March 17, 2010

Dear Music Lovers,

During a recent trip to New York, I had the great fortune to experience a thriving and vibrant jazz scene.  The fuel for this scene was being generated by dozens of young artists, some of whom I’d never heard of.  I was amazed by the fresh sounds of such talent as Jason Moran, Gretchen Parlato, Dafnis Prieto and Peter Apfelbaum. Their performances were so impressive I made the decision, then and there, to showcase these artists at this year’s Healdsburg Jazz Festival.

The festival will blend these artists with more established cooking-hot musicians, such as Esperanza Spalding and Ravi Coltrane.  For our next ingredient in this year’s soul stew, we will be folding in a hefty dose of seasoned masters, such as Charlie Haden, Bill Frisell and Geri Allen.

For our al fresco appetizer, we have gone all the way to Brazil to bring in the best of the best of that county’s music offerings.  Master composer and guitarist Oscar Castro–Neves will occupy the Rec Park stage with Bossa Nova chanteuse Leny Andrade, Romero Lubambo and others.

In addition, we will feature several musicians who reside in Healdsburg, such as Christian Foley-Beining — playing this year with Paul McCandless of the group Oregon — and Kai Devitt-Lee, at just 16 a real jazz discovery. Finally, after a four year absence, movie archivist Mark Cantor returns with newly discovered jazz film clips.

We are thrilled to offer you these “keepers of the jazz flame!” We can rest assured that the future of this art form is in good hands.

Jazz musicians by definition have always taken risks; they experiment and explore, and enrich our lives through their music. I hope you, their audience, will do the same.

Buy tickets, tell your friends and please join us and witness the present and future of world-class jazz!

See you at the Festival,

Jessica Felix
Artistic Director,
Healdsburg Jazz Festival