Miguel Zenón will perform with his quartet at the 2020 San Jose Jazz Winter Fest. Courtesy.

More than 20 world-renowned jazz and jazz-adjacent acts will take the stage next month during the annual San Jose Jazz Winter Fest, which will be held in numerous Silicon Valley performance halls and coffee houses between Feb. 14 and 29.

The concert series is headlined by by multi-Grammy-nominee Miguel Zenón—a groundbreaking and influential saxophonist—and the Miguel Zenón Quartet. Vocalist Sheléa, who blends traditional pop, jazz, R&B and soul, will perform with with San Jose State University Jazz Orchestra. 

Emmy-winner Clint Holmes, 10-time Grammy-winners Take 6, vocalist Nnenna Freelon and Grammy-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum will comprise a group that performs “Georgia on My Mind: The Music of Ray Charles.” Meanwhile, International Guitar Night returns for a 20th anniversary tour. Founder Brian Gore has assembled an eclectic team that includes English composer and guitarist Mike Dawes, fretless Turkish guitarist Cenk Erdogan, Finnish jazz virtuoso Olli Soikkeli and Hawaiian slack-key master Jim “Kimo” West.

Other performers include platinum-selling jazz vocalist Stacy Kent, musician Halie Loren, soul pianist-singer Aaron Abernathy, bandleader and sideman Matt Wilson, songwriter and actress Shayna Steele, Cajun, zydeco, and country supergroup The Revelers (featuring founding members of the Red Stick Ramblers and The Pine Leaf Boys), Korean group Black String, Afro-Cuban folk and funk-jazz group Los Hermanos Arango, Japanese pianist Yuko Mabuchi and The SJZ Collective playing the jazz fusion music of Weather Report. 

The concert series will include several up-and-coming Bay Area you jazz ensembles like San Jose Jazz U19s, Kuumbwa Jazz Honor Band and Prospect High School.

“Winter Fest continues to grow as a much-anticipated showcase exploring how jazz and its associated offshoots continues to evolve in exciting ways,” San Jose Jazz Executive Director Brendan Rawson said in a news release.

Tickets to San Jose Jazz Winter Fest 2020 are now on sale and range from $15 to $40. The youth jazz ensemble shows, held at Cafe Stritch, are free. 

Other participating venues include The Hammer Theatre, Hammer4, The Continental, Art Boutiki, Oshman Family JCC, and Poor House Bistro. For more information, visit the San Jose Jazz website.