The San Francisco Jazz Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary in a series of jazz concerts that run from September 22 through November 30, featuring performances by Ornette Coleman, John McLaughlin, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ahmad Jamal, Caetano Veloso, Dr. John, Fred Hersch, and more.

What began 25 years ago as a small gathering of jazz musicians to celebrate the local jazz scene has evolved into one of the leading jazz events on the West Coast.

Veteran jazz masters and up-and-coming talent blend together in this year's festival. On the new side, look for sets from "downtown" NYC clarinetist Anat Cohen, Bay Area singers Jacqui Naylor and Spencer Day, Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen, and cutting-edge groups Happy Apple (led by Bad Plus drummer Dave King) and Kneebody, merging indie rock, funk, blues and jazz together with instrumental virtuosity.

The global influences and expressions of jazz are captured in a series of performances by Brazilian superstar Cataeno Veloso, Cape Verdian singer Sara Tavares, Brazilian jazz-hiphop artist CéU, North African musicians Tinariwan and Vieux Farka Touré (son of the late Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré), Portuguese singer Cristina Branco, Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, and Latin jazz congueros Candido, "Patato" Valdes and Giovanni Hidalgo.

Continuing the international flavor of this year's festival are performances by longtime festival favorites Bridgewater (showcasing her latest CD, "Red Earth," which unites jazz and the music of Mali), Cuban singer Isaac Delgado, and Amsterdam's uniquely inventive and irreverent Willem Breuker Kollektief, providing a live soundtrack to F.W. Murnau's 1926 cinematic masterpiece, "Faust," on Halloween night.

Several special events highlight this year's 25th anniversary festival. Percussionist and Latin jazz patriarch Pete Escovedo receives this year's Beacon Award on Saturday, October 27, for his stellar work as a bandleader, recording artist, member of ensembles led by Herbie Hancock and Carlos Santana, nightclub owner, and multiple music award-winner.

Two specially-commissioned works will also make their debut at this year's SF Jazz Festival. The Grammy-winning Kronos Quartet are joined onstage by Wilco drummer and composer Glenn Kotche for the World Premiere of Kotche's "Anomaly" on October 25, with guest appearances by multi-instrumentalist Walter Kitundu and South Korean singer/dancer Dohee Lee. And East Bay percussionist John Santos premieres his major work "Traditions in Transition" — a suite exploring the past, present, and future of Afro-Latin music — created in collaboration with SFJAZZ's own High School All-Stars, and joined by special guests on November 11.

Adding to the new music mix, bandleader Marcus Shelby's oratorio, "Harriet Tubman: Bound for the Promised Land," celebrates the great abolitionist, while pianist Jon Jang's "Unbound Chinatown: A Musical Tribute to Alice Fong Yu" honors San Francisco's groundbreaking Chinese-American teacher.

And two members of the SF JAZZ Collective, Joe Lovano and Renee Rosnes both lead their own quartets in concert on November 8. 

Here's the schedule for this year's entire San Francisco Jazz Festival:

Saturday, September 22 at 8 pm
"Electric Jazz Legend"
John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension
Masonic Center

Wednesday, October 17 at 7.30 pm
"Sacred Space"
Pharoah Sanders
Grace Cathedral

Thursday, October 18 at 7.30 pm
"Brazilian Moods"
Toots Thielemans with Kenny Werner & Oscar Castro-Neves
Herbst Theatre

Friday, October 19 at 8 pm
"Red Earth: A Malian Journey"
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Herbst Theatre

Friday, October 19 at 8 pm
"New Work Showcase"
Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra; Jon Jang Seven with Min Xiao-Fen
Great American Music Hall

Saturday, October 20 at 8 and 10 pm
"Cuban Dance Party"
Isaac Delgado
Bimbo's 365 Club

Sunday, October 21 at 2 pm
"New Sounds of Cape Verde"
Sara Tavares
Florence Gould Theatre, Legion of Honor

Sunday, October 21 at 7 pm
"Piano Jazz Legend"
Ahmad Jamal
Herbst Theatre

Wednesday, October 24 at 8 pm
"Monk's Music
T.S. Monk Sextet; Monk's Music Trio
Great American Music Hall

Thursday, October 25 at 7.30 pm
"New Work: World Premiere"
Kronos Quartet with Glenn Kotche
Herbst Theatre

Saturday, October 27 at 2 pm
"Downtown NYC Rising Star"
Anat Cohen
Florence Gould Theatre, Legion of Honor

Saturday, October 27 at 3 pm
"Family Matinee: Beacon Award Winner"
Pete Escovedo with his Latin Jazz Orchestra
Herbst Theatre

Saturday, October 27 at 8 pm
"Beacon Award Winner"
Pete Escovedo with his Latin Jazz Orchestra and Special Guests
Herbst Theatre

Saturday, October 27 at 8 pm
"New Orleans on Nob Hill"
Dr. John; Preservation Hall Jazz Band; Big Chief Bo Dollis and the Wild Magnolias
Masonic Center

Sunday, October 28 at 2 pm
"SFJAZZ Members-Only Concert"
Jacky Terrasson, solo piano
Florence Gould Theatre, Legion of Honor

Sunday, October 28 at 7 pm
"The Master Maverick"
Ornette Coleman
Masonic Center

Wednesday, October 31 at 8 pm
"Live Jazz + Silent Film: Faust"
Willem Breuker Kollektif
Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

Thursday, November 1 at 7.30 pm
"Two Sides of Hersch"
Fred Hersch Trio and Trio + 2
Herbst Theatre

Friday, November 2 at 8 pm
"SFJAZZ Commission Concert: 'In My Mind: Monk at Town Hall 1959'"
Jason Moran
Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

Friday, November 2 at 8 pm
"Sitar Dynasty"
Ravi Shankar with Anoushka Shankar
Masonic Center

Saturday, November 3 at 2 pm
"The Third Quartet"
John Abercrombie with Mark Feldman, Marc Johnson and Joey Baron
Florence Gould Theatre, Legion of Honor

Saturday, November 3 at 8 pm
"New Brazil"
CéU
Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

Saturday, November 3 at 8 pm
"Vocal Rising Stars"
Jacqui Naylor; Spencer Day
Herbst Theatre

Sunday, November 4 at 2 pm
"Art of the Trio"
Tord Gustavsen Trio
Florence Gould Theatre, Legion of Honor

Sunday, November 4 at 3 pm
"Le Jazz Hot: The Music of Django Reinhardt"
Django Reinhardt Festival Band featuring Dorado Schmidtt
Florence Gould Theatre, Legion of Honor

Sunday, November 4 at 7 pm
"Le Jazz Hot: The Music of Django Reinhardt"
Django Reinhardt Festival Band featuring Dorado Schmidtt and Paquito D'Rivera
Herbst Theatre

Sunday, November 4 at 7 pm
"Desert Guitar Summit
Tinariwen; Vieux Farka Touré
Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

Wednesday, November 7 at 7 pm
"New Music"
Happy Apple; Kneebody
Great American Music Hall

Thursday, November 8 at 7.30 pm
"'Collective' Quartets"
Joe Lovano Quartet; Renee Rosnes Quartet
Herbst Theatre

Friday, November 9 at 8 pm
"Ritmo Latino"
Conga Kings: Candido, "Patato" Valdes and Giovanni Hidalgo
Herbst Theatre

Saturday, November 10 at 8 pm
"Generations of Jazz Piano"
Herbie Hancock Quartet; Gonzalo Rubalcaba, solo piano
Masonic Center

Saturday, November 10 at 8 pm
"Vocal Mastery"
Kurt Elling; Nancy King
Herbst Theatre

Sunday, November 11 at 3 pm
"Premiere: 'Traditions in Transition'"
John Santos and the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars
Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

Sunday, November 11 at 7 pm
"World Voices: Portugal"
Cristina Branco
Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

Saturday, November 17 at 8 pm
"World Voices: Brazil"
Caetano Veloso
Masonic Center

Friday, November 30 at 8 pm
"World Voices: Senegal"
Youssou N'Dour
Masonic Center

Special Winter Concerts

Sunday, December 9 at 8 pm
"World Voices: Israel"
Chava Alberstein
Herbst Theatre

Friday, January 25, 2008 at 8 pm
"Sacred Space"
Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares
Grace Cathedral

Tickets are on sale now for all SFJAZZ events. For more information, call 415.398.5655 or visit www.sfjazz.org.