Jason Moran

SFJAZZ had approached Moran last year about recreating Monk’s famous 1959 Town Hall concert for a performance in May 2007. Moran conceived of a larger conceptual project that would reflect upon the man himself, his history and his creative process. “It’s much larger than a tribute project,” he told the Boston Globe. “Monk is the reason I started playing piano. I owe him all the investigation I can do.” So Moran spent time in Duke University’s extensive Monk archive and visited Monk’s birthplace in the nearby town of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The performance includes an octet performance with video projections plus sound clips of Monk rehearsing his band for the now-legendary Town Hall performance.

David Sánchez

David Sánchez will be performing La Leyenda del Canavera which is a rseult of a grant David received from Chamber Music America with which he composed a piece that was inspired by a poem on the African Diaspora. The performance includes include spoken-word as well as David's musical composition which weaves Afro-Caribbean and East African elements into a piece that includes several parts, each filled with the depth and richness for which David's work is known. 

DeeDee Bridgewater©Philippe Pierangeli

Described by the Village Voice as "...the most capable jazz singer of her generation," Dee Dee Bridgewater has covered a wide swath of jazz and modern music over her career, from R&B and big band to the songs of Ella Fitzgerald, Kurt Weill and the love songs of France. Winner of two Grammys in 1998 (Best Vocal Performance and Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal), France’s Victoire de la Musique, a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (The Whiz), the 2007 Commandeur de L'Ordre des Artes et des Lettres, and countless other honors, Dee Dee is America’s—if not the world’sFirst Lady of Jazz. Now on a very limited tour with her trio and additional 7-piece band of Mali musicians, Dee Dee celebrates the release of her new recording, Red Earth: A Malian Journey (DDB), with a limited tour of the U.S., which began at the Blue Note (New York City) and Cutler Majestic Theater (Boston) earlier this month. Upcoming stops: Gem Theater/American Jazz Museum in Kansas City (October 13); Kennedy Center in Washington, DC (October 14), the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis (October 16-17); Herbst Theater for the San Francisco Jazz Festival (October 19); Mondavi Center in Davis, CA (October 20), and the Triple Door in Seattle (October 21).