MARCH 8-9 & MAY 24 | Resident Artistic Director: Howard Wiley
May 24, 2025
Miner Auditorium
Bay Area saxophone great and SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director Howard Wiley returns for Part II of his California Love series, titled Love, Kale, Pride & Revolution. The all-star concert will be a celebration of soul-jazz, funk, gospel, and R&B steeped in West Coast flavor. Combining Wiley’s hard-driving originals with a funkified selection of classics, this is an evening of stirring uplift and non-stop party vibes. Wiley is joined by a cadre of groove masters including organist Lionel “LJ” Holoman, bassist (tbd), drummer Dante “Taz” Roberson and a number of special guests, including trombonist Robin Eubanks, pianist/ keyboardist Kev Choice, and vocalists Martin Luther McCoy and China Moses.
Don't miss out, last season's California Love concert sold out!
ABOUT HOWARD WILEY:
Having been mentored by Bay Area great Jules Broussard and sharing formative bandstand experiences with the likes of Clark Terry, Jason Moran, Orrin Evans, and Lauryn Hill, Berkeley-born saxophonist and composer Howard Wiley is a constant presence on SFJAZZ stages and venues around the country as both a bandleader and collaborator with former Tower of Power and Santana organist Chester Thompson, Ethio-folk vocalist Meklit, and as drummer with jump-blues chanteuse Lavay Smith’s Red Hot Skillet Lickers. He’s released a trio of masterful solo recordings, including two that were inspired by Dr. Harry Orster’s famous field recordings of spirituals performed by Angola Penitentiary inmates in the 1950s, and has performed SFJAZZ Hotplate tributes to Ornette Coleman and Coleman Hawkins.
Howard Wiley presents a celebration of soul-jazz, funk, gospel, and R&B steeped in West Coast flavor, combining Wiley’s hard-driving originals with a funkified selection of classics.
PRESS
› How an Oakland saxophonist came up with California’s soundtrack (SF Gate)
The most prodigious Bay Area saxophonist of his generation
Berkeleyside
The most prodigious Bay Area saxophonist of his generation
Berkeleyside
Watch & Listen
Peace
Western Sunrise
Peace
Western Sunrise