The SFJAZZ Collective’s mission is to perform fresh arrangements of works by a modern master and newly commissioned pieces by each SFJAZZ Collective member. Through this pioneering approach, simultaneously honoring music’s greatest figures while championing jazz’s up-to-the-minute directions, the SFJAZZ Collective embodies SFJAZZ’s commitment to jazz as a living, ever-relevant art form. Over their fifteen-year existence, the SFJAZZ Collective has honored the music of John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Horace Silver, Stevie Wonder, Chick Corea, Joe Henderson, Michael Jackson, Miles Davis, and Antonio Carlos Jobim and has created over 100 new arrangements and original compositions.

Founded by SFJAZZ in 2004, the SFJAZZ Collective is a leaderless group and a democratic composer’s workshop that represents what’s happening now in jazz. The SFJAZZ Collective has gone though numerous line up changes over the years and has featured Bobby Hutcherson, Joshua Redman, Miguel Zenón, Robin Eubanks, Eric Harland, Mark Turner, Matt Penman, Avishai Cohen, Sean Jones, Andre Hayward, Stefon Harris, Dave Douglas, Nicholas Payton, Joe Lovano, Josh Roseman, Renee Rosnes, Jeff Ballard, Robert Hurst, Brian Blade and others.

Rising to international attention for his extensive work with The Roots, singer, songwriter, and San Francisco-native Martin Luther McCoy is on a mission to bring his signature mix of blues-drenched R&B, funk, rock, and old school soul to audiences worldwide.  McCoy is perhaps best known for his on-screen role as the Jimi Hendrix inspired character “Jo-Jo” and his performance of George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in director Julie Taymor’s Oscar-nominated 2007 Beatles tribute film Across the Universe. He made a memorable appearance in comic megastar Dave Chappelle’s 2005 concert film Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. Steeped in gospel music from his childhood in the church, McCoy began songwriting at six, influenced by a mighty collection of iconic artists including Sam Cooke, Bill Withers, and Parliament/Funkadelic. From that prodigious start, he never looked back – recording and performing with artists including Dave Matthews, Jill Scott, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Zion I. He founded the Rebel Soul Music label in 1999, releasing five scintillating sessions including The Calling, Live at Arlene’s Grocery, Rebel Soul Music, Extra Terrestrial Brother, and Love is the Hero. McCoy recently released new music including the single “Now” with full-length self-titled album due in August 2019.  He has appeared at the SFJAZZ Center and at various venues around the country performing tributes to Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Otis Redding.

“I am very excited about joining the SFJAZZ Collective and it is really an honor to be the first vocalist invited in the group,” says McCoy. “I have been influenced in immeasurable ways by both the genre defying bravado of Miles Davis and the most prolific and soulful stylings of Sylvester Stewart and his family Stone. Sly is the mecca for all things funky. To pay homage to these two giants and get a chance to rock with the SFJAZZ Collective will be a challenge and a treat that I am looking forward to.”

A New York City native, guitarist Adam Rogers is one of the most innovative and acclaimed guitarists in jazz. Since the beginning of his career, he has played on over two hundred commercially released recordings and has performed and/or recorded extensively with Michael Brecker, Cassandra Wilson, Norah Jones, Chris Potter, Walter Becker, Paul Simon, Christian McBride, Regina Carter, John Zorn, John Patitucci, Phillip Bailey, Joe Jackson, Marcus Miller, The Mingus Orchestra, Ravi Coltrane, Terence Blanchard, among many others. Rogers has released seven critically acclaimed recordings as a leader, most recently of his genre bending power trio “Dice.” As a clinician and teacher, he has given master classes nationally and internationally and is currently on the faculty at the NYU/ Steinhardt School of Music.

“I am truly thrilled to explore the music of Sly and the Family Stone’s Stand! and Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way with the SFJAZZ Collective,” says Rogers. “These are two of the most influential albums in my formation as a musician and listener and I feel that they are two of the most seminally important musical statements of the 20^th century.  It is an honor to be asked to participate in the interpretation of these great works with the incredible musicians of the Collective who are among the finest players in the world today.”

As previously announced, alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón and trombonist Robin Eubanks have retired from the SFJAZZ Collective.  Zenón was a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective in 2004 and was instrumental in helping guide its growth and cement its worldwide popularity. With over 15 original compositions and 15 arrangements, his contributions to the SFJAZZ Collective book are beyond compare. In 2018, SFJAZZ released a limited retrospective two-disc album of Zenón’s original compositions and arrangements.  Eubanks was one of the SFJAZZ Collective’s longest serving members and one its elder statesmen.  He was instrumental in making the SFJAZZ Collective the group it is today and pushing the music’s boundaries and directions.  Eubanks created 12 arrangements and 12 original compositions for the group.

SFJAZZ Collective members are also foundation faculty and resident artists at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Roots, Jazz, and American Music Program where they mentor young artists through a unique curriculum towards a pre-professional college degree.