The KJ Blog

Ranky Tanky - Thursday, July 12 Ever since their debut at the Monterey Jazz Festival last year, I couldn’t wait to bring them to Santa Cruz. With a singular sound and set-list of Gullah music from the Sea Island region of the Carolinas and Georgia, this band is...

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER Summer Jazz Camp is an annual day camp for students entering grades 8-12 who are interested in learning jazz, improvisation and jazz appreciation. Students receive both one to one and group instruction. The camp focuses on live performance,...

Joe Lovano Classic Quartet Joe has been a Kuumbwa favorite for decades. I remember his legendary gig here in the 80’s with Bill Frisell and Paul Motian. This visit, Joe will have his Classic Quartet, which recently released a new recording on Blue Note, Classic! Live...

Indian musicians Zakir Hussain and Rahul Sharma bring their mastering of the tabla and the santoor to the Rio Theatre on Sunday, April 30th at 7:30 pm. Zakir Hussain is an international phenomenon. A classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order, his consistently...

Kuumbwa Jazz kicks off 42 years of presenting world-class jazz on Monday, January 9th with iconic American folk, jazz and blues singer and political activist Barbara Dane. Dane recently returned from Cuba where she was made an honorary member of the Union of Cuban...

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $30 million in grants as part of the NEA’s first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2017. Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $15,000 to Kuumbwa Jazz for a Concert...

Congratulations to all our friends and Kuumbwa Jazz alum nominated for Grammys, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo (Best World Music Album), Branford Marsalis w/Kurt Elling (Best Jazz Vocal Album) and John Scofield (Best Improvised Jazz Solo and Best Jazz Instrumental...

Big congratulations to Tim Jackson on receiving the George Wein Impresario Award from Berklee College of Music at the 59th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, September 17, 2016. Joining in on the celebration are Umbria Jazz, Terri Lyne Carrington, Clint Eastwood, Larry...

“The finest big band in the world today.” —London's Daily Telegraph The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, founded by GRAMMY and Pulitzer Prize Winner Wynton Marsalis, is made up of 15 of the finest soloists, ensemble players, and arrangers in jazz music today. Every...