SFJAZZ Center Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

One year ago today, the SFJAZZ Center opened its doors to the public! Two days afterward, SFJAZZ hosted an unprecedented Grand Opening Concert followed by two weeks of sold out, timeless concerts christening the stage of Robert N. Miner Auditorium. The Grand Opening Concert itself featured McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Bill Cosby, Bobby Hutcherson, Esperanza Spalding, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, SFJAZZ Artistic Directors (Bill Frisell, John Santos, Miguel Zenón, Regina Carter & Jason Moran), SFJAZZ Collective, Mary Stallings, Eric Reed, Eric Harland & the award-winning SFJAZZ High School All-Stars! Good thing NPR filmed it.

It's been a whirlwind since! Check out some highlights from Grand Opening week.

SFJAZZ Center on Opening Night

Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding & Jeff Ballard

The Red Carpet

The SFJAZZ Collective

Bill Cosby, Miguel Zenón & Pete Escovedo's Band

SFJAZZ High School All-Stars

SFJAZZ Poet Laureate Ishmael Reed

Joshua Redman, Joe Lovano, Matt Penman, Jeff Ballard & John Santos

Herman Leonard Photography Installation

McCoy Tyner & Bobby Hutcherson

Robert N. Miner Auditorium, Opening Week

Esperanza Spalding & Eric Harland

Mary Stallings

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, After Party at the Rickshaw Stop

Last Thursday, singer Mary Stallings put simply while reflecting on the SFJAZZ Center: "All the great ones who didn't make it. I know they're looking down right now and saying, 'YES!'" In recognition of the Center's One-Year Anniversary, SFJAZZ Members enjoy a 25% discount to all of Bill Frisell's shows this coming weekend!

More photos of the Grand Opening, Season 1, 31st San Francisco Jazz Festival, 2013 Summer Sessions and Season 2 at SFJAZZ Flickr.

Bill Cosby Live – A Benefit For SFJAZZ

The Legend Returns on August 26th: For A Good Cos!

  

“This is your place,” Bill Cosby told a sold-out crowd at the grand opening of the SFJAZZ Center. Cosby came out of the Philly housing projects to become one of America’s most successful and influential performers, recording hit comedy records, shattering racial barriers on TV with his starring role on “I Spy” in the ‘60s and with the perception-changing “The Cosby Show” in the ‘80s, one of the most successful television series of all-time.
 
A drummer and piano player, Cosby’s improvisational approach to comedy is fueled by his lifelong passion for jazz. Cosby even draws from his own experience as an aspiring young jazz musician for material. In his 1973 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show (below), Cosby recounts a hilarious instance sitting in at a jam session in Philly, where legendary saxophonist Sonny Stitt counted off the well-known, up-tempo standard “Cherokee” at lightning speed.
 

Cosby and his wife, Camille, were so taken with the new SFJAZZ Center and its vision that he decided to do a benefit for us!

Bill Cosby Live

A Benefit for SFJAZZ

Monday, August 26th 2013 - 7:30PM

Robert N. Miner Auditorium, SFJAZZ Center

For more information, please visit sfjazz.org.