An all-star ensemble comprising eight of the finest performer/composers at work in jazz today, the SFJAZZ Collective’s mission each year is to perform fresh arrangements of works by a modern master and newly commissioned pieces by each Collective member. Through this pioneering approach, simultaneously honoring music’s greatest figures while championing jazz’s up-to-the-minute directions, the Collective embodies SFJAZZ’s commitment to jazz as a living, ever-relevant art form.

Over their 13-year existence, the Collective has honored artists including John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Michael Jackson, and others. For their four-night 2017–18 Season residency, the band looks back on their history with nights devoted to their arrangements of Ornette Coleman, Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk.