The Countdown Begins…

The Healdsburg Jazz Festival starts less than three weeks from today, on Friday June 4. (Keep an eye on our home page for the daily countdown!) As what the San Francisco Chronicle calls “probably the best small jazz festival in the country” nears, we’ll be sending out a series of reasons why you will want to attend one or more events in the this year’s lineup. Ten reasons, in fact, along with extra info and special promotions, all designed to get you as excited as the 12th Annual Festival as we are!

The Ten Reasons Countdown

Reason No. 10: Support Jazz Education The Healdsburg Jazz Festival was founded in large part to “educate young people and adults about the important role of jazz as an indigenous American art form,” according to our mission statement, and it’s a core belief that through education comes understanding and appreciation. At the annual Festival, we have several events that demonstrate, or benefit, this commitment to education.

Saturday, May 22 will see Jazz in the Chef’s Kitchen, with internationally acclaimed chef Nancy Oakes of Boulevard and L’Avenue restaurants, and her husband Bruce Aidells of Aidells Sausage Company, for our 2010 Education Fundraiser. They will open their legendary craftsman-style home for a memorable wine country evening of extraordinary food and jazz, including the soulful Kenny Washington. It’s a benefit for our Jazz Education programs, and your attendance will help area school-age children learn how to listen to, appreciate and play jazz and other musical forms. Make your donation and get your invitation before it’s too late!

Bobby VegaSaturday, June 5 will be the first Jazz Festival weekend, and we’ve upped the ante with a special Art of the Solo Guitar presentation, including a morning workshop for young musicans and an afternoon concert featuring many of the guitar stars of the Festival lineup. It’s all a fundraiser for the Healdsburg Jazz Festival’s music education programs, co-presented by the Ribbecke Guitar Company. Get your tickets to the concert now.

Other Education events include the appearance of Tacuma King and the Children’s Percussion Workshop at the Friday, June 11 concert featuring the Esperanza Spalding Group, and two performances by the popular Healdsburg High School Jazz Band, one at the June 12 Charlie Haden-Geri Allen-Ravi Coltrane show at the Raven, and at the Benefactors Dinner and Concert on June 10 at the new Francis Ford Coppola Winery.

We will be in touch soon with the next of Ten Reasons to enjoy the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, and more special notes on the music we love. Remember tickets for all events in the Festival Schedule are available online, and more information and news is always available at healdsburgjazzfestival.org.


2 comments

  1. Great idea — win a ticket to the festival! Why didn’t I think of that! Well, you still might get a chance. Listen to our FM jazz radio sponsors — KCSM (san mateo 91.1), KPFA (berkeley 94.1) or KRCB (rohnert park 95.9) — as they have tickets for “lucky listeners” such as yourself. Good luck!

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