Upcoming Shows
Upcoming Kai Lyons Shows — August 2026
Fri, Aug 7 • 7–10pm
Kazemde George
Jupiter Pizza and Beer Garden — 2181 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704
Free, all ages
Sat, Aug 8 • 10:30pm (one set)
Simon Rowe Organ Trio
Keys Jazz Bistro — 498 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133
Cover charge, all ages
Sun, Aug 9 • Evening
Tom Catanzaro Quartet — Tribute to Jazz Guitar Greats
Concord (venue TBD — see event page below)
All ages, cover charge
Wed, Aug 12 • Noon–2pm
Sam Bevan Group
Mechanics Monument Plaza — 488 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94111
Free, all ages
Thu, Aug 13 • 8:00pm
Malachi Whitson Quartet
Hammer Museum — 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024
Free, all ages
Sat, Aug 15 • 10:30pm
Simon Rowe Organ Trio
Keys Jazz Bistro — 498 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133
Cover charge, all ages
Thu, Aug 20 • 6:30–9:30pm
Clube da Bossa ft. Will Martins
Rootstock — 217 N Santa Cruz Ave, Los Gatos, CA 95030
Free, 21+
Tue, Aug 25 • Noon–2pm
Kai Lyons Latin Trio ft. Special Guests TBD
Mechanics Monument Plaza — 488 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94111
Free, all ages
Tue, Aug 25 • 7–10pm
Kai Lyons Trio ft. Special Guests TBD
Club Deluxe — 1511 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117
$5 cover, all ages
Thu, Aug 27 • 8–10:30pm
Kai Lyons Trio ft. Special Guests TBD
The Mellow Haight — 1401 Haight St, San Francisco, CA 94117
Cover charge, all ages
Fri, Aug 28 • 5:30–8pm
Kazemde George
Jax Vineyards SF — 326 Brannan St, San Francisco, CA 94107
21+, no cover charge
Fri, Aug 28 • 9–10:30pm
Ritmo y Voz (Kai Lyons, Ernesto Mazar, Einar Leliebre)
Keys Jazz Bistro SF — 498 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133
$40 cover, all ages
Sat, Aug 29 • 10:30pm
Simon Rowe Organ Trio
Keys Jazz Bistro — 498 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133
Cover charge, all ages
Sun, Aug 30 • 6–9pm
Kazemde George
Waystone Wine Bar (North Beach) — 1609 Powell St, San Francisco, CA 94133
No cover, 21+ (unconfirmed)
About
Kai Lyons is from the Excelsior District of San Francisco and was surrounded by music and community from an early age. He completed his studies at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in 2012 as the first to graduate from the acclaimed Classical Guitar Program, directed by Scott Cmiel. From 2012-2014, on full scholarship, Kai attended the prestigious jazz program at William Paterson University of New Jersey, directed by Mulgrew Miller. He studied with Vincent Herring, Gene Bertoncini, Harold Mabern, Rich Perry, and Hal Galper. Kai received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from San Francisco State University where he studied with Andrew Speight, Michael Zisman and Hafez Modirzadeh.
Ever since returning to the Bay Area in 2015, he has freelanced extensively and also traveled frequently to New York City, New Orleans, Brazil, Cuba and the Caribbean on music trips. In 2018 he participated in Master Class: Orff-Afrique 2018 in Ghana, Africa.
Besides working with his own trio, Kai has performed with Mike Clark and Donald Harrison of Herbie Hancock’s Original Headhunters, The San Francisco Ballet and the 2024 production of Carmen composed by Arturo O’Farrill, Karl Perazzo, John Santos, award-winning organist Wil Blades and Larry Vuckovich.
