SFJAZZ goes virtual for 2021 festival
After being forced to cancel its 2020 San Francisco Jazz Festival due to the pandemic, SFJAZZ will present a virtual edition of the event next month.
Running June 4 to June 25, the fest will feature more than 20 broadcasts of archival performances and one live performance from the SFJAZZ Center stage on June 17.
The performances include Melissa Aldana, Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, Jazzmeia Horn, a Tribute to Ernesto Lecuona with Chucho Valdés, Michel Camilo & Gonzalo Rubalcaba, “Live from Havana” with pianist Harold López-Nussa and a program with activist and educator Angela Davis along with bassist and composer Marcus Shelby.
SFJAZZ will also present Poet Laureate Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s “The Just And The Blind,” the Thelonious Monk film “Music in Monk Time” and two family matinee performances. All of the streamed performances will only be available to SFJAZZ members. Memberships start at $5 per month and $50 annually, and can be purchased at the organization’s website.
Each broadcast will include the SFJAZZ 50/50 Fund for viewers to contribute financially to the artists performing and nonprofit organization. Since it was created in March 2020, SFJAZZ has collected more than $600,000, half of which went to artists.