Warmed up after an acclaimed four-night winter run at the SFJAZZ Center, piano great Jason Moran rejoins forces with the Marcus Shelby Orchestra for a deep dive into Ellingtonia, the supremely sophisticated, wittily sardonic, and unspeakably beautiful body of music created by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.

The evening starts with a 30-minute solo performance by Jason Moran, a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, artistic director for jazz at the Kennedy Center, and among the most celebrated pianists of his generation. Afterwards, he’ll be joined by Shelby’s talent-packed orchestra featuring rising vocal star Darynn Dean, a strikingly gifted chanteuse who hails from an illustrious Los Angeles jazz clan. Her February performances with Moran and Shelby announced the arrival of a major new talent, just as the SFJAZZ residency revealed the deep conceptual and sonic affinities between Moran, described by Rolling Stone as “the most provocative thinker in current jazz,” and Shelby, whose deeply informed works revel in the soulful sinew connecting Harlem stride piano, Ellington, Monk and Andrew Hill.