From the 2019 San Diego Jazz Festival

Combined with my trip to the West Coast Ragtime Festival as reported last month, I attended for the second time the San Diego Jazz Fest over Thanksgiving weekend. This was its 40th year, held as usual at the Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center. There were 22 bands and two vocal groups, plus some special guests, on the docket. The festival’s format was the same as last year: two local bands playing alternate but not competing sets on Wednesday evening, six bands with partially overlapping sets Thursday evening, and then a full schedule from 9 or 10 AM until 11 PM on Friday and Saturday, and 9 to 5 on Sunday, capped off by a large group set at the end. As was the case last year, there was construction all around the hotel, which it appears might not even be wrapped up in time for next year’s festival. The construction was mostly elsewhere on the property and did not affect the music. It appeared that work may have been temporarily suspended for the holiday weekend. Several band rooms in the hotel that had been used last year were out of service this time, but other space was found in the building. A number of bands, mostly from southern California, were repeats from last year (and may be regulars, but having only been here twice, I don’t know that