San Jose Jazz Winter Fest 2020 features today’s most distinguished artists

Photo courtesy Lorraine Jordan
The Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road — True Grass band will perform Feb. 29 at the Grange in downtown Morgan Hill.


By Mark Fenichel

Following the 30th Anniversary of their signature Summer Fest, Bay Area arts and culture institution San Jose Jazz kicks off 2020 with dynamic music programming honoring the jazz tradition and ever-expanding definitions of the genre with singular winter concerts curated for audiences within the heart of Silicon Valley.

San Jose Jazz Winter Fest 2020 features some of today’s most distinguished artists alongside leading edge, emerging musicians with an ambitious lineup. The entire event runs Feb. 14 through 29 featuring more than 20 concerts. San Jose Jazz proudly announces the official Winter Fest 2020 lineup including Miguel Zenón Quartet “Sonero;” Quincy Jones Presents Sheléa with SJSU Jazz Orchestra; Georgia on My Mind: The Music of Ray Charles; International Guitar Night featuring Mike Dawes; Cenk Erdogan; Olli Soikkeli & Jim Kimo Wes; Stacey Kent; Halie Loren; Aaron Abernathy; Matt Wilson’s “Honey and Salt” Quintet; Shayna Steele; The Revelers; Black String; Los Hermanos Arango; SJZ Collective Plays Weather Report; Yuko Mabuchi Trio; and some of the Bay Area’s foremost youth jazz ensembles.

Tickets to San Jose Jazz Winter Fest 2020 are now on sale ranging in price from $15 to $40, and an array of Next Gen Youth shows at Cafe Stritch are free admission.

Founded in 1986, San Jose Jazz is a public benefit corporation celebrating jazz as a dynamic, evolving art form and is producer of the annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest and Winter Fest. With its singular music programming and innovative educational offerings, San Jose Jazz preserves the jazz tradition while actively supporting the next generation of performers within the genre and beyond. For detailed ticket information as well as updates on the artists and performance schedule visit: sanjosejazz.org/winterfest.

The California Bluegrass Association is returning to the Grange Hall Feb. 29 in Morgan Hill for their annual “Night At The Grange” with an extremely high quality bluegrass show. This time they are featuring Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road — True Grass.

What does the “True Grass” part of their name mean? It means you not only get to experience IBMA winner and SPGMA award recipient Jordan and her outstanding band, but also Danny Paisley and Junior Sisk to round out the band. Pinecastle recording artist Jordan and Road has all the essential ingredients necessary to deliver world-class bluegrass music — tight vocals, scintillating instrumentation, and a charismatic stage presence that engages audiences of all ages.

As a band they have nearly 20 years of demonstrable success and collectively Carolina’s Road’s journeyman performers: Lorraine, Ben Greene, Tommy Long, Randy Graham, and Matt Hooper, have enjoyed more than 100 combined years of successful experience, yet play with the same energy and enthusiasm as they did as “youngsters.” Put simply, Jordan and Road deliver the goods!

Many bluegrass aficionados agree that this is one of the hottest band compilations in the last decade.

For more information and tickets call Tim Edes at (408) 595-4882 or email [email protected] or visit www.cbaweb.org. Tickets are $30 for CBA members and $33 for non-members.  The doors open at 6 p.m. and music begins 7 p.m. at the Grange, 40 E. Fourth St., in downtown Morgan Hill.


Got a music tip? Email Mark at [email protected].