SFJAZZ GALA 2024 HONORING PATTI AUSTIN

SFJAZZ Gala 2024 combines an evening of world-class performances and elegant dining with two historic milestones: the honoring of GRAMMY Award–winning singer and songwriter Patti Austin with the SFJAZZ Lifetime Achievement Award and the welcoming of trumpeter, composer, NEA Jazz Master, and seven-time Grammy-winner Terence Blanchard in his inaugural season as Executive Artistic Director of SFJAZZ.

The Gala is SFJAZZ’s largest fundraiser of the year and gets underway with a number of exciting pre-events, including multiple cocktail receptions and an elegant VIP Dinner. Next up is the evening's centerpiece: the annual Gala Concert on the main stage in Miner Auditorium, featuring performances by a host of musical luminaries in all-star collaborations. 

Patti Austin was born to be music royalty with Dinah Washington and Quincy Jones as her godmother and godfather. From her start as a four-year-old prodigy on Harlem’s Apollo Theatre Stage, through her years as an elite backing vocalist, to her blossoming into one of America’s great hitmakers, Patti Austin has gone from triumph to triumph. Winner of a 2008 GRAMMY for Jazz Vocal Album, she is a seven-time GRAMMY-nominated artist whose career has spanned decades. With a full 20 albums to her credit, Ms. Austin has collaborated with a staggering list of modern masters, including Quincy Jones, James Brown, James Ingram, Joe Cocker, Diana Ross, Roberta Flack, Donald Fagen, Burt Bacharach, Dave Grusin and many others. Join us in celebrating her immense contribution to American music.

The SFJAZZ Gala is a benefit for SFJAZZ’s artistic and education programs with the goal of advancing the art form of jazz in the Bay Area and beyond.