Program Book - Miles Davis at 100: Gonzalo Rubalcaba / Unlimited Miles
NINETY-FIFTH SEASON
Friday, March 27, 2026, at 8:00
Jazz Series
MILES DAVIS AT 100
GONZALO RUBALCABA Piano
INTERMISSION
UNLIMITED MILES
John Beasley Piano
Sean Jones Trumpet
Mark Turner Saxophone
Kurt Rosenwinkel Guitar
Ben Williams Bass
Terreon Gully Drums
The program will be announced from the stage.
Funding for educational programs during the 2025–26 Season of SCP Jazz has been generously provided by Dan J. Epstein, Judith Guitelman, and the Dan J. Epstein Family Foundation.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.
Chicago Jazz, DownBeat magazine, and WDCB 90.9FM Jazz are Media Partners for this event.
Gonzalo Rubalcaba Piano
In 1999, the multi–Grammy Award winner, pianist and composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba was selected by Piano & Keyboard magazine as one of the great pianists of the twentieth century alongside figures such as Glenn Gould, Martha Argerich, and Bill Evans. He has won four Grammy Awards and four Latin Grammy Awards and received twenty-four Grammy nominations. He has been awarded the EMPIK Bestseller Prize, a Palmarès award from the French Académie du Jazz, and Les Victoires du Jazz Prize. His album A Tribute to Benne Moré and Nat King Cole won the 2026 Grammy Award in the Best Latin Jazz Album category. Born in Havana into a musical family, he chose the piano as his main instrument, as he once recalled, “to please my mother.” He graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts in Havana with a degree in composition. After graduation, he toured Cuba, Europe, Africa, and Asia with the fabled Orquesta Aragón and as a sideman in jazz groups. The encounters with Dizzy Gillespie, and in 1986, with Charlie Haden and then-Blue Note Records president Bruce Lundvall, set the stage to showcase Rubalcaba’s talent before audiences in the United States.
Reflecting his interest in music education, Rubalcaba joined the faculty of the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music in 2015. In 2020, he founded his own academy, Rubalcademy, offering remote master classes to musicians worldwide.
John Beasley Piano
Pianist, composer, and arranger John Beasley has built a genre-spanning career that bridges jazz, classical, pop, and film/TV music.
A musical shapeshifter with deep jazz roots, he performed with Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard in his twenties and has since collaborated with Dianne Reeves, Christian McBride, Chaka Khan, A. R. Rahman, Chucho Valdés, and Steely Dan, among others. Beasley’s acclaimed recordings include the Grammy–winning MONK’estra trilogy, Returning to Forever, Bird Lives, El Trio: Live in Italy, and Positootly! His work has earned two Grammy awards, fourteen Grammy nominations, two Latin Grammy nods, and an Edison Award. As music director for the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, he leads International Jazz Day global gala concerts staged in cities from Istanbul and Havana to Osaka and Tangier. His musical direction for the Jazz at the White House broadcast earned an Emmy nomination. Beasley currently tours with Dianne Reeves, MONK’estra, and European orchestras, while preparing three 2026 releases— Echoform, Secrets, and Unlimited Miles: Celebrating Miles Davis at 100 supported by global tours. When not touring, he collaborates with fifteentime Oscar-nominated composer Thomas Newman on film scores, including Skyfall and Spectre
Sean Jones Trumpet
Music and spirituality have always been intertwined in the artistic vision of trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator, and activist Sean Jones. After a six-month stint with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis offered him a permanent position as lead trumpeter of the ensemble, a post he held from 2004 until 2010. In 2015, Jones was tapped to become a member of the SFJAZZ Collective. Jones has been prominently featured in recordings and performances with many major figures in jazz, including Illinois Jacquet, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Gerald Wilson, and Marcus Miller. Jones, an internationally recognized educator, is president of the Jazz Education Network and holds the Richard and Elizabeth Case Chair in Jazz Studies at the John Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute in Baltimore, as well as artistic director for the NYO JAZZ Program of Carnegie Hall. Previously, Sean Jones served as chair of the brass department at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Mark Turner Saxophone
In a career that spans two decades and encompasses a broad array of musical ventures, saxophonist Mark Turner has emerged as a towering
presence in the jazz community. With a distinctive, personal tone, singular improvisational skills, and an innovative and challenging compositional approach, he’s earned a far-reaching reputation as one of jazz’s most original and influential forces. He has released more than a dozen albums as leader and is also prolific as a sideman. He has recorded and toured with musicians as diverse as Jakob Bro, Tom Harrell, Billy Hart, Ed Simon, Enrico Rava, Kurt Rosenwinkel, David Virelles, Ethan Iverson, Baptiste Trotignon, and the SFJAZZ Collective.
Kurt Rosenwinkel Guitar
Kurt Rosenwinkel is a highly acclaimed and influential jazz guitarist, composer, and bandleader. Hailed as one of the most important jazz musicians of his generation, Rosenwinkel has spent decades pushing the boundaries of the jazz genre and developing a signature sound that has captivated audiences worldwide. With a career spanning over thirty years, Kurt Rosenwinkel has released a series of groundbreaking albums, collaborated with jazz legends, and he continues to inspire the next generation of jazz musicians. His innovative approach to composition and improvisation has made him a household name among jazz enthusiasts.
Ben Williams Bass
For more than a decade, Ben Williams has steadily become one of the most acclaimed and versatile bassists in modern jazz. His rise to prominence began after he won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in the double bass category back in 2009. Three years later, he nabbed a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album as a member of guitarist Pat Metheny’s Unity Band. He has performed/recorded with such giants as Pat Metheny, George Benson, Stefon Harris, David Sanborn, Lauryn Hill, Wynton Marsalis, Robert Glasper, Maxwell, and Nicholas Payton. In 2013 and 2015 Williams received the DownBeat magazine Critics Poll Rising Star Award for Bass.
Terreon Gully Drums
Grammy Award–winning musician Terreon Gully is one of the most influential artists of his generation. When not busy with the Christian McBride Band, Stefon Harris, David Sanborn, or Yerba Buena, Terreon finds time to squeeze in working with artists including Burning Spear, Lauren Hill, and Roy Ayers. Known for his authenticity and versatility, Gully performs in a variety of genres and musical settings, working with the best. From reggae pioneers, hip-hop icons, to jazz legends, Gully has performed, toured, and recorded with many artists, among them the Benny Green Trio, Charlie Hunter, Real Live Band, Dianne Reeves, Abbey Lincoln, Marc Cary, Russell Gunn, Lizz Wright, Jackie Terrason, and Common, as well as a host of other artists. In addition to live performances, Gully is known for his exceptional work in the studio, recording for albums, films, and commercials.
Funding for educational programs during the 2025–26
Season of SCP Jazz has been generously provided by Dan J. Epstein, Judith Guitelman, and the Dan J. Epstein Family Foundation.
