SJW Jazz Mentors / Jacknife: the Music of Jackie McLean

This band sizzles, and with a reason. The Jazz Mentor Fellows are selected from nearly 200 applicants from all over the country to teach at the Workshop’s summer education programs. They gain teaching experience under the supervision of SJW’s master jazz teachers, they get an opportunity to play with the rest of the faculty, and they spend a lot of time performing together. Alumni of the program have gone on to begin outstanding careers in jazz performance and education. This year’s Mentor Fellows feature a swinging rhythm section and virtuosic horns. They play their own compositions and arrangements with sensitivity, power, and excitement.

On the same evening, San Francisco saxophonist Steven Lugerner continues his explorations of the music of jazz legend Jackie McLean with Jacknife, a hard-hitting post-bop quintet. Exploring tunes from McLean’s seminal early- and mid-1960s Blue Note albums, the members of Jacknife have toured internationally and perform in the New York City, West Coast, and European jazz scenes. Members of the group have accompanied entertainers such as Louis CK and Beyonce, in addition to working with a heavyweight roster of jazz masters, including drum legends Albert “Tootie” Heath and Billy Hart, pianists Fred Hersch and Myra Melford, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, and saxophonist Miguel Zenon.