How much sweeter can life get? The Giants are champions, the weather's gorgeous and there's plenty of artistry happening at Bay Area jazz venues this weekend:
- Drummer Roy Haynes has played with just about everyone who matters in jazz since he came on the scene in the 1940s, and he's still at the top of his game at the age of 85, as he demonstrated with powerful performances backing Chick Corea and leading his own band at the Monterey Jazz Festival a few months ago. Maybe he'll share the secret of immortality as he performs with his Fountain of Youth Band in an 8 p.m. Saturday SFJAZZ show at the Herbst Theater. $25-$65.
- Bassist Kai Eckhardt, who's worked with world-class talents such as John McLaughlin and Billy Cobham, teases out densely rhythmic tunes with his trio in an 8 p.m. show at Berkeley's Jazzschool. $15.
- There's no doubt singer/songwriter/pianist Gil Scott-Heron is a key figure in modern music. He created a road from the beats and boppers to the hip-hop era with searing soul/jazz numbers such as "The Bottle." and "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." He's also one complicated individual, as documented in a disturbing New Yorker profile earlier this year. The legend performs at 8 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Yoshi's Oakland. $28.
- Jose James is one heck of a smooth singer, able to sell a song with supreme ease and confidence. SFJAZZ teams him up with nimble pianist Jef Neve for a 2 p.m. Sunday show at the Legion of Honor. $30.
- After quickly establishing a solid reputation on the contemporary bluegrass scene, teenage prodigy Francesca Nagle has decided to apply her talents to the standards. Her supple, rich voice and nuanced strumming work like a charm on tunes such as "I Didn't Know What Time It Was." Nagle and her band, Primary Colors, perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church of Mountain View. $18-$20.
- Bassist Rufus Reid is a living repository of everything that made the post-bop era of jazz swing. Catch him with his trio at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society near Half Moon Bay. $35.
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