San Jose Jazz Winter Fest is back with a lineup of classic and cutting-edge jazz performances from some of the world’s best-known performers, as well as some exciting up-and-comers.
Beginning Feb. 28 and running through March 8, Winter Fest will host 25 concerts at a variety of venues around downtown San Jose, including intimate clubs, like Cafe Stritch, and larger spaces, such as the historic Trianon Theatre.
The festival kicks off Thursday, Feb. 25, with a performance from Kadhja Bonet at The Continental Bar, Lounge and Patio in San Jose’s burgeoning SoFA arts district. The multi-instrumentalist and songwriter is currently touring behind her debut EP, The Visitor, released this past September. The five-song set of all-original material was described by NPR Music as “a cinematic and folky kind of psychedelic soul music impossible to pin down.”
Following Bonet’s performance, the John Scofield Joe Lovano Quartet take the stage Feb. 27 at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto. A bona fide jazz supergroup, Lovano is a Grammy Award-winning saxophonist and composer, while guitarist and composer Joe Lovano has also won Grammys and was nominated for two awards this past year.
Scofield has collaborated with jazz legends, including Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, and made a name for himself by melding traditional jazz with funk-flavored electronics. Lovano is one of the best known saxophonists working in jazz. He has garnered praise for his improvisational talents and his progressive approach to his instrument.
One of the leading jazz violinists of her cohort, Regina Carter is slated to perform at the Trianon Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 28. The jazz legend will be playing music from her 2014 release, Southern Comfort, which draws connections between two of her earlier albums—I’ll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (a collection of her mother’s favorite jazz standards) and Reverse Thread, which was inspired by traditional African music re-imagined and rearranged for the violin.
Winter Fest will continue the following week, picking back up Wednesday, March 2 and continuing through Tuesday, March 8. Look for more coverage of shows and events in next week’s Metro.
SJ Jazz Winter Fest
Feb 28-Mar 8, San Jose
sanjosejazz.org
