Edward Simon: When Dogs Howl

“One of the strongest pianists of his generation” (DownBeat), SFJAZZ Collective pianist Edward Simon brings his latest and most expansive project to the stage. 

When Dogs Howl is an ambitious multidisciplinary project that blends jazz composition, Afro-Venezuelan percussion, dance, storytelling, and immersive video design into a unified performance experience. Created in collaboration with SFJAZZ and commissioned by the Creative Work Fund, the work centers on the journeys of Venezuelan refugees and migrants who travel thousands of miles across Latin America in search of safety, opportunity, and belonging.  

Simon combines a jazz big band with traditional South American instruments and percussion, creating a sound world that merges contemporary improvisation with Venezuelan rhythmic traditions. Rather than presenting migration as abstract politics, the project emphasizes lived emotional experiences: displacement, resilience, memory, and reinvention. Its unique strength lies in how music, projected visuals, and movement interact to create a cinematic narrative atmosphere. When Dogs Howl reflects Simon’s long-standing commitment to socially engaged jazz and cross-cultural collaboration and further elevates his status as a visionary artist whose creativity continually pushes beyond borders, genres, and restrictions.