The sound of jazz will fill Solvang’s streets once again Sept. 25 and 26 when the annual Solvang Jazz Festival comes to town with a lineup of legends and fresh faces from the jazz world.

Conceived by Stix Hooper, the renowned jazz drummer and creator of The Crusaders, the Solvang Jazz Festival promotes an appreciation of America’s only indigenous musical art form through concerts and educational opportunities.

On Sept. 25, there will be two night club performance shows of A Hip Improvisational Evening of Jazz featuring the Eugene Maslov Trio with special guest Justo Almario at Hotel Corque. The next day, the All Star Jazz Concert plays in tribute to Freddie Hubbard, the famous jazz trumpeter who passed away in 2008. Stars slated to play at the Solvang Festival Theater concert include Take 6 and Kamasi Washington.

 

Hooper, who is also the president of the Universal Guild for Jazz and Progressive Music, said currently he only puts on one jazz festival, the Solvang Jazz Festival, although he hopes to start others in the future.

“In my travels up north, when I used to live in L.A., I would drive up and see this little quaint village and it was very, very unique … and I was comparing it to a lot of the villages around the world, townships,” Hooper said of choosing Solvang as the venue, adding it has the ambiance to create an admirable festival.

Linda Jackson, president of the Solvang Chamber of Commerce and festival committee member, said Solvang’s charm is comparable to small European communities that host exceptional jazz festivals.

Jackson said she knew of other cities that host festivals and become branded as important jazz destinations, and she recognized the great potential Solvang showed.

 

“Totally respecting the mission statement of the Universal Guild for Jazz and Progressive Music and seeing the role that it has had in the educational component with our students and local schools, has only heightened my respect for Stix,” Jackson said in an email. “I am so grateful for what he has brought to Solvang — world class jazz musicians who offer us amazing performances … as well as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the students to hear and participate with the jazz greats who have come here.”

The Solvang Jazz Festival also presents unique musical opportunities for the Valley’s young musicians, including the third annual “Competition for Student Musicians,” as well as a free educational concert for local students featuring jazz bands from throughout the county. Some students will even participate in a master class for jazz music taught by UCLA Professor Dr. Bobby Rodriguez and his ensemble.

 

The competition judges students’ submitted music pieces. Five winners receive financial assistance to further their musical education. This year’s winners are Alex Nishi, Corey Parmenter, Nathan Grotenhuis, Noah Weitz and Sofia Caciola, who are pictured on the Journal’s cover this week. The winners will be acknowledged during the educational concert.

Lisa Burrows, the education outreach coordinator with the festival, said about 900 students and teachers from 13 local schools signed up to attend last year’s educational concert.

“The discipline and artistic abilities of the musicians in Dr. Rodriguez’s ensemble are world class,” Burrows said. “That our Valley students have the chance to watch and listen to these top-caliber artists creating live jazz music together is thrilling and very inspiring to students. The fact that the Solvang Jazz Festival has come to the Central Coast and has committed itself to providing a high-level introduction to jazz music to students young and old is terrific.”

 

Hooper said musical programs help students develop academically, as well, and it’s important to teach students about the value of music. Another factor, he said, is to expose students to jazz so they have the familiarity with it to carry on the torch.

Jazz, Hooper said, is America’s only indigenous music, “ … born and bred here in the U.S. and embraced around the world.” But, he added, it’s not always appreciated in the United States as much as it is in other countries.   

It’s a universal music, he said, and pointed out that some of the artists playing during this year’s festival are from countries as far away as Russia and Colombia.

“Music is truly the universal language, the common thread that binds all humanity on our planet,” he said in the festival’s news release.

Ticket and other information can be found at the festival’s website SolvangJazz.com.

 

lauren@syvjournal.com