Howard Wiley + PHER at YBG Festival

Update Due to unforeseen circumstances, Hailu Mergia is no longer able to perform on May 16, 2026.

When it’s time to get a party started, Howard Wiley gets the call. The Oakland saxophonist has been a mainstay on the Bay Area music scene since he was a teenager, and now he’s taken up the mantle of his mentors, playing soul-steeped jazz palpably connected to its social music roots. Impossible to pigeonhole, Wiley can generate blowtorch heat in just about any context, whether he’s playing Ethio-jazz with Meklit, laying down shuffle beats on drums as one of Lavay Smith’s Red Hot Skillet Lickers or testifying with veteran Hammond B3 organ masters like Doug Carn and Chester Thompson. As a bandleader, he works with the toughest players on the scene.

Deeply versed in jazz and classic soul music, PHER is equally comfortable in both musical realms, and often brings the techniques and cadences of one idiom into the other. Formerly known as Chris Turner, the Oakland native has become a phenomenon over the past decade, from his standout appearance on Snarky Puppy’s 2016 hit “Liquid Love” to collaborations with Usher, The Roots, Robert Glasper, Stevie Wonder, Sam Smith, Bilal, Eddie Palmeri, Esperanza Spalding, Jon Batiste and many others. PHER credits his formative years on the Bay Area scene with preparing him to thrive in New York City, where he moved to study at the New School and quickly became a sought-after background singer for a staggering roster of major jazz, soul, R&B and hip-hop artists. He joined the faculty of his alma mater in 2013 teaching voice at the New School’s jazz and contemporary music program to college students and pop artists such as Sean Kingston, 070 Shake and WolfTyla. For this program, PHER brings his newly released album Songs by PHER to life in a performance rooted in intimacy, improvisation and connection.

Pre-show music from KALW DJ Charlotte K at 1pm.

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Host or Publisher Yerba Buena Gardens Festival