Previous events

It’s a short walk from the SFJAZZ Center to the War Memorial Opera House, which is where the evening-length ballet The Nutcracker made its North America premiere in the winter of 1944. An immediate sensation, the production unleashed an army of Nutcrackers large and small that march across the country come the holidays, turning Tchaikovsky’s spirited score into an enchanting soundtrack for the season. In 1960, at the urging of Billy Strayhorn, the Duke Ellington Orchestra recorded The Nutcracker Suite (Columbia), a brilliant jazz interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s music.

While largely forgotten today, the popular album marked a watershed in one of American music’s most consequent and productive partnerships, as Ellington gave Strayhorn equal billing for the first time on the album’s cover. For bassist, composer, and arranger Marcus Shelby, Ellington and Strayhorn’s Nutcracker Suite arrangements offer an ideal vehicle for his talent-laden jazz orchestra, an ensemble he modeled after Ellington’s.

https://www.sfjazz.org/tickets/productions/marcus-shelby-orchestra-ellingtons-nutcracker/

Marcus Shelby will present a lecture and solo performance titled "Beyond the Blues: Ending the Prison Industrial Complex" to the San Jose Rotary Club. In 2014 Marcus Shelby composed "Beyond the Blues: A Prison Oratorio for Big Band Orchestra and vocal quartet which premiered at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. Shelby will discuss his research, discovery, and experience in creating music about the "Prison Industrial Complex" in America and how the blues evokes this history.

https://sjrotary.org/calendar/

Marcus Shelby and pianist/composer Cava Menzies will perform duo for Oakland's Finest Black Tie Holiday Ball & Toy Drive The LoveLife Foundation's 2nd Annual Oakland's Finest Black Tie Holiday Ball & Toy Drive. A fun filled elegant evening! VIP champagne reception w/VIP purchase. Live and Silent Auctions! Dinner. Entertainment provided by Marcus Shelby & Friends featuring Cava Menzie, and the Dynamic Miss Faye Carol, post-dinner dancing with the hottest DJ in the Bay DJ K-Styles, plus celebrity guests and honorees. Among the honorees are Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the one and only Ricky Henderson, Davey D., Joey Wells and more!

One of the first and still the best of the “swing revival” bands, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers remain popular after 25 years of keeping dancers ecstatic. Along with the East Coast Swing and Lindy Hop grooves by the band, Smith swings from sultry torch songs to the grit of the great blues singers.

The Jazz Philanthropists Union, with support from Jazz in the Neighborhood's Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund, presents:

Lisa B (Lisa Bernstein) and the Reverberant Band - CD Release Show!

Lisa B - spoken and sung verse Ben Flint and Scott R. Looney, keyboards Marcus Shelby, bass Isaac Schwartz, drums

Celebrating the release of Lisa B’s seventh record “Reverberant: Poems & Music,” which joins the two strands of Lisa B’s work, vocal jazz and poetry, in riveting ways. Also featuring tunes from Lisa's 2018 record "I Get A Kick: Cole Porter Reimagined" and other favorites such as "Joe Williams Died Walking/Every Day I Have the Blues."

Monterey Jazz Festival: Marcus Shelby Quartet with Maxine Gordon

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Pacific Jazz Cafe, 2004 Fairground Road, Monterey, CA

The Marcus Shelby Quartet featuring Teodross Avery (tenor sax), Adam Shulman (piano), Jaz Sawyer (drums), Marcus Shelby (bass), and Maxine Gordon (author) will perform a special tribute to the great Dexter Gordon in celebration of his widow Maxine Gordon's new book on Dexter called "Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon"

https://www.montereyjazzfestival.org/schedule#/artist/marcus-shelby-quintet

Remembering 1619

SF JAZZ, 201 Franklin St, , San Francisco, CA 94102

"Remembering 1619" is a multi-artistic presentation that features choreography by Joanna Haigood (Zachoo Dance Theater), oratory by actor Steven Anthony Jones, film by Cheo, music by the Faye Carol duet featuring Joe Warner, and the Marcus Shelby Quintet. "Remembering 1619" is produced by the Equal Justice Society and will premier at their annual gala fundraiser on August 20, 2019 at the SF JAZZ Center.

https://remembering1619.org/

Rina Yamazaki Trio

Rina Yamazaki, the winner of two awards at the 2018 Ellis Marsalis International Jazz Piano Competition, will be performing with her trio a set of award winning original compositions, jazz standards, and Latin jazz-influenced pieces that will enthrall jazz fans and novices alike.

Personnel

Rina Yamazaki – piano Marcus Shelby – bass Genius Wesley – drums

https://summerfest.sanjosejazz.org/artists/ellis-marsalis-piano-competition-winners

Marcus Shelby will be performing with the legendary trombonist and shell artist Steve Turre and saxophone titan James Carter as part of the annual Rahsaan-a-thon at Cafe Stritch in San Jose. This is the 7th year of this musical celebration of the legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk led by master Steve Turre.

http://www.cafestritch.com/

Friday August 2, 2019: 8 pm Saturday August 3, 2019: 8 pm

Steve Turre: Trombone and Shells James Carter: Tenor Sax Charles McNeal: Alto Sax; Soprano Sax Matt Clark: Piano Marcus Shelby: Bass Darrell Green: Drums Betty Neals: Poet Dorthaan Kirk: Writer and Historian

Marcus Shelby will be performing with the legendary trombonist and shell artist Steve Turre and saxophone titan James Carter as part of the annual Rahsaan-a-thon at Cafe Stritch in San Jose. This is the 7th year of this musical celebration of the legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk led by master Steve Turre.

http://www.cafestritch.com/

Friday August 2, 2019: 8 pm Saturday August 3, 2019: 8 pm

Steve Turre: Trombone and Shells James Carter: Tenor Sax Charles McNeal: Alto Sax; Soprano Sax Matt Clark: Piano Marcus Shelby: Bass Darrell Green: Drums Betty Neals: Poet Dorthaan Kirk: Writer and Historian

One of the world’s preeminent jazz innovators, trombonist and seashellist, Steve Turre, returns to dazzle the Bach crowd. Kickstarting his career with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Turre went on to work with a diverse list of musicians from the jazz, Latin, and pop worlds, including Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Tito Puente, Pharoah Sanders, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and performing as a member of the Saturday Night Live Band since 1984. Join us and let Steve’s own unique brand of Jazz speak for itself.

http://www.bachddsoc.org/calendar.html#STEVE-TURRE

50th Anniversary Celebration of the John Coltrane Church

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Grace Cathedral Church, 1100 California St., San Francisco, CA

On July 20th, 2019 the John Coltrane Church will celebrate their 50th year anniversary at Grace Cathedral Church in San Francisco, CA. Marcus Shelby will perform with an amazing group of musicians that will include Teodross Avery, Richard Howell III, Destiny Muhammad, and many others on board to celebrate the John Coltrane Church and Coltrane's musical legacy.

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/event/entertainment/50th-anniversary-celebration-of-the-john-coltrane-church

CONCERT SERIES 2019 CONTINUES: The Roseville Jazz Festival presents "A Tribute to Count Basie" with Jim Martinez & Friends on Friday, July 19, 2019 at 6 PM at Randy Peters Catering & Event Center, 105 Vernon Street, Roseville, CA. Dinner available for purchase starting at 5pm. Tasty menu TBA. Jim Martinez (piano), Joshua Wisterman (guitar), Marcus Shelby (bass), Jeff Minnieweather (drums), featuring former Basie vocalist, Jamie Davis. Tickets on sale now at RosevilleJazzFest.com (click on CONCERT SERIES).

https://www.rosevillejazzfest.com/#Schedule

"Jazz" adapted by Nambi E. Kelley; based on the book by Toni Morrison; directed by Awoye Tempo; music composed by Marcus Shelby

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Marin Theater Company, 397 Miller Ave. , Mill Valley, CA 94941

Harlem, 1926. The city overflows with Jazz. Folks move with musicality, and speak rhythms, and in the heart of it all is Violet—a middle-aged woman set on revenge. Her husband’s affair with a beautiful young woman sets off a series of violent events and unforgivable acts. Adapted from Toni Morisson’s stunning novel and musically underscored by Bay-Area jazz musician Marcus Shelby—Jazz is a theatrical composition. Peeling back layered accounts and alternating perspectives expose ultimately sympathetic characters, who—like the growing New York neighborhood and the winding woods of their youth—reveal their own rhythms.