Sacramento, CA -- Every Memorial Day Weekend since 1974, Old Sacramento and other downtown venues have drawn a horde of jazz and party fans to the Sacramento Jazz Festival & Jubilee, originally called the Old Sacramento Dixieland Jazz Jubilee. The first year started with only one concert hall and four cabaret sites. The event quickly grew in size and popularity to become one of the most recognized and attended traditional jazz festival in the world. Sponsored by the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society, the event supports the preservation of traditional jazz via STJS Jazz Education Programs.
The 38th annual Sacramento Jazz Festival and Jubilee will offer more than 450 sets of live music. There are 22 venues including the Sacramento Convention Center, Sheraton Grand, Hyatt Regency, Holiday Inn and Embassy Suites plus several Old Sacramento locations. Sites range in audience size from 50 to 1600. This year, 80 bands, including a few dozen internationally known artists will perform. It's one giant party with the sounds of jazz and its related music forms: blues, zydeco and swing and western swing. Tickets range in price from $110 to attend all four days down to $10 for Evening Party Tickets. Food and beverage tickets are a dollar a ticket and prices range by vendor.
Specialty concerts and events include: the Opening Day Parade (on Friday), Pianorama (on Saturday) where some of the Festival's top pianists play solo sets, always to the delight of Festival audiences. 2011 features a Swing Dance Contest on Saturday, where the audience picks the winners (and the winners split $1,000 in prize money). Crowds enjoy Gospel Sets on Sunday, and a Memorial Day Salute to Service on Monday. Drexel University's presentation of a Jazz Master Class Series (a lecture/music series) is back for the second year and features well-known musicians speaking about various musical topics at the Drexel Campus in Downtown Sacramento.
The Sacramento Jazz Festival & Jubilee is sponsored by the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society.
More information: www.sacjazz.com or 916-372-5277.
