Skylar Tang is living her best life.

In her first year at Juilliard, the Foster-City-raised jazz trumpeter wasted no time in announcing her arrival in New York City, complete with an appearance with sax star Joshua Redman on pianist Emmet Cohen’s persistently viral YouTube series Emmet’s Place.

Coming straight from Juilliard, she didn’t even have a chance to chat with Cohen before the session, “And from the very first note she fit seamlessly into the group,” Cohen recalled via email. “What struck me most was her poise. There’s a calm authority in the way she plays, and a truly personal voice on the trumpet that already feels both rooted and forward-looking.”

But all the opportunities afforded by the Big Apple jazz scene couldn’t keep Tang contained. Offered a residency at the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, she reluctantly decided to take this spring semester off from Juilliard.

But the hothouse of the Big Apple jazz scene and the eminent conservatory couldn’t keep her contained. Offered a residency at the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, she reluctantly decided to take this spring semester off from Juilliard.

“I was hesitant to take on the opportunity, but a good friend talked me into it,” Tang said from her 18th Street digs. “It was the best decision I’ve made. It’s so rare you get to focus on music for an extended period of time without worrying about anything else.”

Over the past three months she’s been checking out the creatively charged Los Angeles scene while keeping in touch with her Bay Area friends. Over the next two weeks, Tang is playing half a dozen gigs across the region in a variety of settings, starting May 8 at San Jose Jazz’s Break Room, where she presents her quartet with Belmont-raised New York bassist Jayla Chee.

On May 9 she plays two shows with the Jayla Chee Quartet at Mr. Tipple’s, with Berkeley-raised tenor saxophonist Kazemde George and drum great Akira Tana. And on May 10 she’s rejoining the ranks of bassist Marcus Shelby’s New Orchestra at SFJAZZ for a program reimagining the seminal Miles Davis nonet recordings from 1949-50 that came to known as “Birth of the Cool.”

“Marcus always asks me to write a chart when I’m playing with the orchestra, and for ‘Birth’ I did an arrangement of ‘Conception,’” she said, referring to the George Shearing bebop tune that Davis radically reconfigured for the historic nine-piece combo. “Playing with that band is so much fun, standing next to Mike Olmos, an incredible trumpet player and musician.”

She’s at Yoshi’s on May 13 as part of the talent-packed Larry Vuckovich All-Stars, a sextet with special guest Jamie Davis on vocals. The program is a centennial celebration of saxophonist John Coltrane and Miles Davis, focusing on the trumpeter’s era-defining mid-1950s quintet that catapulted Coltrane into prominence. Tang also joins Vuckovich’s quartet for a Davis and Coltrane tribute May 15-16 at Palo Alto’s Meyhouse featuring the Yoshi’s rhythm section tandem of bassist Doug Miller and drummer Jason Lewis.

With Vuckovich on the cusp of his 90th birthday, the seven-decade spread between the pianist and Tang embodies jazz’s crucial generational reach, with young players imbibing essential seasoning via direct contact with veteran masters. When he was Tang’s age Vuckovich saw Davis perform often in San Francisco, and went on to play with Philly Joe Jones, the drummer who powered the trumpeter’s epochal mid-1950s quintet with Coltrane.

“It’s so special to play with Larry,” Tang said. “There are very few people around who’ve lived through what he has, life-wise and musically, sounding as good as he does. He carries that with him. The rhythm section is always incredible. One time with him when I was in high school it was bassist Essiet Essiet and Sylvia Cuenca, and I got my butt kicked.”

Tang has been a standout player since attending Crystal Springs Upland School in Hillsborough, when she auditioned her way into elite ensembles run by SFJAZZ, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and Stanford Jazz Workshop. She was also a regular at jam sessions, with transportation often provided by Chee, who was struck by her poise and presence the first time she heard Tang play.

“Obviously I’ve watched her get better, but she already sounded mature in a different way than a  lot of people when I met her,” said Chee, who has been thriving in New York since graduating from Juilliard in 2023. “I’m always impressed with Skylar’s confidence on stage. She’s got great ears, and she uses them in playing.”

Tang credits Chee with helping forge her musical identity. On the way home after attending jam sessions together she would ask the budding trumpeter, “How did that feel musically?” Tang recalled.

“It was the first time someone really pushed me to be thoughtful, to reflect on how it felt, form opinions and develop my judgement. She’s such an amazing musician. She just fearless, taking so many risks. You never know what’s going to happen.”

Tang’s future looks boundless, but on the immediate horizon she’s thrilled to be performing with her New York quartet at Germany’s Moers Jazz Festival and the Montreal International Jazz Festival. And then she’s plunging back into the New York scene.

Contact Andrew Gilbert at jazzscribe@aol.com.

SKYLAR TANG 

With Skylar Tang Quartet: 8 p.m. May 8 at San Jose Jazz Break Room, San Jose; $25; sanjosejazz.org.

With Jayla Chee Quartet: 6 and 7:30 p.m. May 9 at Mr. Tipple’s, San Francisco; $15-$30; mrtipplessf.com.

With Marcus Shelby New Orchestra: 7 p.m. May 10 at SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco; $54.50-$124.50; www.sfjazz.org.

With Larry Vuckovich All-Stars: 8 p.m. May 13 at Yoshi’s, Oakland; $32.70-$61.10; yoshis.com; 5 and 8 p.m. May 15-16 at Meyhouse, Palo Alto; $38-$48; www.meyhousejazz.com