“Take your time to shine!” encouraged the band evaluator. The shy saxophone player nodded and jumped back into her jazz solo. Constructive feedback and encouragement were the focus of Saturday’s Traditional Jazz Youth Band Festival held at California State University, Sacramento. The event brought elementary school through college level jazz players together for a day of performances, evaluation by professional musicians and educators, clinics and opportunities to jam with the pros. Approximately 200 youth musicians in 30 bands filled the music building with the lively sounds of traditional jazz. Band names were as improvisational and free as the jazz form they play. “Stinky Cheese Hobo

The 37th annual Sacramento Jazz Festival & Jubilee marched in today with a parade through Old Town Sacramento. The parade teased onlookers with a taste of the sights and sounds of this year’s Memorial Weekend event. Visitors to the festival can expect about 70 bands playing traditional Dixieland-style jazz, blues, mariachi, Latin jazz, swing, marching band music, zydeco, ragtime and rockabilly in more than 450 sets of live music, according to the event organizers. Advertised special events include a pianorama, Sunday Gospel service and, if you’re feeling that you can never hear enough ribbed metal percussion, there is even a Monday washboard concert.  

Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums were busy "shooby-doo-wop-bopping" on stage. Meanwhile, a woman with a black halter dress, a chic A-line haircut and flashy white sunglasses jitterbugged with the man in the suit. The couple was eye-catching. They were not only good dancers, but they were an older couple. This Memorial Day weekend marks Sacramento's 36th Jazz Jubilee. If you have never been to the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, or JazzFest (they are referred to interchangeably), a consistent observation has been the strong presence of an "older" crowd. This can be attributed to the festival's traditional Dixieland appeal, an appeal that some patrons said is beginning to fizzle out. Volunteer Joh