Charlie Gehlbach hadn’t played his trumpet for 15 years, but after his friend took him to the Sacramento Jazz Festival & Jubilee more than a decade ago, he said he went straight home and picked it up again, inspired. This weekend, Gehlbach and the band he later formed will be playing in the festival for the 11th time. “Getting the chance to play at the festival, I’d always dreamed of that,” said the 78-year-old Auburn resident who began playing the trumpet at age 7 and now leads a band called Dr. Bach and the Jazz Practitioners.  “It’s really neat to have such a fabulous, fabulous festival here,” he said. This weekend marks the 38th year of what started as a bunch of jazz enthusiasts p

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

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

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