OCT 2-5 | 2025-26 Season at SFJAZZ
Oct 03, 2025
Miner Auditorium
PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production
Please visit our calendar for all upcoming SFJAZZ shows.
Original show description below.
In recent years a tidal surge of extraordinary Caribbean musicians has transformed the American jazz scene. And near the beginning of that wave, from the Dominican Republic, was pianist and composer Michel Camilo. He returns to SFJAZZ for an intimate solo performance.
A virtuoso whose lightning two-handed runs and bravura rhythmic attack leave audiences shaking their heads in amazement, Camilo came to prominence shortly after settling in New York City in 1979. He has been widely recognized for his astounding technique, with a doctorate from Berklee, a Latin GRAMMY Award for the 2000 Verve album Spain and a 2004 GRAMMY in the Best Latin Jazz Album category for Live at the Blue Note.
Camilo’s high-profile collaborators over the years include Dizzy Gillespie, Michael Brecker, Wynton Marsalis, Gary Burton, Tomatito, Anthony Jackson, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Dave Weckl and dozens more, and he has astounded SFJAZZ audiences as part of the summit meeting of Carribean pianists with Chucho Valdés and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, uniting on several occasions in recent years in tribute to the iconic Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona.
For this incendiary evening of solo piano, Camilo will draw from his deep repertoire of originals, standards, and Afro-Cuban classics.
“One of the most complete jazz pianists around, and also one of the most engaging” (Boston Globe), Michel Camilo returns to SFJAZZ for an intimate solo performance, drawing from his deep repertoire of originals, standards, and Afro-Cuban classics.
One of the most complete jazz pianists around, and also one of the most engaging
The Boston Globe on Michel Camilo
One of the most complete jazz pianists around, and also one of the most engaging
The Boston Globe on Michel Camilo
Personnel
Michel Camilo piano
Ferocious technique and a corresponding sense of high-wire drama
the new york times on michel camilo
Personnel
Michel Camilo piano
Ferocious technique and a corresponding sense of high-wire drama
the new york times on michel camilo
Watch & Listen
Michel Camilo
I Got Rhythm/Caravan/Sing Sing Sing
Michel Camilo
A Place in Time
Michel Camilo
I Got Rhythm/Caravan/Sing Sing Sing
Michel Camilo
A Place in Time