SF Jazz Collective at Palace of Fine Arts, SF. It was definitely a good show overall, with McCoy Tyner compositions and originals inspired by his work, but it was definitely not the best I have seen them. Joshua Redman and Bobby Hutcherson both "retired" from the group before last year, and were replaced by Joe Lovano and Stefon Harris. Dave Douglas came in on trumpet last year and Robin Eubanks replaced the better trombonist Andre Heyward this year. I missed them last year because oddly enough the SF Jazz Collective did not play as part of the SF Jazz Spring Season and instead played in Berkeley for some reason, so I don't know how the group was last year.
This year the standouts were long-time members Renee Rosnes on piano, Eric Harland who is a monster on drums, and Dave Douglas on trumpet. Lovano was oddly and uncharacteristically subdued on tenor and Miguel Zenon is just not my favorite on alto. The Tyner tunes were all good, but Peresina and Four By Five were great. The original pieces by Rosnes, Harland and bassist Matt Penman were really nice, with Penman's Yup, We Did written on 11/05/08 was really nice.
Overall a good but not great night that was not up to snuff for the Collective. It was their last night of a month-long tour, and although all of them kept saying they love each other and wanted to play more gigs they also seemed tired.