Around this time last year, I came at you with the top ten concerts of 2010 – and oh boy, were there some gems on that list. 2011 was also a fine year for concerts here in Sactown (Davis Music Festival, Dawes, Trampled By Turtles, the Silent Comedy, Blind Pilot, etc.), but right about now, I feel like I might go all Ndamokung Suh on the next “2011 Year in Review” list I happen across. Seriously, at this point we could probably put together a Ten Worst Ten Worst Lists List. So, here’s a better idea: Let’s look ahead to some 2012 concerts on the books that you can’t afford to miss. Because guess what, our calendar is loaded heading into the New Year. (Yes, a ton of these shows are at Harl

The 36th annual Sacramento Jazz Festival pulled in about the same amount of money as it did last year -- an estimated $1.2 million -- but more people may have attended the festival this year than last year, according to a festival official. Gene Berthelsen, the executive director of the festival, said the troubled economy affected this year's festival. “The poor economy was a factor in why we didn’t do better,” Berthelsen said. The festival staffers will continue to crunch numbers for weeks to come, but preliminary estimates show that this year’s festival drew somewhere between 65,000 and 70,000 people, Berthelsen said. Festival-goers paid an estimated $1.2 million to the festival for t

Catherine Baird has attended the Sacramento Jazz Festival in years past, but her experience at the festival this year was different. Though Baird was enjoying the jazz party atmosphere in Old Town Friday afternoon, she didn’t buy passes to this year’s festival because she wanted to save money. Still, Baird and her friend Cynthia Garcia, who are both from Sacramento, participated in the Jazz Fest scene and contributed to local businesses. “We spent because we wanted to,” Garcia said, noting that she didn’t feel pressured to buy anything. The Sacramento Jazz Festival, also known as the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, brought in about $8 million last year to the local economy, according to the Sa

The Annual Sacramento Jazz Festival and Jubilee is a Sacramento tradition that conjures up summer, swinging, and saxophones. This year's festival, the 36th annual, will feature 600 jazz artists from all over the United States and the world, including the Count Basie Jazz Orchestra, a number of featured performers and about 60 sponsored bands from all over the stylistic map. With 24 venues total, 19 in Old Sacramento and four at the Sacramento Convention Center, the whole shebang kicks off Thursday night at the Radisson Hotel from 8-9 p.m. The concert featuring the 17-time-Grammy-winning big band will be streamed live on Sacramento's Jazz Station, KXJZ 90.9. Tickets are $45 in advance, $5