The Charles Unger Experience

The Charles Unger Experience brings a true San Francisco jazz institution to the Main Stage at Broadway & Columbus, led by saxophonist, bandleader, composer, and Bay Area legend Charles Unger — a major force on the local music scene for over 40 years. Playing alto, tenor, and soprano saxophone across jazz, R&B, and World Beat, Unger draws from a lineage that includes Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Kenny Garrett, while delivering a stage show that is joyful, exuberant, and genuinely unforgettable. A fixture at Les Joulins Jazz Bistro for nearly two decades and a performer at festivals in Sweden, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Paris, Unger approaches music as a spiritual mission — and he has a smile that welcomes every last member of the crowd to the party.