Events for March 2026

Kuumbwa Jazz Presents
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Omar Sosa & Yilian Cañizares – AGUAS Trio feat. Gustavo Ovalles

Composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa is one of the most versatile jazz artists on the scene today. True to his Afro-Cuban origins, Sosa fashions a spirited vision of uncompromising artistic generosity that embraces humanity at large. Nominated for seven GRAMMY awards and twice for the BBC World Music Awards, Sosa received a lifetime achievement award from the […]

Madeleine Peyroux at the Rio Theatre

Much like songbird Edith Piaf, Madeleine Peyroux spent her teenage years busking the busy streets of Paris. Just like the ‘little sparrow,’ Peyroux befriended the city’s street musicians and made its Latin Quarter her first performing stage. Years later, Peyroux would cite iconic Piaf as an influence on her music and record a rendition of […]

Bobby Watson Quartet

Bobby Watson sits among the pantheon of present-day jazz greats. Born in Lawrence, Kansas, his career now spans more than four decades. A multi-GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist, composer, bandleader, educator and producer, Watson trained formally at the University of Miami and then, from 1977-1981, earned his “doctorate” as musical director of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. During his […]

Return to Laurel Canyon

Highlighting music from 1967 to 1974 with songs from Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Buffalo Springfield, etc. featuring Matt Hartle, Larry Graff, Mike Cross, Dan Robbins, Anna Elva, Steve Sofranko and Sarah Ryan. The Wheel Company Website info/questions/tickets:  info@thewheelcompany.com | 831-469-3184  

UCSC Grad Slam

Grad Slam is a communication contest hosted by the UC Santa Cruz Graduate Division that is open to all graduate students, except those who have won 1st place in a previous Grad Slam. (Currently enrolled graduate students who have won 2nd or the people’s choice in a prior Grad Slam may enter again.) Participants have […]

Master Class: Kaethe Hostetter – Intro to Ethiopian Music

Kaethe Hostetter's heritage is intellectual off-grid coastal California soup. Her parents were friends with R. Crumb, Tom Lehrer, Paul Bowles; her midwife was Slime Queen, one of Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters. She grew up amongst the tall redwoods, with a revolving door of filmmakers, storytellers, archivists, experimental chefs, and traveling musicians of all ilks. A […]

Kaethe Hostetter – Impressions of Ethiopia

Impressions of Ethiopia is a collection of musical vignettes by fiddle player Kaethe Hostetter. Inspired by her eleven years living in Addis Ababa, Hostetter transports through her sounds and storytelling to the bustling streets of the East African metropolis – evoking the crackling sounds of a saxophone blaring out of a barbershop radio, a shepherd’s […]

The Westerlies

The Westerlies, “an arty quartet…mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk” (The New York Times), hold a singular space in modern music. From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, this self-described “accidental brass quartet” has upended presumptions of the brass tradition to create music that is “folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous” (NPR Music). […]

Questions that Matter – How to Live Long and Prosper: Lessons from a Star Trek Opera

What do we need to live a fulfilling life? This essential question of the humanities feels especially pressing now, on the precipice of profound changes to our planet, our bodies, and our sense of human exceptionality. Join us for a conversation — and a music-and-drama masterclass — about speculative fiction from the Star Trek world, […]

Diamonds in the Rough – A Tribute to John Prine

Local Santa Cruz seasoned musicians, Jim Rosenberg and Paul Logan, team up to create Diamonds In The Rough, an acoustic duo that authentically captures the essence of John Prine.  Reminiscent of the magic combination of the John Prine/Steve Goodman era, Rosenberg and Logan combine acoustic guitars, bass and vocal harmonies to bring you such classics […]

Edna Vazquez

Edna Vazquez is a fearless singer, songwriter and guitarist whose powerful voice and spell-binding musical talent transcend the boundaries of language to engage and uplift her audience. Vazquez’s passion for music and performance originated in her homeland of Jalisco, Mexico, and has been nurtured into a bi-cultural melting pot of folk, rock, R&B, and Mexican […]

Charlie Hunter Trio – 7:00 PM

Charlie Hunter is a guitarist, producer, and composer celebrated for his innovative approach to the instrument. He gained widespread recognition for his pioneering technique on an eight-string guitar, which he custom-designed to simultaneously play bass lines, melodies, and chords. Currently, he performs on six and seven string guitars built by Hybrid Guitars Co., a company […]

Charlie Hunter Trio – 9:00 PM

Charlie Hunter is a guitarist, producer, and composer celebrated for his innovative approach to the instrument. He gained widespread recognition for his pioneering technique on an eight-string guitar, which he custom-designed to simultaneously play bass lines, melodies, and chords. Currently, he performs on six and seven string guitars built by Hybrid Guitars Co., a company […]

Master Class: Jeff Antoniuk – Building the Blues

In jazz, the blues is a shared foundation – but what is built on top of it is endless. A part of the JazzWire approach to connecting adult players around the world, this workshop will guide you through how great musicians evolve their blues lines from melodic statements into harmonic storytelling. Saxophonist Jeff Antoniuk will […]

Sarah McKenzie

Sarah McKenzie grew up in Australia, taking classical piano lessons from the age of five. A teacher introduced her to rock, the blues, and boogie-woogie when she was nine. “By the age of 15, I heard Oscar Peterson’s Night Train record and that was the turning point for me. It was such happy music that […]

Camila Meza

Camila Meza is a groundbreaking artist, celebrated as a guitarist, vocalist, and composer. With a signature sound that combines jazz with Latin American folklore and poetic songwriting, Meza has captivated audiences worldwide. The New York Times emphasizes her dual talent as a profound guitarist and a compelling singer. Her artistry, described as an "appealing combination […]

Immanuel Wilkins Quartet

Award winning alto saxophonist and composer Immanuel Wilkins burst onto the musical scene in 2020 with the release of his critically acclaimed Blue Note recording debut, Omega. October 2024 saw the release of Wilkins’ third album on the legendary Blue Note label with Blues Blood. Accolades, awards, and critical acclaim have followed with each of […]

José James Presents 1978: Revenge of the Dragon

José James is both conductor and conduit. Across seventeed years as a singer, songwriter, bandleader, and producer – not to mention co-head of the fearless Rainbow Blonde Records since 2018 –  he’s dived deep, over and over again, into genres, eras, scenes, and songbooks, exploring with the verve of a reverent musicologist, and then churning […]

Lakecia Benjamin

To witness a live performance by saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin is to never forget it. The success of her most recent releases, 2023’s Phoenix and 2020’s Pursuance: The Coltranes, positioned Benjamin among jazz’s most celebrated recording artists. In addition to raves in outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian and DownBeat, she received three GRAMMY […]

Lúnasa

Named for an ancient Celtic harvest festival in honor of the Irish god Lugh, Lúnasa was formed in 1997 from members of some of the greatest Irish groups of the previous decade, an early review from Folk Roots magazine describing the band as an “Irish music dream team”. From the start, the band’s complex arrangements […]

Booker T. Jones – 7:00 PM

From an early age, Booker T. Jones –“one of the legends of soul music” (The New Yorker) – was captivated by the magic of melody, rhythm, and harmony. So magnetic was the attraction, in fact, that by the time he turned sixteen, he was, incredibly, already a working musician with a hit song to his […]

Booker T. Jones – 9:00 PM

From an early age, Booker T. Jones –“one of the legends of soul music” (The New Yorker) – was captivated by the magic of melody, rhythm, and harmony. So magnetic was the attraction, in fact, that by the time he turned sixteen, he was, incredibly, already a working musician with a hit song to his […]

Pasquale Grasso Trio

It was the kind of endorsement most rising guitarists can only dream of, and then some. In his interview for Vintage Guitar magazine’s February 2016 cover story, Pat Metheny was asked to name some younger musicians who’d impressed him. “The best guitar player I’ve heard in maybe my entire life is floating around now, Pasquale […]

Dobet Gnahoré

While Africa has blessed the world with many recognized female artists, Dobet Gnahoré has proven herself to be a truly special talent and her latest album Zouzou demonstrates that she is at her creative prime. Known for her ability to infuse her music with soul-stirring energy and message-driven lyrics, Gnahoré showcases her incredible range as […]

Mary Halvorson – Canis Major

Mary Halvorson is a Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer and recording artist for Nonesuch Records. Her distinctive sound and innovative approach to her instrument have earned her widespread recognition over the past two decades, including numerous best-of-the-year lists, a 2019 MacArthur Foundation fellowship and 'Guitarist of the Year' honors in the DownBeat Critics Poll for the past […]

An Evening with Tom Skinner

Upon the release of Kaleidoscopic Visions, the second album that Tom Skinner has made under his own name, the drummer-composer will be 45 years-old. Skinner is already in possession of an incredible career—two decades as a key member of London’s jazz community, including co-founding the mighty Sons of Kemet; in-demand collaborator to famed electronic producers […]