Artists: Adam Shulman (stepping in for Glen Pearson), Leon Joyce Jr., Ruth Davies, Melecio Magdaluyo, Mike Olmos

Description: Jazz pianist and educator Adam Shulman spearheads a special program on the music and life of Thelonious Monk, and how he pioneered new directions in jazz performance. Shulman’s all-star ensemble discusses and highlights how Monk’s piano improvisation and compositions inspired a direction in jazz that’s still being studied and pursued by current generations. *Note that Adam Shulman subbed for Glen Pearson. 

Artists: Marcus Shelby, Paul Flores, Tiffany Austin, Bill Ortiz, Gaea Shell, Sly Randolph

Description: The Marcus Shelby Quintet performs a special concert for students highlighting some of the songs that have played a central part in the struggle for human rights as well as the struggle for Civil Rights. Much of this music was born out of the creative minds of musicians, poets, and writers who were on the artistic frontlines of the battlefield for abolishing slavery, advocating for women’s suffrage, ending segregation, as well as in support of ChicanX rights, LGBTQ rights, and the rights of the disabled. 

Artists: Marcus Shelby, Tiffany Austin, James Mahone, Joe Warner, Sly Randolph

Description: The Blues is an authentic art form, born out of the conditions of slavery, that is the foundation of American music. In this interactive performance, Marcus Shelby and his quintet demonstrate the relationship of various blues forms, spirituals, work songs, field hollers, and blues shouts used by freedom fighters such as Harriet Tubman and other runaway slaves to gain their freedom.

Artists: Shae Fiol, Julie Acosta, Mireya Ramos, Eunice Aparicio

Description: This concert highlights the evolution of the mariachi tradition as presented by Grammy Winners Mariachi Flor de Toloache, New York City’s first and only all­-women mariachi group. While working to preserve centuries-old traditions of mariachi, their melange of the traditional and the modern pushes the boundaries of the genre and brings Mariachi music to new audiences. 

Artists: Rebeca Mauleón, Karl Perazzo, Bill Ortiz, Mathew Charles Heulitt, Jesús Diaz, Gary Brown, Josh Jones

Description: Pianist, bandleader, and SFJAZZ Director of Education Rebeca Mauleón is joined by some of the Bay Area’s top musicians in presenting a mini-history of our shared Latino musical heritage, tracing the foundations of the music from its African roots through present-day sounds. SFJAZZ Education is proud to honor Latino Heritage with this exciting and interactive program that introduces students to the rich musical traditions of the Bay Area.

Artists: Rebeca Mauleón, Christelle Durandy, Obrayan Calderón, Bill Ortiz, Mario “Mayito” Salomón, Jesús Diaz, Ernesto Mazar Kindelán 

Description: Known as “the island of music,” Cuba has given the world a legacy of captivating musical styles, exciting dance moves, and many of the instruments common to popular music throughout the world. In honor of Latino Heritage, SFJAZZ celebrates some of Latin music’s most enduring rhythms. Featuring some of the Bay Area’s leading Cuban music experts, and led by SFJAZZ Director of Education and pianist Rebeca Mauleón, this concert traces the extraordinary legacy of the island’s many contributions to the popular Latin dance music of today.

Artists: Terrence Brewer, Kev Choice, Dan Wolf, Tommy Shepard, Geechi Taylor, Scott Thompson, Jeff Marrs

Description: Multiple award-winning jazz guitarist Terrence Brewer and Hip-Hop luminary Kev Choice combine for a special program on the roots of Hip-Hop, and how jazz was, and is still, an intergalactic part of Hip-Hop’s birth and development. Brewer and Choices’ all-star ensemble highlight how the improvised nature, expression of personal narratives, and vast musical sounds found in jazz, have directly led to hip-hop becoming the vehicle of self-expression for generations. 

Artists: Terrence Brewer, Naima Shalhoub, Anne Sadjera, Adam Gay, Micha McClain, Kasey Knudsen

Description: Award-winning guitarist, educator, composer, and recording artist Terrence Brewer and his quintet, featuring vocalist, composer, musician, actress, and educator Naima Shalhoub, present an interactive, multimedia concert experience. This School Day Concert explores how the American spirit was and continues to be reflected in the birth and evolution of jazz, this nation’s indigenous art form.

Artist: Aneesa Strings, Ruthie Price, Courtney Knott, Sundra Manning

Description: Through collective performance between artist and audience, Aneesa Strings and her ensemble will demonstrate the different ways that listening to instrumental music can improve the cognitive functions of the brain that lead to increased ability to focus, identify emotions, and build social and self-awareness. Jazz, an American art form born as a response to highly emotional and volatile conditions of the fateful trans-Atlantic slave trade, will be the vehicle used to illustrate the effects that learning, creating, and listening to improvised music can have on mood, adaptability, and self-esteem.

Artist: Destiny Muhammad, Leon Boyce, Jr., Eric Vogler

Description: Discover Jazz as the sound of Social Justice. Explore the music, stories, and contributions of artists and bandleaders such as Dorothy Ashby, Alice Coltrane, Brandee Younger and Destiny Muhammad.

Artist: Miguel Govea, Susan Peña, Rene Peña-Govea, Cecilia Peña-Govea

Description: SFJAZZ Education presents “Latino Heritage: Celebrating the cultural legacy of the Caribbean and Latin America,” a specially designed assembly for middle schools that introduces students to the rich musical traditions of Latin America, as demonstrated by La Familia Peña-Govea.

Artist: Héctor Lugo, Camilo Landau, Roman “Ito” Carrillo, Ayla Dávila, Shefali Shah

Description: In this exciting assembly specially designed for middle school students, La Mixta Criolla presents a panoramic view of the musical traditions of Puerto Rico. Through song, dance, and verse, we will trace the Island’s musical journey all the way back from its Taíno aboriginal, African, and Spanish-Mediterranean roots to its expressions today in the Bay Area. SFJAZZ Education is proud to present this exciting and interactive program that introduces middle school students to the rich musical traditions of the Bay Area.