Regina Carter will Return to SFP This Month

courtesy of San Francisco Performance

Later this month jazz violinist Regina Carter will return to Herbst Theatre to give her ninth main stage performance for San Francisco Performances (SFP). Carter has had a long and happy relationship with SFP, including holding the distinction of being the first Jazz Artist-in-Residence, a position she held between 1997 and 2001. She has also performed for six of the Family Matinee events and appeared in three Season Galas, the most recent being her appearance at A Heartfelt Gala at the end of September of 2016. On that occasion she played her own composition “What Ruth Felt” as her way of honoring SFP’s founder and President Emeritus.

For this month’s visit she will lead a quintet whose other members will be keyboardist Xavier Davis (piano, Hammond B3 organ, and Fender Rhodes), guitarist Marvin Sewell, bassist Chris Lightcap, and drummer Alvester Garnett. The title of the program will be Simply Ella. Carter prepared it to honor the centennial birthday of Ella Fitzgerald, which took place this past April 25. Carter has been emphatic about Fitzgerald being the source of her work as a jazz player, and an album based on the material she prepared for this program is forthcoming.

Carter will be the second artist to perform in this season’s Virtuosi Series. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 17, in Herbst Theatre. The entrance to Herbst is the main entrance to the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. The venue is excellent for public transportation, since that corner has Muni bus stops for both north-south and east-west travel. Tickets prices are $65 for premium seating in the Orchestra and the front and center of the Dress Circle, $55 for the Side Boxes, the center rear of the Dress Circle, and the remainder of the Orchestra, and $40 for the remainder of the Dress Circle and the Balcony. Tickets may be purchased in advance online through a City Box Office event page.

In addition Carter will use her visit to continue her participation in the SFP Family Matinee Series. She will bring her quintet to the first of the four offerings in this series. The program will be announced from the stage. This event will also take place in Herbst Theatre, beginning at 11 a.m. the next day, Saturday, November 18. Ticket prices are $25 for adults and $15 for children. City Box Office has created a separate event page for advance online purchase.