“Jazz Jedi Master” Richard Howell Concert | Yerba Buena Gardens Festival

Submitted by the Event Organizer

SF’s Yerba Buena Gardens Festival 2025

The 2025 Yerba Buena Gardens Festival hosts a full lineup of free outdoor music, theater, circus, dance, poetry, and children’s programs. The Festival opens on Saturday, May 10, 2025 with La Santa Cecilia to kick off its 25th Anniversary Season.

Saturday, May 27, 2017
SF’s Yerba Buena Gardens Festival 2025

Aptly described by KQED as a jazz “Jedi master,” tenor saxophonist Richard Howell is a Bay Area treasure who has come into his own as a bandleader after decades of producing and supporting other artists. His latest album, Burkina, was named one of the best recordings of 2016 by The Mercury News, and he performs with the same stellar cast, including Howell’s 18-year-old son Elé Howell, a rapidly rising drummer based in New York, virtuosic pianist Frederick Harris, veteran bassist Heshima Mark Williams and scorching alto saxophonist Charles McNeal.

Raised in Los Angeles, Howell made his Bay Area jazz debut in the early 1980s with a triumvirate of legends, joining trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins at the Great American Music Hall. He spent years touring with R&B greats Etta James and Chaka Khan, and the music of Sudden Changes reflects all of these experiences.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.