Erik Jekabson Quartet plays the music of Rogers and Hart

Erik Jekabson brings his quartet to Keys for an afternoon devoted to the songbook of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, one of the great American songwriting partnerships of the 20th century. Expect to hear sophisticated harmonic explorations of standards like "My Funny Valentine," "The Lady Is a Tramp," and "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" — songs that have been jazz vehicles for generations.

Jekabson is a trumpeter, composer, and arranger whose work bridges the orchestral jazz tradition of Duke Ellington and Gil Evans with contemporary post-bop sensibilities. He's best known for leading the Erik Jekabson String-tet, a chamber jazz ensemble that layers strings with jazz rhythm section and horn voicings, but he's equally adept in the quartet format, where his trumpet work — thoughtful, warm, and capable of both panache and restraint — takes center stage. He's arranged for the San Francisco Symphony and the BBC Radio Orchestra, toured with Illinois Jacquet, and runs the Young Musicians Program at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley.

In the quartet setting, Jekabson surrounds himself with top Bay Area musicians. For this Rodgers and Hart program, expect inventive arrangements that honor the elegance of the original melodies while opening them up for improvisation. The quartet format allows for intimate interplay and conversational exchanges — the kind of jazz where you hear musicians listening to each other in real time.

This is a rare chance to hear an artist known for his larger ensemble work in a more streamlined context, focusing on one of the most enduring catalogs in American music. The combination of Jekabson's arranging sensibility and the timeless melodies of Rodgers and Hart promises an afternoon of sophisticated, swinging jazz.