Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
In Memoriam: Al Foster, 1943–2025
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
Wynton Marsalis will receive the SFJAZZ Lifetime Achievement Award on June 3.
(Photo: Courtesy of SFJAZZ)SFJAZZ is presenting free live broadcasts of its 2022 gala honoring Wynton Marsalis with a Lifetime Achievement Award beginning on Friday, June 3, at 8:30 p.m. PT/11:30 p.m. ET. The SFJAZZ Gala is a fundraiser for SFJAZZ artistic and educational programs.
Hosted by Wendell Pierce at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco, the concert will celebrate Marsalis’ decorated career and immense body of work with exclusive performances by Marsalis, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, vocalist Catherine Russell, the SFJAZZ Collective (with saxophonist Chris Potter, vocalist Gretchen Parlato, tenor saxophonist David Sánchez, trumpeter Etienne Charles, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist Edward Simon, bassist Matt Brewer, drummer Kendrick Scott and vocalist Martin Luther McCoy), Harlem Quartet, pianist Isaiah Thompson, bassist Philip Norris, drummer Domo Branch and the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars.
This will be the first SFJAZZ Gala to be broadcast online as part of the ongoing weekly Fridays Live series. Two additional encore fundraiser broadcasts will be streamed on Saturday, June 4, at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET and Sunday, June 5, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. During each broadcast, viewers can make tax-deductible donations to the SFJAZZ Fund and are able to join a live chat moderated by SFJAZZ. With a donation of $50 or more, viewers will receive one year of complimentary access to SFJAZZ’s weekly Fridays Live broadcasts, which have raised more than $700,000 for performing artists.
In honoring Marsalis with the SFJAZZ Lifetime Achievement Award, SFJAZZ celebrates him as a singular artist who has incorporated the breadth of American music into his career. A 2011 NEA Jazz Master, Marsalis is an iconic figure in the evolution of the art form and a tireless advocate for jazz as America’s classical music. From his New Orleans roots and auspicious debut with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers to his string of acclaimed albums and his current role as artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Marsalis has amassed numerous of awards and accolades, including nine GRAMMYs and the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Since 1991, SFJAZZ has presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to luminaries including Chucho Valdés, Preservation Hall, Zakir Hussain, Joni Mitchell, Mavis Staples, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ahmad Jamal, Mary Stallings, McCoy Tyner, Bobby Hutcherson and others. Next year, SFJAZZ will celebrate its 40th anniversary and the 10th birthday of the SFJAZZ Center.
For more information, visit the SFJAZZ Gala Watch page. DB
Foster was truly a drummer to the stars, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.
Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
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