Notes from the Publisher

2018 Jazz at the Creek at the Market Creek Amphitheater in San Diego, California

ntil a few years ago, May was the official kickoff of

outdoor jazz festival season. You could jet off to Hawaii for a weekend under the palm trees at the Maui Music Festival or choose the serenity of Jazz on the Rocks in Sedona, Arizona, surrounded by multi-hued stone formations and the bristling forest of pinnacles and spires. There were more festivals happening within those 31 days nationwide than in any other month. However, the most action was happening in Southern California, where genre enthusiasts had more choices of events than they had the time to indulge them. There was one in Fresno at a riverfront ranch; another in Palm Springs at a sacred ancestral Indian canyon; and, amid gardens and Spanish architecture, at the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano, among many others. Local smooth jazz radio stations sponsored most of these events: the largest one was Smooth Jazz 98.1 KiFM’s annual Anniversary Festival held in San Diego over Memorial Day weekend. One of its many incarnations included a weekend of festivities starting on Friday night at one of the newest downtown hotels, followed by a Saturday evening of music under the sails atop the then-recently constructed waterfront San Diego Convention Center. Sunday brunch in the ballroom at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, and a buffet of concerts outside in a large tent on its Harbor Island parking lot, capped off an outing that epitomized the smooth jazz lifestyle. More than a decade before its demise in 2012, KiFM’s management moved its “Thank you to our listeners” party to San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter and scaled it back to a one-day bash. Still, more than 10,000 people flocked to the downtown streets, where they stood and watched headliners perform on two main outdoor stages. Local and up-and-coming acts entertained smaller crowds inside dozens of clubs and restaurants, all contained within four city blocks. But, if you wanted to rest your sore feet and soothe your sunburned shoulders in one of these venues, you’d have to arrive early before it became standingroom-only. This month, Leonard Thompson of M.A.N.D.A.T.E. Records is bringing back the Memorial Day weekend tradition to San Diego,

albeit on a smaller scale. They have consolidated their Jazz at the Creek summer concert series into a new three-day festival called Jazz at the Creek “A New Groove.” Friday night’s show will be inside the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation’s Celebration Hall with a stepping session and DJ. The Saturday and Sunday festival, featuring the all-female band Jazz in Pink, saxophonist Reggie Codrington and more, will be held at the outdoor Market Creek Amphitheater across the short footbridge from the Jacobs Center. The 500-seat amphitheater, carved into the banks of Chollas Creek, is located between the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation and the Market Creek Plaza retail center. With the addition of the World Court and Festival Park above the amphitheater, the space can accommodate more than 3,000 people, allowing Jazz at the

Creek room to grow. Plus, there is plenty of free parking for its current use, and it’s close by the Euclid Avenue Trolley Station. Although festival season now starts in April on the East Coast with the Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest in Pennsylvania, and the Seabreeze Jazz Festival in Florida, Thompson is reinventing the Memorial Day weekend smooth jazz scene in San Diego with seating under Bridge from the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation shade sails, food and beverage to the Market Creek Plaza retail center, which also houses the booths, a VIP cognac lounge Market Creek Amphitheater with hand-rolled cigars, and a variety of other vendors. This will certainly be music to the ears of America’s Finest City’s jazz fans and visitors alike. For more information on Jazz at the Creek, scheduled for May 24-26, at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (404 Euclid Ave.) and Market Creek Amphitheater (310 Euclid Ave.), in San Diego, California, visit https://jazzatthecreeksd.com or call 858-650-3190.