Genre

Blues and Jazz in San Diego

22 shows coming up. Other sounds below.

Upcoming Shows

Sun Nov 156:00 PM
Patrick YandallHumphreys Backstage Live Shelter Island
Tickets
Sun Nov 158:00 PM
Marc BroussardBelly Up Tavern Solana Beach
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Mon Nov 168:00 PM
Jon SpencerThe Casbah Middletown
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Thu Nov 197:00 PM
Jane MonheitCalifornia Center for the Arts, Escondido Escondido
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Sat Nov 218:00 PM
Houndmouthwith DogparkThe Sound Del Mar
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Fri Nov 277:00 PM
The Greyboy AllstarsThe Observatory North Park North Park
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Sat Nov 287:30 PM
Big Bad Voodoo DaddyBalboa Theatre Gaslamp Quarter
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Sun Nov 297:30 PM
The Blind Boys of Alabamawith Shemekia CopelandBelly Up Tavern Solana Beach
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Wed Dec 27:30 PM
Squirrel Nut ZippersBelly Up Tavern Solana Beach
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Fri Dec 47:00 PM
Scott Bradlee's Postmodern JukeboxThe Magnolia El Cajon
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Sun Dec 66:00 PM
Dennis JonesHumphreys Backstage Live Shelter Island
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Mon Dec 147:00 PM
David BenoitBelly Up Tavern Solana Beach
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Thu Dec 177:30 PM
Dave Kozwith Jonathan ButlerBalboa Theatre Gaslamp Quarter
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Tue Dec 297:00 PM
Jinkx Monsoonwith BenDeLaCremeBalboa Theatre Gaslamp Quarter
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8 shows from January 28 onShow fewer

Thu Jan 286:30 PM
Jesse CookThe Magnolia El Cajon
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Tue Feb 98:00 PM
Eddie 9VSoda Bar Normal Heights
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Thu Feb 117:30 PM
Rhiannon GiddensJacobs Music Center Downtown
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Fri Feb 267:30 PM
Wynton Marsaliswith Jazz at Lincoln Center OrchestraNewJacobs Music Center Downtown
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Sat Mar 67:30 PM
Jacob CollierThe Rady Shell at Jacobs Park Embarcadero
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Sat Mar 67:30 PM
Stanley Clarkewith HiromiBalboa Theatre Gaslamp Quarter
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Thu Mar 118:00 PM
G. Love & Special SauceBelly Up Tavern Solana Beach
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Sat Aug 217:30 PM
Stephen Bishopwith David WilcoxBalboa Theatre Gaslamp Quarter
Tickets

San Diego has a radio station that plays nothing but jazz. KSDS, Jazz 88.3, broadcasts from San Diego City College and has been a full time jazz station since 1985. It is a good way to learn names before you buy a ticket.

The blues side has deep roots up the coast. When the Belly Up Tavern first turned to live music in the 1970s, a promoter named Steve Brigotti filled the Quonset hut with John Lee Hooker, Big Joe Turner and Lowell Fulson. For twelve years the San Diego Blues Festival raised money for the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank at Embarcadero Marina Park North, until organizers ended it in 2023.

Where to Hear It

Humphreys Backstage Live on Shelter Island is the steadiest bet, with blues nights and jazz sets on a small stage by the marina, including plenty of Sunday shows.

For concert seating, the Balboa Theatre, a 1924 vaudeville and movie house in the Gaslamp that reopened after a restoration in 2008, books jazz headliners through the year. Jacobs Music Center slots jazz nights between symphony weeks, and La Jolla Music Society brings jazz artists into its season too. In North County, the California Center for the Arts, Escondido has a concert hall with about 1,500 seats.

Theater dates at the Balboa have assigned seats, while the room at Humphreys Backstage Live is looser and closer to a club, so pick based on how you like to listen.