The San Jose Jazz Winter Fest starts on Feb 25th and runs all the way through March 8, 2016. And this  year they have a great line-up of singers, who will perform in downtown San Jose and in Palo Alto.  I think this is the first time  San Jose Jazz  is spreading its wings and reaching to music lovers up north in the Peninsula area. The festival features 25 singers from around the country and the bay area.

John Scofield, Regina Carter, Nicholas Payton Trio, Jackie Ryan, Delfeayo Marsalis Quarter and Bria Skonberg are some of the artists you can catch at this year’s San Jose Jazz Winterfest. The festival opens on Feb 25th with a performance by Kadhja Bonet, who released her album The Visitor last year. NPR Music described Bonet’s music as “cinematic and folky kind of psychedelic soul music impossible to pin down, a style one simply doesn’t hear regularly anymore.”

Jazz guitarist John Scofield is a well-known musician, who has played with Chet Baker, Miles Davis and others. Scofield fell in love with a guitar when he was 11 years old as he shares in this interview. He started off playing blues before migrating to playing jazz. You can catch Scofield and saxophonist Joe Lovano on Feb 27 at 8 pm at JCC Oshman Center in Palo Alto.

Last year I caught the talented trumpeter/vocalist Bria Skonberg at San Joser Jazz Summerfest and thoroughly enjoyed watching her show. Skonberg has a warm and wonderful stage presence. If you missed watching her, here is your chance to catch Skonberg on Sat, Mar 5, 6pm at Cafe Stritch in downtown San Jose.

Jazz violinist Regina Carter is back in the Bay area this year. Last year Carter played at the Stanford Jazz festival, and she is back at the San Jose Winter Fest on Sunday, Feb 28 at Trianon Theatre.

Trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis of the famous Marsalis family of New Orleans is also playing at this year’s festival. His brothers are Wynton and Branford Marsalis. You can catch Marsalis  at Cafe Stritch at 7 pm. Marsalis

For information about the show and tickets check out San Jose Jazz website.