Kuumbwa Jazz Presents
Emi Makabe Quartet feat. Vitor Gonçalves, Thomas Morgan & Kenny Wollesen
Dinner Specials can be purchased in advance or at the counter (subject to availability). To guarantee the purchase of the Dinner Special, please order in advance. The menu will be posted to this event page as soon as it is selected by our chef. If you are purchasing a dinner before the menu is announced, you will receive the menu via email within a week of the concert date. Please click the ‘Café Kuumbwa' button above for more information. Thank you!
Making their West Coast debut, the Emi Makabe Quartet presents a visionary blend of Japanese folk, contemporary jazz, and global rhythms. Featuring an acclaimed lineup – Emi Makabe on vocals/shamisen, Thomas Morgan on bass, Vitor Gonçalves on piano/accordion, and Kenny Wollesen on drums – the quartet creates a dynamic, emotionally resonant sound centered on Makabe’s unique adaptation of the shamisen (a traditional Japanese lute) to an international context.
Following the critical success of their 2025 album Echo, featuring Bill Frisell and Jason Moran, the group continues to offer their singular cross-cultural music to audiences in New York and abroad.
Emi Makabe Website
(Ticket Includes 5% City of Santa Cruz Admission Tax)