Sheila E. Brings Improvised, Boundary-Pushing Live Show to the Bronx

Sheila E. will headline the Lehman Performing Arts Center in the Bronx on Sept. 27, delivering a show that foregrounds improvisation over a fixed script. The 67-year-old Bay Area native and 2024 Grammy winner says her live set is built around spontaneity and exploration for both the band and the audience. “Our live shows are a lot of fun,” Escovedo told The Post in an exclusive interview. “There’s songs that people don’t know, there’s songs that people do know and we make up songs. You never know who I’m going to bring onstage.”

"Improvisation is the key to what we do. If you can’t improvise, you can’t be in my band," the 67-year-old Bay Area native noted. “The band has to be ready to change up and slow down or go into a church vibe. It just depends. If the crowd is crazy and insane, it makes us even crazier.” The Bronx stop is part of a sprawling, cross-country run that the artist says keeps alive her brand of genre-crossing, boundary-pushing shows. The schedule includes a Sept. 27 show in Bronx, Oct. 16 in Rehoboth Beach, Oct. 17 with two performances at City Winery in Boston (6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.), Nov. 6 with two shows at City Winery in Philadelphia (6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.), Nov. 7 in Hampton, Va., and a late-year run at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland with multiple times, through Nov. 30, before a spring 2026 date at the Knight Concert Hall in Miami.

The tour serves as a showcase for a performer who has spent more than four decades in the public eye, constantly reshaping her sound. In addition to touring, she released Bailar, her ninth studio album, on April 5, 2024. Bailar is a high-energy dance record whose 45-minute runtime rockets from the opener Anacaona, a collaboration with Rubén Blades, to the closing Descarga, a collaboration with José Alberto “El Canario” and her father Pete Escovedo. The album’s momentum is built on percussion, horns and vocal textures that move briskly from one mood to another. Notably, Bemba Colorá features Gloria Estefan, underscoring the project’s cross-genre appeal.

The guitarist and percussionist says Bailar was the result of listening to salsa for most of her life and embracing a Latin-jazz lineage she grew up with. “My dad is a Latin jazz artist and brought a lot of that music into the house,” she explained. “There was salsa there, and later I ended up playing with those artists. It took a few years to bring a salsa record to life, but winning my first Grammy for something people didn’t expect me to do was amazing.”

Ahead of the upcoming run, The Post spoke with Escovedo at length about her wide-ranging, impressive career. When asked why she keeps returning to the road after more than 40 years, she cited the people who come to hear her and the sense of daily blessing she aims to share with fans. “The fans could be anywhere, but they chose to spend their hard-earned money to come and enjoy time with us,” she said. “That’s really special, especially these days.”

Escovedo also talked about how she structures medleys during live performances. “I don’t know yet what a medley will look like on this run,” she said. “I’ll change it up, depending on the vibe of the room. I love doing medleys because I can fit more songs into a night by moving through sections quickly.” She noted that she still performs full songs on occasion, but the live spirit is to take listeners on a journey that can shift tempo, texture and energy on a whim.

From her work as a longtime Magic Johnson collaborator to her status as the only woman to have performed with Ringo Starr’s All-Stars, Sheila E. has built a career defined by fearless collaboration and genre-bending risk-taking. She recalled meeting Ringo and being asked if she had ever played rock and roll; her answer and performance style reflected her philosophy: bring a strong, ready-to-improvise approach and prove you belong. “I’m the Beatle-ette,” she joked, highlighting the pride she takes in crossing boundaries and expanding the role of percussion and female leadership on tour.

This year’s live circuit also aligns with a broader wave of touring activity highlighted by entertainment outlets, which noted Sheila E. among a slate of major acts on the road in 2025 and 2026. As audiences look for vitality and spontaneity in performances, her shows aim to offer surprises, crowd interaction and a sense of improvisational discovery—both for the musicians and the fans who pack theaters and clubs alike.

The Bronx date is part of a broader narrative about a performer who has continually recalibrated her sound while staying anchored in the principles that have defined her career: high-energy percussion, soulful hooks, and a willingness to improvise when the moment calls for it. For fans of dance-forward, rock-tinged Afro-Latin music, Sheila E. represents a rare blend of artistry and showmanship that remains as vital as ever. As she puts it, the show is a living, evolving experience, and the audience should expect something unlike any other night in the city.