late become a home for international musicians making rare appearances on U.S. shores. After exciting bookings of Ethiopian jazz master Mulatu Astatke and Brazilian legend Arthur Verocai, the University Avenue landmark hosts Brazilian artist Marcos Valle, whose fluency in bossa nova, samba and pop is augmented by Brazilian jazz fusion trio Azymuth on this singular double bill.

Marc Ribot 70th Birthday with Mary Halvorsen

Sept. 22, 2024 at SFJAZZ, San Francisco
Sept. 23, 2024 at Kwuumba Jazz Center, Santa Cruz

Marc Ribot is the original snake-charmer guitarist, having added just the right Eric Dolphy-coded textures to Tom Waits’ 1980s work in New York City. In the years since, whether as a member of John Zorn’s Electric Masada or leading a trio at the Village Vanguard, he’s shown that his enduring well of ideas has no bottom. For these shows, with a group including the exceptionally gifted guitarist Mary Halvorsen, Ribot celebrates his 70th birthday in style.

Michael Feinstein: A Tribute to Tony Bennett

Oct. 6, 2024
Green Music Center, Rohnert Park

A cabaret legend whose San Francisco club Feinstein’s at the Nikko is an oasis for the Great American Songbook, Michael Feinstein has been missing Tony Bennett. (Haven’t we all?) In this tribute to his friend, who died last year at 96, Feinstein sings Bennett’s classics — “Fly Me to the Moon,” “The Best Is Yet to Come” — backed by the Carnegie Hall Jazz Ensemble and interspersed with his own remembrances and anecdotes of the man.

Amina Scott

Oct. 26, 2024
The Back Room, Berkeley

Amina Scott may live in New Orleans now, but like a certain presidential candidate, the bassist hasn’t forgotten her Oakland roots. Last seen in the Bay Area holding down the low end for Howard Wiley’s set of Gospel-influenced numbers, Scott returns to lead her own group on a tour for her debut album, Where the Wild Seed Grows — at the cozy and intimate Back Room, no less.

Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci, Brian Blade

Oct. 28, 2024 at Kwuumba Jazz Center, Santa Cruz
Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at SFJAZZ, San Francisco

As Wayne Shorter’s longtime working unit, there is no better group to honor the late saxophonist and composer than Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade. Shorter’s compositions offer so much space for exploration, and with the addition of Mark Turner on saxophone to fill Shorter’s huge shoes, expect a journey that’ll leave many footprints. (The following week at SFJAZZ on Nov. 2 and 3, the trio of Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Storey and Linda May Han Oh leads some deep explorations of their own.)

Lizz Wright

Nov. 15, 2024
Freight & Salvage, Berkeley

As a listening room in the folk tradition, Freight & Salvage isn’t exactly famous for jazz. But Lizz Wright has also proven to be a shapeshifter: raised in the church in Georgia, she moves between styles fluidly with her beautiful voice. The twangy “Sweet Feeling,” from her latest album Shadow, could fit right in on any acoustic setlist at the Freight on your average weekend. This marks an opportunity to see her in an intimate, quiet setting.