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2008 CSUB Jazz Festival
Topics: Bakersfield, music, Bakotopia, Bakotopia.com, entertainment, Events, jazz, csub
Posted by Bakontributor Tue Apr 29, 2008 11:23:01 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments Location: 9001 Stockdale Hwy., Bakersfield, CA 93311

CSUB Jazz Festival Spring Fling

By CSUB Jazz, Bakotopia.com contributor

The Bakersfield Jazz Festival has become a wonderful two-day celebration for the community that has been called Bakersfield’s rite of spring.

The 22nd annual festival will be on Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, at the CSUB Amphitheater.

Gates open at 6 on May 9, and music kicks off at 7 p.m. with trumpeter Roy Hargrove, who has won Grammy awards for both best instrumental jazz album and nest latin jazz performance.

Following Hargrove will be Roberta Gambarini, who has been called “the true successor to Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Carmen McRae.”


                                      Yellowjackets

The evening concludes with a return of the Yellowjackets, who have set the standard for creative contemporary jazz for more than two decades.


Roy Hargrove         Roberta Gambarini

On Saturday, May 10, festival gates open at 1 p.m. On the main stage at 2 p.m. will be the Kern County Honor Jazz Band, featuring the best high school players from our area. Next will be The Jazz Messiahs with their artful and playful compositions taking center stage. Then up from L.A. will be Los Cuatro, the group with a strong contemporary Cuban flavor on bass and drums plus the Bakersfield native Dennis Hamm on piano.


Los Cuatro

The afternoon should heat up to a fever pitch with such talent on stage as the phenomenal bassist/singer Kristin Korb and her all-star group.


Kristin Korb

Saturday’s evening groups will start with the Tom Harrell Quintet. Tom Harrell played in the Stan Kenton and Woody Herman bands and then with Horace Silver and Phil Woods groups while establishing himself as one of the most creative and lyric improvisers in jazz.


Tom Harrell

Next, Conrad Herwig’s Latin Side of Miles, Trane & Wayne is one of the strongest and unique statements of Latin jazz today. Their performance will precede the spectacular close-proximity fireworks that lead to the closing festival headliner, the Houston-born sax man Everette Harp. With recording credits with Luther Vandross, Dionne Warwick, and Aretha Franklin as well as Herbie Hancock, Branford Marsalis, and Larry Carlton, Everette Harp’s soulful heart and funky grooves should bring the audience to their feet to close the festival.


Conrad Herwig

For those who are new to the Jazz Festival, there will be a variety of food, beer and wine vendors at the festival, so bring your favorite blanket and some lawn chairs, and chill with some nice jazz - you will dig it well!

Remember all proceeds from this event go toward student scholarships. Last year over $22,000 was awarded to 28 deserving students in eight academic disciplines in addition to music, and over the years the festival has created a scholarship endowment of over $80,000 from the proceeds.


Everette Harp

Advance tickets for Friday are $23 for students and $32 for general admission. Advance tickets for Saturday are $25 for students and $35 for general admission. Tickets are available at all Vallitix outlets; Stockdale Music, 4903 Stockdale Highway; California Keyboards, 100 Oak St,.; Russo’s at the Marketplace, 9000 Ming Avenue Suite I-4; and Front Porch Music, 1711 19th St. For more information, call 322-5200.

Visit: www.bakersfieldjazz.com for more information.

Also printed in Bakotopia Magazine, issue 27, 5-1-08

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