Billy Childs Quartet

A six-time GRAMMY winner, Pultizer Prize finalist, and 2009 Guggenheim Fellow, pianist and composer Billy Childs is an iconic artist whose innovative work bridges the jazz tradition and contemporary chamber music. His new Mack Avenue album Triumvirate was described as “truly magical” by JazzTimes, and for this special performance commemorating his 70th birthday, Childs performs with his quartet featuring former SFJAZZ Collective trumpeter Sean Jones.  

The Los Angeles native began as a prodigy, performing professionally by his teens and making his professional debut in 1977 with the iconic trombonist J.J. Johnson. He spent six formative years as a sideman with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard in the 1970s and 80s and issued his debut album Midland in 1985. 

From that notable start, Childs has released a series of GRAMMY-winning albums for the Windham Hill, Mack Avenue, and his own Lunacy label and lent his formidable arranging skills to work with Dianne Reeves, Gladys Knight, Sting, and Yo-Yo Ma. 

His 2026 Mack Avenue album Triumvirate is a remarkably attuned trio release featuring former SFJAZZ Collective bassist Matt Penman and drummer Ari Hoenig and revisits favorites from Childs’s own songbook as well as singular takes on standards like Thelonious Monk’s “Ask Me Now.” This 70th birthday performance celebrates a legacy still very much in progress.