Founded in 1984, the SCJF is an annual event that brings middle schools, high schools and college bands from throughout the western United States to the seaside vacation paradise of Santa Cruz County, California for a long weekend of sun, surf & jazz.
Hosting 66 big bands, 22 jazz combos and 16 vocal jazz ensembles for two days and two nights of top-notch clinics and musical performances on 6 stages, the SCJF maintains a hometown feel while serving up professional level jazz to fans from throughout the central coast of California.
The SCJF also contracts a professional jazz musician as the yearly ‘Guest Artist’ to perform and to also present Master Classes. Recently, we have featured jazz drummer Jeff Hamilton (Diana Krall Band), tenor saxophonist Donnie McCaslin and guitarist Mundell Lowe. This year we proudly present trumpet and brass phenom ALLEN VIZZUTTI.
The SCJF is open to the public and we encourage our friends and fans to attend a variety of concerts and to sit in on several of our outstanding Master Classes presented by pro jazz musicians. And we have kept the cost down; an all-festival pass is only $10. That’s two days and two nights of the best jazz this side of the Sierra.
See you at the beach.
Keep swinging,
Dan Young, President
Nature/surfing photography by Boots McGhee http://www.bootsite.net/
New MASTER CLASS ! “HAWAIIAN JAZZ: The Art of the Lap Steel, Slack Key Guitar & Ukulele”
Presented by Master Guitarist KEN EMERSON
(Grammy Award-winner 2005; featured guitarist on 2007 Grammy Award winning album “Morph the Cat” by Donald Fagan) more...