Kneebody | SFJAZZ 2024-25 Season

Terence Blanchard's UpSwing Series

May 22, 2025

Miner Auditorium

ThuMay 22

Member Discount

7:30 PM

$25 | $45 | $65 | $85

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This double bill of visionary artists is a fitting close to this inaugural year of Terence Blanchard’s UpSwing series.

An explosive GRAMMY-nominated quartet made up of forward-thinking artists including saxophonist Ben Wendel, keyboardist Adam Benjamin, trumpeter Shane Endsley, and drummer and bassist Nate Wood, Kneebody channels rock-informed energy into their soul-jazz, bebop and electro-funk compositions. Formed by former Eastman School of Music and CalArts students who have worked with artists ranging from Prince, Snoop Dogg and Bruno Mars to Tigran Hamasyan, Donny McCaslin, Meshell Ndegeocello and De La Soul, the band has carved out a distinct group identity, releasing thirteen albums including their latest Edition Records release, Live at Le Crescent.

Aaron Parks is a masterful pianist and bandleader known for work with many of jazz’s greatest names including Kurt Rosenwinkel, Dave Holland, Joshua Redman, and Terence Blanchard, with whom he recorded multiple albums and film scores. A prodigious artist who attended the University of Washington at age 14 with a triple-major before entering the prestigious Manhattan School of Music at 16 to study with the great Kenny Barron, Parks was a finalist at the 2006 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition and has recorded thirteen albums including his evocative 2008 Blue Note quartet session Invisible Cinema and his latest trio sessions Volume 1 and Volume 2.

This double bill of visionary artists is a fitting close to this inaugural year of Terence Blanchard’s UpSwing series, including the explosive jazz-funk of Kneebody and the masterful pianist Aaron Parks.

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