From the 35th San Diego Jazz Party

We attended the 35th Anniversary of the San Diego Jazz Party this past February and with beautiful weather at last! The Hilton Del Mar is the site of this event and the accommodations, staff, food service and general atmosphere enhance the experience at this venue. The twenty musicians invited included many from last year’s party and a few new faces. Unfortunately, Houston Person (tenor) was not able to make the trip from New York at the last minute, but this creative team of professionals was able to supply substitutes on each of the sets that included or featured him. Friday afternoon welcomed the Mission Bay HS Preservationists with director JP Balmat to the Jazz Party’s Master Classes. The Preservationists will be going to New Orleans again April 19-23 and have met their fund-raising goal! I am very excited for them to visit that city again and so are they. At the Jazz Party, students learning piano, drums, bass, reeds, trombone, trumpet, and guitar have the opportunity to spend a few hours with the professional musicians attending the Party. Since they are all held at the same time, I was only able to visit a few of the sessions. Evan Arntzen (reeds) discussed the principal