Sharkey-Heath Xperience concerts

About Sharkey-Heath Xperience

Sharkey-Heath Xperience is a Chicago jazz-rooted collaboration pairing guitarist Isaiah Sharkey with drummer Charles “Rick” Heath IV. The immediate reason for attention sits in the personnel: Sharkey’s work on D’Angelo’s Grammy-winning Black Messiah and Heath’s association with pianist Ramsey Lewis bring two established working musicians into a club-scale setting. Their billed sound draws on jazz, gospel, R&B, blues, funk, rock, and Latin music, placing the Xperience close to Chicago’s crossover tradition.

A working Chicago partnership

Public listings establish Sharkey and Heath as the central pairing, with Chicago as the project’s home base. Andy’s event material identifies Sharkey as the guitarist and Heath as the drummer, while describing Heath as a Chicago-originating musician active across recording studios, concerts, Broadway work, bandleading, production, and teaching. A precise formation year, an expanded founding lineup, and a first Sharkey-Heath release remain absent from the available public materials; the clearest record frames this as a performance-led collaboration between two musicians with substantial individual histories.

The recorded context: Isaiah Sharkey’s Red

The documented release closest to the project is Sharkey’s solo album Red, issued August 8, 2025 through Rizqman Music. Apple Music lists nine songs and a 42-minute running time, categorizing it as R&B/Soul; Garcia’s Chicago describes the record as a fusion of soul, R&B, jazz, and guitar-centered storytelling. For a prospective Xperience listener, that record supplies the most current recorded evidence of Sharkey’s writing and bandleading direction, while the Andy’s billing places that guitar language beside Heath’s drums.

Red also gives the collaboration a useful map of Sharkey’s current musical connections. “Game Of Life” features Jahi Sundance, “Get To You” features trumpeter Keyon Harrold, “Angel” brings in drummer Daru Jones and Angel Z’ryiah Sharkey, and “The Brave” features guitarist Mark Whitfield. Those credits point toward a song-based contemporary soul record whose guest list reaches into jazz, funk, and modern R&B. The live Xperience has its own name and billing, so listeners should approach Red as Sharkey context instead of a direct document of the duo’s club set.

Earlier milestones in Sharkey’s wider career explain why a small-room appearance carries weight. Andy’s credits him as a sideman for Smokie Norful, Donald Lawrence, and Vanessa Bell Armstrong; as Ronald Isley’s lead guitarist on tour and on two albums; and as a contributor to D’Angelo’s Black Messiah. Garcia’s also lists collaborators including John Mayer, Robert Glasper, Cory Henry, Lalah Hathaway, Common, Paul Simon, and Chris Dave & the Drumhedz. The Xperience centers that far-ranging guitar background inside a Chicago jazz-club format.

Two careers meeting in the room

The project’s central collaboration is Sharkey and Heath themselves. Sharkey arrives with a recording, touring, and session résumé spanning gospel and contemporary Black music; Heath arrives with credits tied to Donald Byrd, McCoy Tyner, Slide Hampton, and the national tour of The Color Purple, according to Andy’s. Heath’s profile also describes work as a composer, musical director, producer, recording artist, and teacher. That combination supports a live bill grounded in musicianship across several Chicago-connected professional circuits.

A repeat stop at Andy’s

The strongest live evidence is unusually concrete: Sharkey-Heath Xperience played two sets at Andy’s Jazz Club on July 14, 2026, with a 6:00–7:15 p.m. first set and an 8:15–9:30 p.m. second set; the listed ticket price was $20. The Jazz Institute of Chicago’s August club calendar then schedules the project back at Andy’s on August 11 for 6:00 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. sets. That makes at least two documented 2026 dates at the same 11 E. Hubbard Street venue, each built around two short evening sets. Available press material provides personnel and schedule detail, while avoiding claims about set lists, repertoire, or stage behavior.

Current date: August 11

As of August 7, 2026, Red remains Sharkey’s latest full-length release documented here, released in 2025; Apple Music also lists 2026 singles “A Bit Of Heaven” and “Texas Jam.” For CrowdMate readers, Sharkey-Heath Xperience returns to Andy’s Jazz Club in Chicago on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, for two listings: 6:00 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. The Jazz Institute calendar independently carries the same date and times, reinforcing the venue’s two-set format.

Start here

Start with Isaiah Sharkey’s “Get To You,” for its Keyon Harrold guest credit; “Angel,” for Daru Jones and Angel Z’ryiah Sharkey; and “The Brave,” for Mark Whitfield. These Red tracks offer the clearest available recorded entry into Sharkey’s current collaborators before the Andy’s show.

Sources

1. 1st Set With Sharkey-Heath Xperience — Andy's Jazz Club
2. Club Listings — Jazz Institute of Chicago
3. Isaiah Sharkey — Garcia's Chicago
4. Red — Album by Isaiah Sharkey — Apple Music