...FESTIVAL DIARY CONTINUED
Local jazz D.J. and musician, Lori King contacted Davis about the possibility of a jazz festival in Bakersfield the summer of '86. Lori knew that Bill Burton of Advance Beverage was a great jazz lover and might provide some needed financial support. Burton had been involved in successful jazz events before his arrival in Bakersfield and was ready and willing to help. The summer of '86 proved to be too early to manage all the logistics but in his calls to various jazz artists, Davis discovered that Spyro Gyra had an open date in their tour. The ensuing Spyro Gyra concert proved to be another major financial success, and plans began in earnest for a jazz festival in the spring of '87.

Contacting Bob Bender, Davis found the needed professional assistance to handle the setting up of a festival site at CSUB. Jim Darling of JADAR agreed to handle promotional details, and with financial assistance from Advance Beverage and Bill Burton's vision of a major jazz event, the festival committee was complete. Fortunately, Davis had already contacted Yellowjackets for a performance that spring and with their winning of two Grammy awards six weeks in front of the event, the First Annual Bakersfield Jazz Festival was off to an auspicious start. When a scheduling conflict arose with the appearance of Dizzy Gillespie at Bakersfield College, Davis spoke to BC and it was decided to combine both campuses in a two-day event. Included in the line-up with Yellowjackets and Dizzy Gillespie were Bakersfield's own Mary Osborne, Richie Perez, Sanctuary, and J.A.M. Club along with Babatunde and Chris James.

The Second Annual Bakersfield Jazz Festival received a jolt when headliner Larry Carlton was shot two weeks before the concert. Quickly, Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons were contacted to fill the vacant slot on the bill at CSUB with Bennie Wallace and Jeff Lorber, along with the first appearance of Bakersfield's Sneakers and Ain't No Thang. The two-day event began with clouds gatheringliterally. The Friday concert at BC had to be moved indoors because of the threat of rain as Alphonse Mouzon, Wishful Thinking, and a Latin All-Star group with Roger Glenn performed in a packed, but small auditorium. On Saturday, the day began with a torrential downpour that lasted from 6 to 10:30 a.m. Unfortunately, no artists could shift their schedule to Sunday, and the rain insurance didn't go into effect until 11:00 a.m., so the Festival set-up crew scurried and made the 2:00 p.m. start time. Although the campus lawn dried completely before the Festival started, many jazz fans expected the worst or thought the Festival had been postponed. Those in attendance, however, found it a beautiful day on the campus green and an evening chilly enough for blankets.

To consolidate the multiple venues, the Third Annual Festival was held at the Kern County Fair Grounds. Unfortunately, the demise of BC's Arts Ascending series and the financial disaster of the previous year forced the pull out of Bakersfield College from the Festival. With the Fairgrounds providing many details of the set-up, the Third Annual Festival ran smoothly with an impressive lineup that included John Scofield, Andy Narell, Pete Escovedo and David Benoit, joining local jazz groups.

A Festival in search of a site, the Fourth Annual Festival returned to the Cal State campus soccer fields. Despite a day of festival curves through by the Alcohol Beverage Control, late afternoon winds, and a temporary blackout, the festival audience came to its feet with the music of Freddie Hubbard, Keiko Matsui, Poncho Sanchez, Jimmy Smith, Ellis Hall and Ain't No Thang, Sneakers and Jamology.

With the addition of Penske Lexus as a major sponsor, all appeared "rosy" for the Fifth Annual Festival, but with unseasonable cold and rains throughout March and April, the Festival found itself with a newly constructed amphitheater but only a fragile lawn surrounding it. Thus, back to the soccer fields and the fulfillment of a promise to rebook a recovered Larry Charlton who certainly didn't disappoint his fans. The lineup also included the legendary Buddy DeFranco and Terry Gibbs, the bass pyrotechnics of Brian Bromberg, Steve Tavaglione, the End Band and Shades of Jade.

The Sixth Annual Festival finally arrived at our new amphitheater with its better visibility and acoustics, and with GTE wireless joining our corporate team, the festival provided an exciting lineup that included the "Bird" inspired Supersax, the exotic world music of Airto and Flora Purim, the power of the Mike Stern/Bob Berg Band, the fusion journeys of Tribal Tech's Scott Henderson and Garry Willis, the popular Fattburger and Zzah, and a tribute to the loss of a Bakersfield treasure, Mary Osborne.

Deciding to expand to a two-day format, the Seventh Annual Festival received a shattering blow with the death of festival organizer and corporate guardian Bill Burton. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of all those who so dearly loved Bill, the jazz festival was able to raise over $5,000 for the Bill Burton Festival Scholarship which is now given in his memory at every festival. With the continued support of the Lazzerini family and Advance Beverage and with Ken and Mark Ramsey handling numerous details, the festival made the transition to a two-day concert.

Headlining Friday's concert was the effervescent energy of Tom Scott as well as the Lyle Mays Quartet and Sal Panelli Little Big Band. Saturday's concert featured the Rippington's, Charlie Haden's Quartet West, Bobby Lyle, vocalist Sunny Wilkinson, Pelin, and Street Players. The two-day concert that Bill Burton had always dreamed of was a great success.

With new major sponsor Paramount Farms providing pistachios, the Eighth Festival set new records for attendance starting with the Friday night party of Sneakers, Pete Escovedo Orchestra, and saxophonist Gerald Albright with vocalist Lalah Hathaway. The Saturday concert featured the return of our first headliner, Yellowjackets, and the poll-winning instrumentalists Joey DeFrancesco and John Pattitucci. In addition to the Street Players and Wally Leask Quartet, singer Kevyn Lettau helped set off the festival night with a memorable performance.

The Ninth Festival started with a Friday night part that featured the first Kern County Honor Jazz Band, the outlandish, eyeful of Cecilia Noel and the Wild Clams, and the "funkifying" Tower of Power. On Saturday, much of Bakersfield was being inundated with rain storms but the festival only had a single rain delay. Up to that point, the Southside Chicago Seven, Billy Childs, and Kileauea had performed in what appeared to be the "eye" of the storm, but Andy Narell's steel drums began to fill up with puddles of water during his set. After a 10-minute stop and an audience that simply "dug-in," Andy Narell went to the "mic" and said he would play again if everybody would dance, and with an audience on its feet much of the remaining festival, the irrepressible will of our jazz lovers cheered on the performances of Ronnie Laws and Diane Schuur with the 25th Anniversary CSUB Big Band.

For the Tenth Annual Festival, The Bakersfield Californian became a major sponsor. Earl Klugh brought his Grammy winning melodic style to headline the Friday night concert that also included the Bobby Matos Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble, and the blues and grooves of Dr. D's Debris. Saturday's big line-up ran smoothly ahead of schedule thanks in large part to the organizational skills of our new production manager Rusty Graham with an assist from Doug Davis, Jr., who stepped in while dad was recovering from a back injury. Major sponsors Budweiser, GTE and Penske Lexus were all honored for their continuous support as a line-up featuring Kevin Eubanks of the Tonight Show, the show stopping New York Voices, the fiery trumpet of Wallace Roney, the innovative Charlie Hunter Quartet, the Speedy Neptune Project and Honor Jazz Band all played to a large, appreciative audience on the campus lawn.

With Brooks WorldCom and Fritch Eye Care joining our team, the Eleventh Annual Festival featured the return of multiple Grammy winning Yellowjackets on Friday night, along with the poll-winning vocalist Kevin Mahogany and the award-winning Kris Tiner Band. Saturday's concert featured both the high school Honor Jazz Band and the CSUB Jazz Ensemble which was the highest rated group at the famous Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival. The festival also featured Mento Buru, who has expanded the concept of "ska" out to the horizons. Zzah followed with a set of delight and completing the afternoon, legendary trumpeter Bobby Shew and trombonist Carl Fontana provided a set of sizzling and swinging jazz. The night was turned over to two very talented womenthe Brazilian vocal phenom Claudia Villela and the Album of the Year winning Japanese keyboardist Keiko Matsui. An entranced audience stayed on until the last note.

With the rains falling on ten of the twelve days preceding the festival, we felt lucky to fit in the Twelfth Annual Festival, between the waves of "El Niño." Friday's concert began with the delightful compositions of Paul Cierley and Luis Munoz and led to an extraordinary performance of the jazz diva Dianne Reeves.

With the addition of Lithia/BMW as a major new sponsor, and with Valley Plaza and Pacific Bell Wireless joining our team, the festival was financially able to weather the threat of another "El Niño" storm that certainly dampened ticket sales, but not the spirits of those in attendance. The Saturday concert began with the Honor Jazz Band and was followed by an eclectic set by Susan Scaffidi, and then the avant-garde firebrand with a lyric gift Bennie Wallace with Mulgrew Miller on piano. Extraordinary acoustic guitarist, Jeff Linsky delighted the audience with his wondrous ease, and Poncho Sanchez brought the audience to their feet with his irresistible rhythmic drive. The festival closed with the unique musical world of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones which gave the audience some unbelievable moments of virtuosity.

The Thirteenth Annual Festival initiated a new scholarship sponsorship that was chosen by Kern Schools Federal Credit Union and San Joaquin Valley College for their contribution. Added to the four endowed scholarships, the festival has created and the generous Time Warner Scholarship, the Bakersfield Jazz Festival was able to provide scholarship support to 12 students.

As for the music, the festivities began with the CSUB All-Stars, which had just swept the awards at U.C. Berkeley's competitive festival, then the outlandish energy of Cecilia Noel and the Wild Clams, at-the-edge of an "I can't believe this" performance and ended the first day with the overwhelming power and virtuosity of trumpeter Arturo Sandoval.

Saturday featured the first festival appearance of the CSUB Jazz Singers and the tremendous fun and jump swing energy of Chesterfield King and the Sultans of Swing complete with costumed dancers. Darren Gholston provided a performance that brought the audience to their feet and left them astir. Jazz Funk a la Go Go featured LA "heavies" Billy Childs and Joey Heredia; the Caribbean Jazz Project was a wonderful mix that combined the talents of Dave Valentin, Dave Samuels, and Steve Khan; and the festival concluded with the joyous energy of Kirk Whalum.

Bakersfield Jazz Festival 2000 was the first festival without our dear friend Bernie Mather. His jazz photography was the centerpiece of the festival's first day. The music began with a tribute using all Bakersfield musicians that traced jazz history from Louis Armstrong through the big band era to the 60's Coltrane and Coleman. Then with images of Mather's photography, the audience was treated to a big band set with his old friend Pete Christlieb. The evening closed with the inimitable piano touch of Joe Sample with special featured vocalist Lalah Hathaway.

With the major sponsor Sangera Automotive Group and Premier Management, the Allen Group and Castle & Cooke joining our corporate team, the festival on Saturday brought back two of Bakersfield's favorites, Tom Scott and Pete Escovedo. their tremendous energy capped a day that included the inventive world music of Larry Karush and the Combination that began with a solo on a crystal glass, Theonius Monk winning saxophonist Mike Lee, the dynamic performance of Louie Cruz Beltran, and the Honor Jazz Band, plus a showcase of CSUB student compositions for both big band and the group Garden of Souls.

Meanwhile, CSUB has provided concerts by some of the most important jazz voices of our time. After the Wynton Marsalis concert, the following artists have performed at Cal State in the Doré Theater: Tony Williams, Phil Woods, Michael Brecker Band, Gary Burton, Mike Stern/Bob Berg, Bennie Wallace, Marcus Roberts, Allen Vizzutti, Ernie Watts, Jon Faddis, Tribal Tech, Bill Watrous, Chick Corea's Akoustic Band, Kenny Kirkland, Louis Bellson, Bob Mintzer, Randy Brecker, Eric Marienthal, Terence Blanchard, Dave Douglas, John Clayton, and Peter Erskine.

With the support of the Bakersfield jazz fans, the CSUB campus has become an important stop on jazz tours. The CSUB Jazz Program would like to thank you, our audience for your enthusiastic support of these concerts. Thanks for helping us keep jazz alive in Bakersfield. Your reward is to be in the presence of the vision, discipline, and dedication of the artists that create this joyous music.