If you’re anything like me, you miss the joy of live jazz performance. Let’s face it, there’s nothing quite like the spontaneity of jazz music and improvisation at its finest. Thankfully SFJazz (from San Francisco, of course) has us covered. They launched a series called Fridays at Five and it’s a great way to fill in the gap until live performances resume. Of course, they take place at 5 PM PDT/8 PM EDT on Fridays!
These events are not free, but they are not expensive at all. For a mere five dollars, you can get an entire month’s worth of Friday performances. In other words, for approximately the same price as your daily coffee, you can get a month of jazz. That’s a bargain in my book!
When you see the line-up announced so far for Fridays at Five, you’ll realize exactly how great this offer is.
May 22nd is the first of three celebrations of saxophonist Wayne Shorter.
Shorter, who spent time as part of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet before fully launching his solo career, has been battling serious health issues and medical bills since early 2019. When he was unable to perform at SFJazz, a series of celebrations of him were put together. These concerts are from January 2019.
The first of those celebrations features Los Angeles-based musicians Kamasi Washington (saxophone), Terrace Martin (saxophone/keyboards) and Shorter’s touring musicians Danilo Pérez (piano), John Patitucci (bass) and Brian Blade (drums).
May 29th features Afro-Cuban jazz pianist, composer and arranger Chucho Valdés with his backing band Irakere 45. This performance took place in February of 2019. Valdés has six Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards.
June 5th finds the Marcus Shelby Quintet teaming up with Angela Davis in a program centered on her book Blues Legacies and Black Feminism. The book puts three jazz and blues legends front and center: “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday.
This clip is from a different concert, but will give you an idea of the musicianship involved.
Shelby, a bass-player, is joined by saxophonist Tia Fuller, pianist Tammy Hall and drummer Terri-Lyne Carrington. There are also special guests vocalists at this concert which took place May 24, 2019.
June 12th‘s concert features Rhiannon Giddens in one of the final series of concerts before SFJazz had to suspend performances earlier this year.
Giddens is the Grammy-wining singer/composer/violinist and banjo player whose most recent release was There Is No Other on Nonesuch Records.
Joining her for this concert were pianist/instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi and bassist Jason Sypher.
June 19th finds Gypsy swing taking center stage with the ensemble Paris Combo. The ensemble features Belle du Berry on vocals, David Lewis (trumpet/keyboards), Benoît Dunoyer de Segonzac (bass), François Jeannin (drums), Rémy Kaprielan (percussion) and Potzi (guitar.)
Paris Combo performs a hybrid version of Gypsy swing all its own by added Spanish, French and German elements to their arrangements.
June 26th will be the Wayne Shorter Celebration Pt. 2. Joining his band for this performance are the legendary Herbie Hancock, composer/musician Terence Blanchard and Terrace Martin.
Additional performances will be announced, but we do know that Part 3 of the Wayne Shorter Celebration is scheduled for July 31st and will feature Branford Marsalis and Terence Blanchard.
To help support the musicians, there is a virtual tip jar you can use just as you might in a club. In the case of the Shorter Celebrations, 100% of those tips will go to his ongoing medical bills.
As more Fridays at Five performances get announced, we’ll keep you updated!
Photo of Wayne Shorter courtesy of his Facebook Page.