SFJAZZ x SMARTBOMB FALL 2025: Melanie Charles fT. Ignabu & Paul Wilson Bae / Mark de Clive-Lowe, & MORE
SFJAZZ x SMARTBOMB
SFJAZZ & SMARTBOMB Co-Present

Melanie Charles fT. Ignabu & Paul Wilson Bae / Mark de Clive-Lowe, & MORE

SFJAZZ x Smartbomb Community Open House

SMARTBOMB x SFJAZZ

Sep 21, 2025
SFJAZZ Center

PLEASE NOTE:
This page is an archive of a past production


Please visit our calendar for all upcoming SFJAZZ shows.

Calendar

Original show description below.

Headlining our first full building activation of the season with Oakland’s SMARTBOMB curatorial arts collective will be Melanie Charles with Ignabu x Paul Wilson Bae, and Mark de Clive-Lowe in Miner Auditorium, with DJ sets by E Da Boss, and live visuals by Erik Wilson.

Simultaneously, the Joe Henderson Lab presents a diverse lineup of live sets from Jada Imani, Samplelov, & Isaias Medellin & Solar X Tet.

The second floor Fisher Family Lobby will host a community market with DJs, artists, and a variety of local vendors.

Doors open at 4pm, performances begin at 5pm.

ABOUT MELANIE CHARLES
Brooklyn-based Melanie Charles has transcended jazz vocalist conventions as a contemporary singer, multi-instrumentalist, beat maker, and composer. Her collaboration with a pair of fellow New York natives, drummer Cinque “Ignabu” Kemp and keyboardist Paul Wilson Bae, began in 2019 at a rehearsal for a performance at the 41st annual Wall to Wall concert series at Symphony Space devoted to John Coltrane. They have curated a body of work exploring his legacy via found footage, interviews and samples of his contemporaries to create a 4-movement tribute.

ABOUT MARK DE CLIVE-LOWE
“A musical force unlike any other” (Popmatters), Producer, electronic musician, and pianist Mark de Clive-Lowe is an artist with established roots in multiple sonic worlds.

Early exposure to Tokyo’s thriving club scene cemented the desire for serious study of jazz, and later immersion in hip-hop and R&B while a teen in Auckland gave the budding producer his first taste of collaboration with other like-minded musicians.

A major developer of the broken beat scene blending cutting-edge electronics, classic funk, and percussion-heavy global influences with a distinctly jazz-inspired approach, he has collaborated with Lauren Hill, Kamasi Washington, Eric Harland, Sheila E, Jody Watley, Hiatus Kaiyote, bass virtuoso Pino Palladino and dozens more, contributing to over 300 releases while releasing 23 full-length albums and nine EPs under his own name.

The Fisher Family Lobby upstairs will host a community market featuring DJ sets by Spaceghost, Ritchrd, Baghead, and Abby Imperial.

Our featured local vendors for this installment include Headtripz x Isso SF, Eternal Now, Dadadoodles, Astig, Rahaal, Kalahati Books, Chameleon Vintage, Mike Boo, Sounds of Paradise & more.

Featured artwork by DADADOODLES.

Community Market Information

Headlining our first full building activation of the season with Oakland’s SMARTBOMB curatorial arts collective will be Melanie Charles and Mark de Clive-Lowe. 

PERSONNEL & VENDOR INFO

Melanie Charles takes us on a journey that embodies the soul of jazz: exploration

NPR

Melanie Charles takes us on a journey that embodies the soul of jazz: exploration

NPR

Personnel

MELANIE CHARLES
Melanie Charles
vocals/flute/effects 
Paul Wilson Bae piano/key bass 
IGNABU drums

MARK DE CLIVE-LOWE
Personnel TBA

de Clive-Lowe is a musical force unlike any other

PopMatters

Personnel

MELANIE CHARLES
Melanie Charles
vocals/flute/effects 
Paul Wilson Bae piano/key bass 
IGNABU drums

MARK DE CLIVE-LOWE
Personnel TBA

de Clive-Lowe is a musical force unlike any other

PopMatters

Watch & Listen

Melanie Charles

Woman of the Ghetto

Mark de Clive-Lowe

Thembi

Melanie Charles

Woman of the Ghetto

Mark de Clive-Lowe

Thembi