SacJEF’s youth honor jazz band program started in 1989, and has been growing stronger every year since. Every fall local high school students audition and then rehearse weekly during the school year, performing wherever and whenever schedules permit. The 2023-24 group of young jazz musicians has been particularly outstanding, and now that the school year is over, some of these talented kids are heading off to college. A whole new group will assemble in the fall.
TNT will close out the year with a special backyard performance on June 13th, from 6:00 to 8:30 PM. Seating is limited at this event, and tickets are $25 per person. All proceeds will benefit the next TNT band!
The 14th annual Up Close & Personal concert fundraiser is set for Thursday, Dec 7th, at the Sacramento Yacht Club, and will feature the talents of vocalist Molly Ryan and reed man Nate Ketner.
Molly Ryan is one of the most sought-after vocalists on the NY jazz scene, and has performed at such prestigious Manhattan venues as the Café Carlyle, the Waldorf Astoria, Rainbow Room, Birdland, Iridium, The New York Historical Society Museum and The Players’ Club. She has performed alongside such prominent jazz artists as Randy Reinhart, Jon-Erik Kellso, Bria Skonberg, Dan Barrett, Mark Shane, Rossano Sportiello, as well as with the preeminent 1920s-style orchestra, Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks.
Molly’s silvery voice and lush, elegant vocal style evoke the big band singers of the 1930s and breathe new life into familiar old standards.
Saxophone/clarinet player Nate Ketner is one of the best traditional jazz reed players in America. He has been playing the woodwinds professionally since he was 19 years old, and has developed the ability to authentically play many different styles, with an emphasis on jazz from the 20’s to the 50’s.
This annual event benefits the Teagarden Jazz Festival for Young Musicians, held each February in conjunction with the Jazz Studies program at Sacramento State University.
The prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival created the Next Generation Women in Jazz Combo in 2019 to feature top high school women jazz players from across the country. Only six students are chosen each year, and this year two of them are from Sacramento and the SacJEF programs.
CapRadio’s Excellence in Jazz host Avery Jeffry recently sat down with the two students, Paloma Cobbs-Silva and Salome Ospina, to discuss their journey to Monterey. Both students have participated in the Teagarden Jazz Camp and TNT, programs of the Sacramento Jazz Education Foundation, and credit these programs with instilling their love for playing traditional jazz.
Headliners are Element Brass Band and Peter Petty—both Sammie award winning acts—plus Crescent Katz, Dirty Chops Band, and youth bands TNT, Sea Monkeys, Tower Bridge Trad, and more.
The all ages musical extravaganza is a fundraiser to help send deserving students to the Teagarden summer jazz camp. There is no cover charge, but a suggested $20-per-person donation will help bring the gift of jazz to budding young musicians. As the world’s oldest musical camp focusing specifically on early jazz, Teagarden has a long list of celebrity alumni from pop star Carly Rae Jepsen to jazz singer and trumpeter Bria Skonberg.
Camp instructors are themselves highly accomplished musicians who have played with some of the biggest names around the world. In Sacramento, it’s hard to find a jazz band that does not have at least one or two musicians who have taken part in the Teagarden camp as either an instructor, a one-time student, or both.
The camp is an annual production of the Sacramento Jazz Education Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and promote early jazz. The camp runs two weeks in the summer and is located in the Sierra foothills.
More information on the Camp, including how to register to attend, is at sacjazzcamp.org.
It’s not every day the world class Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) with Wynton Marsalis performs at a local high school. In fact, the performance at Rio Americano High School on Saturday, September 11, 2022, was a first in JALC’s storied history, and the Sacramento Jazz Education Foundation was part of this unique event.
Rio Americano High School has a reputation for excellence in jazz performance and many Teagarden Jazz campers and TNT members attend Rio. Currently on tour, JALC reached out to Rio about trying something new. Instead of a clinic with a few of the JALC luminaries, they would bring the entire band for a full performance.
SacJef was a lead sponsor for the performance and as such, was able to offer tickets to twenty local music students to see the evening performance for free. There were also opportunities for students to sit in at the rehearsal and meet some of the band members after the event.
Duncan McElman, former camper and TNT member now directing a band at CSUS while working on his master’s in music education, brought some of his students to the event and shared this with Sacjef:
“Jazz educators are always telling students to learn the language of jazz by listening, but the benefits of listening are increased dramatically when live music is involved. As someone directing a collegiate jazz ensemble, the chance to send students to listen to one of the greatest big bands of our time was an incredible opportunity.I am so grateful that SACJEF was able to facilitate such an utterly transformative experience for students who may have otherwise been unaware or unable to attend.”
After the event Wynton stayed for more than an hour to talk with students, parents, and fans. He, and other JALC members, commented that this experience was unlike other tour stops; they could feel the sense of community which energized their performance and may consider making such events part of their tours. SacJef was recognized for being part of this groundbreaking event and hopes to work with JALC’s Education department in the future.
We’re getting Up Close and Personal for the second time this year!
This time with the fabulously entertaining Jeff Barnhart, internationally renowned pianist, vocalist, arranger, bandleader, recording artist, ASCAP composer, educator and entertainer.
Jeff will be accompanied by Shelley Denny on bass and Ron Jones on drums. The fun takes place on Thursday, December 8th, at the Sacramento Yacht Club, and is a fundraiser for the SacJEF Teagarden Jazz Festival for Young Musicians, which returns in February 2023 to Sacramento State University. This will be our 13th Annual Up Close event.
Tickets for this fundraiser event start at $100, and seating is limited. For further information and/or to purchase tickets, email pjones@sacjef.org.
