Press Quotes
Press Quotes
General SFJAZZ
General SFJAZZ
"The most venerable of all music festivals..." — The Huffington Post
"What a way to swing." — San Jose Mercury News
"I love the education, the music that’s coming out of [SFJAZZ]. Jazz at Lincoln Center has nothing but support and love for them." — Wynton Marsalis
"The leading jazz presenter in San Francisco and one of the most important in the United States." — Chicago Tribune
"I love that SFJAZZ has such an inclusive appetite for booking artists, often beyond jazz." — Dore Stein, KALW
"Arguably the most ambitious jazz presenting organization in the country." — San Jose Mercury News
"A crowning glory of the jazz calendar." — Travel & Leisure
"The best jazz soiree in America." — Chicago Tribune
"The #1 jazz festival in the world." — London Observer
"The San Francisco Jazz Festival has once again laid its claim as one of America’s premier cultural events." — Los Angeles Times
"The nation’s best jazz Festival." — Pittsburg Post-Gazette
"The finest such jazz event this city has ever seen and heard...superb festival." — San Francisco Chronicle
"For three full weeks in the fall, the City by the Bay is the jazz capital of the world." — USA Today
"Something New Yorkers could get jealous about." — The New York Times
"SFJAZZ has grown into a non-profit civic institution of international significance." — San Francisco Bay Guardian
"The City’s swankiest showcase for aural sophisticates." — SF Weekly
"The pre-eminent event of its kind in the United States." — Chicago Tribune
"The crown jewel among American jazz festivals." — Chicago Tribune
"On the basis of the opening days of this year’s anniversary edition, SFJAZZ deserved high marks in its accommodation of both community and development." — JazzTimes Magazine
SFJAZZ Center
SFJAZZ Center
"When the Center opens it will only formalize what we already know. There may be New Orleans and New York, and other places, but San Francisco is a great jazz city." — ABC7, KGO-TV San Francisco
"The SFJAZZ Center is ambitious in its vision to present the diverse spectrum of jazz in a first-rate facility." — San Francisco Chronicle
"The new home of SFJAZZ is not only an important development for a vital organization in our city; it’s also a welcome addition to the rich cultural fabric of San Francisco." — Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom
"For the first time, jazz in America will have a counterpart to the symphony hall, an edifice that proclaims the value of jazz to anyone who sees it on the street." — The Chicago Tribune
"Jazz music will soon have a new, permanent home in San Francisco." — ABC7, KGO-TV San Francisco
"Everything in the building will be adjusted for SFJAZZ’s top priority: music." — The New York Times, Bay Area Blog
"We can look forward to new and emerging talent to be fostered by the building of this exciting new art facility for SFJAZZ." — SFGate.com
"As a long-time supporter of the arts, I am delighted to welcome this new facility to San Francisco." — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
"The upshot will be the elevation of jazz to the same level of cultural importance as symphonic classical music, opera, theater and other arts -- deserving a steady home and full facilities for cultivating new generations of talent. Expect a lot more educational programs, lectures, small-scale shows and lots more." — San Francisco Examiner
"The SFJAZZ Center represents a major transformation for SFJAZZ." — Srinija Srinivasan, SFJAZZ Board of Trustees
"The goal is for the Center to become a central meeting point for the organization’s educational outreach programs for children and adults throughout the Bay Area." — JazzTimes
"The addition of the SFJAZZ Center provides San Francisco visitors and residents alike a permanent, year-round home to continue to showcase what is widely regarded as one of the world’s finest jazz festivals." — Matt Stiker, SF Convention & Visitors Bureau
"The SFJAZZ Center will expand SFJAZZ’s education outreach to Bay Area children and adults through new lecture series, additional rehearsal spaces and opportunities to interact with world-class artists." — Salt Lake City Tribune
"These are the kinds of risk-taking initiatives that are needed, and it's no surprise that they're coming from musical entrepreneurs who have already proven they have what it takes to build audiences with inclusive, forward-looking events." — Jazz Chronicles
SFJAZZ Collective
SFJAZZ Collective
"By following this all-star octet year to year, it's possible to chart the flow of new developments in jazz." — San Jose Mercury News
"The Collective demonstrates the ability to look beyond jazz for inspiration while still remaining true to its core concept." — All About Jazz
"The influence of eight of the most important jazz musicians in the world covering (Wonder) tunes will certainly shape the next five years." — RVAJazz (Richmond, VA)
"In its eight-year existence, the SFJAZZ Collective has gone from triumph to triumph." — All About Jazz
"A brilliant mix of post-bop reconstructions of the Motown icon's classics like "VIsions" and "Do I Do," alongside the groups lovingly rendered originals." — DownBeat
"What its members bring to the table as composers, arrangers and players... that's the real reason the SFJAZZ Collective continues to be so successful." — All About Jazz
"You can propose various definitions for what this band represents, but it’s a superbrain for what serious jazz sounds like now." — The New York Times
"The Collective [is] the best kind of jazz laboratory; one where the heroes of the past are celebrated alongside these relatively young icons in the making." — All About Jazz
"There hasn't been a group to call itself "the All Stars" — at least not without irony — since the death of Louis Armstrong, but this collective deserves the title more than any other band playing today." — Wall Street Journal
"Collectives are only as strong as their weakest links, and there are none to be found in the latest lineup of the SFJAZZ Collective." — JazzTimes Magazine
"It's truly less about the individual and absolutely more about the concept of the collective that gives this group its enduring voice." — All About Jazz
"They're great for both iconic repertory and pointed individualism." — The Village Voice
"It takes a brave soul to tackle the music of Stevie Wonder. The latest incarnation of the SFJAZZ Collective happens to contain eight of them." — San Francisco Chronicle
"Nothing to shake sticks at..." — Bohemian
"The Collective demonstrates that decades-old music needn't lose its contemporary relevance — not, at least, in the hands of a group this encyclopedic in its knowledge of tradition, but just as versed in the foundation of jazz as a living, breathing and forward-reaching thing. As definitive of the modern mainstream as it gets." — All About Jazz
"A reliably superb all-star confab." — The New York Times
"Something of a latter-day Jazz Messengers." — All About Jazz
"Jazz repertory was dealt a rich hand when this Left Coast initiative launched back in 2004." — The Village Voice
"A stunning example of what can happen when seven extremely talented and versatile musicians lay aside their egos for the common goal of creating a fantastic work of art." — All About Jazz
Education
Education
"The SFJAZZ High School All-Stars are some of the most talented and committed young players I’ve ever had a chance to work with. They’re setting the standard for all the young big bands out there." — Miguel Zenón
"SFJAZZ is diligent about jazz education. They realized from the beginning that education is the basic pillar of any community jazz program. And now, 28 years later, this emphasis continues to grow." — John Santos
"Chic, hot and hip, this year's swinging musical gala garnered $250K for SFJAZZ's artistic and education programs and kick-started the second spring concert season for this 24-year-old festival, the largest in the Western states." — San Francisco Chronicle
"Testimony to the continuing persistence of the creative spirit." — Los Angeles Times
"These kids are amazing…jazz has a future!" — San Jose Mercury News
