What a great way to start off the 2018 San Jose Jazz Summer Fest with one of America’s well-known party band – Kool & The Gang. The celebration time starts on Friday, Aug 10, 2018 and continues till Sunday, Aug 12, 2018.  (This post was updated on Aug 11, 2018 to reflect chances in the schedule.)

What this means is for those three days I will be scrambling around sampling all sorts of music from standard to cool jazz, blues, swing, funk, zydeco, salsa and discovering new sounds. What this means is running between  different stages like Sobrato Organization Main Stage to Hammer Theatre to Salsa Stage to Adobe Silicon Valley Stage to Cafe Stritch to Blues/Big Easy Stage and dispel that sinking feeling that I may have missed something that everyone else got to listen.  It is not just music there is swing and salsa dance lessons to overcome your left feet syndrome. 

It is at times like the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest that I wish I could be at two different musical concerts. Where is my avatar making powers when I need it?  Well, since I don’t have that omnipotent power to clone myself I shall have to do my best and scamper around listening to music and being joyful.

Here are some performances that caught my attention and this is just a tiny sample of what the festival has to offer.

Pascal Bokar Afro Blue Grazz Band on Friday, Aug 10 at 6.45 pm.

Confunkshun on Friday, Aug 10 at 7.30 pm.

La Tenaza Tango Son on Sat, Aug 11 at 6pm.

Jackie Gage on Sat, Aug 11 at 7.30 pm.

Vincent Herring’s Story of Jazz: 100 Years on Sunday, Aug 12 at 2 pm. 

Herb Alpert and Lani Hall on Sunday, Aug 12 at 4 pm. Alpert is the founder and leader of the Tijauna Band. Hall was the lead singer of Sergio Mendes Brasil ’66. 

John Santos Quartet + Orestes Vilato on Sun, Aug 12 at 5 pm.

Kool & The Gang on Sunday, Aug 12 at 6 pm.

As Kool & The Gang so rightly say: “Celebration times come home. Let’s celebrate. There is a party going on right here…bring your good times and your laughter too…” Oh! Don’t forget to wear your best pair of comfortable shoes to amble around and sample the music.

For ticket and information mosey over to San Jose Summer Fest website and follow them on Twitter for updates.

In the meantime, I am leaving with some music videos that will put you in a mood to celebrate.