FEB 3-5, FEB 9 | SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director Ambrose Akinmusire
Feb 09, 2023
Grace Cathedral
PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production
Please visit our calendar for all upcoming SFJAZZ shows.
Original show description below.
Due to a Grace Cathedral event prior to the concert, the start time for this concert will now begin at 7:30PM.
Ambrose Akinmusire possesses one of the most original trumpet voices of recent decades. He has a breathtaking, ruby-red tone and a penchant for coaxing extraordinary — and unexpected — sounds and effects from his horn. If you watch him perform (or listen to his five albums on the Blue Note label) you will hear him swing freely between jazz, R&B, chamber music and sounds you cannot put in a box. It’s a unified creative flow. It comes from inside him. It honors the jazz tradition while pointing toward destinations unknown. An Oakland native with an international career, Akinmusire is a master improviser and bandleader. On stage, he has a way of instantly processing musical information, always nurturing, expanding, and elevating the performance. On the last night of his week of residency, he will stand alone onstage at the historic Grace Cathedral – just Ambrose, playing solo trumpet, welcoming you to his latest adventure.
AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE ON PERFROMING SOLO:
The final, solo performance at Grace Cathedral carries special meaning, says the musician, who notes that he recorded a solo album about a year and a half ago that has yet to be released.
“Playing solo has just been something that’s been in the back of my head,” he says. The appeal, he adds, is the beauty that lives in sitting with oneself — and that being enough.
“I think when you have a lot of technique and you can play almost everything that’s in your head, it’s hard to commit to beauty. It’s hard to not do the flashy stuff,” says Akinmusire. “So I wanted to do a solo project that is just about sitting in the center of the beauty. The center of self, which is, for me, beauty. And so that’s why I’m doing the Grace Cathedral.”
› READ FULL KQED ARTICLE ON AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE RESIDENCY
The center of self, which is, for me, beauty. And so that’s why I’m doing the Grace Cathedral.
Ambrose Akinmusire ON PERFORMING SOLO, KQED
The center of self, which is, for me, beauty. And so that’s why I’m doing the Grace Cathedral.
Ambrose Akinmusire ON PERFORMING SOLO, KQED
Watch & Listen
Ambrose Akinmusire
Marie Christie
Tigran Hamasyan with Ambrose Akinmusire
I Should Care
Ambrose Akinmusire
Marie Christie
Tigran Hamasyan with Ambrose Akinmusire
I Should Care
FEB 3-5, FEB 9 | SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director Ambrose Akinmusire
FRI, FEB 3
SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director
Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet w/ Joshua RedmanSAT, FEB 4
SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director
Martin Lawrence Triow/ Ambrose Akinmusire, Mike Aaberg & Thomas Pridgen
SUN, FEB 5
SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director
Ambrose Akinmusire & Ron Carter Duo