The Valley Jazz Club, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to playing and promoting Traditional Jazz in the San Fernando Valley, celebrated its 50th Anniversary on May 5, 2019, at the Elks’ Lodge in Canoga Park, California.
The large ballroom was festively decorated for the occasion, with a large mirrored ball hung from the ceiling, continuously sending squares of light across the dimly lit room below. A continuously operating slide projector was successively showing pictures on a table-top screen of the many musicians and vocalists that have played the Valley Jazz Club stage. Similarly, the entry area tables featured about 30 feet of displayed photos of bands and individual musicians performing at this Club’s events over the last five decades.
The anniversary program featured two bands, playing different styles, performing two sets each. They were The Night Blooming Jazzmen and The Terry Cano Band.
Over the last 50 years, some outstanding, wonderful bands have graced the Valley Jazz Club stage. This is only a partial list of wonderful concerts:
The Yankee Wailers featuring Jackie Coon; The Golden Eagle Jazz Band featuring Chris Norris; Mike Silverman and The Silvertone Serenaders; Palm Springs Yacht Club; Jonathan Stout’s Campus Five with Hilary Alexander;The Hot Frogs; JazzAmerica (bands of determined teenage jazz students); Ginger and the Hoosier Daddys; The Titanic Ja
