2026 Lineup / Saturday Aug 8

The Regional All-Star ensembles bring together talented students from across Monterey County, testing their chops on the bandstand while sharing great jazz with the community.

Mark Arroyo brings guitar-led improvisation to the San Jose Museum of Art for a 30-minute solo set, Saturday, August 8, 1:00–1:30 PM. Best known as the guitarist behind The Mark Arroyo Trio’s fully improvised sets around San Jose, Arroyo steps out on his own this time, guitar out front.

The San Jose Jazz High School All Stars Big Band brings together the Bay Area’s most talented high school musicians. At Summer Fest 2026, they’ll be joined by a very special guest: three-time Grammy Award nominee Gretchen Parlato.

The Jazz On Tap Big Band is a passion project built from local and traveling pros, playing a challenging but crowd-pleasing repertoire at public and private events alike.

The Regional All-Star ensembles bring together talented students from across Monterey County, testing their chops on the bandstand while sharing great jazz with the community.

San Jose’s M’sippi Slide delivers a powerful revival of classic blues, R&B and soul, blending timeless tradition with a fresh contemporary edge. Fronted by vocalist Lijah, whose commanding voice draws inspiration from Aretha Franklin and Etta James, the band creates performances that are raw, emotional and deeply authentic.

Parlor Greens is one of the most exciting new organ trios in heavy instrumental music, bringing together three individually stellar players into something even greater. Drummer Tim Carman, guitarist Jimmy James and organist Adam Scone combine blues, soul, jazz and funk into a sound that is wholly their own.

With a dynamic lineup spanning generations—ages 8 to 80—the extraordinary Jazz Education Ensemble proves that great music transcends all ages. Since 2015, they have wowed festival crowds and concertgoers with their electrifying performances, where young prodigies hold their own alongside seasoned jazz veterans.

Footnotes Jazz is a San Francisco Bay Area ensemble that showcases contemporary and original big band jazz. Its founding members once played together in the Foothill College jazz program, before going independent under the leadership of Lori Stotko.

Belén B is a Bay Area-based salsa singer, songwriter and bandleader blending salsa dura, son and timba with the expressive language of Latin jazz. Backed by her live band, Belén y Su Orquesta, she brings original music and classic influences together in performances defined by rhythmic intensity and commanding stage presence.

The SJZ High School All Stars is a regional, audition-based music education program for students interested in the study and performance of jazz. The program includes a large ensemble and a combo.

Louisiana native Curley Taylor began his professional career at 16 playing drums in his father’s band, Jude Taylor and the Burning Flames, deep in Louisiana blues, soul and zydeco. By 25, he had played with Louisiana legends including CC Adcock, Steve Riley and CJ Chenier, son of the “King of Zydeco” Clifton Chenier.

The musical focus of the LGS Band is dance, jazz, Latin and vocals in all styles. The classics from Miller, Basie, Brown, and Goodman are among the featured songs as well as more modern works by arrangers such as Nestico, Goodwin, Carter, Hefti, Wolpe and more.

Tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson brings a lifetime of jazz mastery to Summer Fest — forged in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and rooted in a Blue Note legacy spanning straight-ahead tradition to wildly eclectic territory. He’s joined by Nnenna Freelon and Charles McPherson for this extraordinary set.

Join a house band made up of alums from the San Jose Jazz High School All Stars U19s for a free, youth-focused community jazz jam during the Fest. If you’re 21 and under, bring your instrument and sign up for a slot. Or just take a break from the heat and listen as future jazz stars show you how it’s done.

Rush Hour Orquesta is a high-energy salsa band out of Los Angeles, founded by childhood friends Raul Membreno and Jonathan Patterson. Blending classic salsa with a modern edge, they bring explosive percussion, vibrant brass and infectious grooves to every stage they play.

The Ames Jazz Band is a big band rooted in the NASA Ames Research Center community. Drawing on classic jazz, blues and swing, the group has built a following across Bay Area clubs, dances and festivals — including previous appearances at San Jose Jazz Summer Fest.

Guitarist, banjoist, singer and songwriter Mitch Polzak is a larger-than-life entertainer from the West Coast — a Western Swing Hall of Fame inductee, twice-nominated Ameripolitan Music Awards artist and, not unsurprisingly, a relative of the notorious Ma Barker of the infamous Barker Gang. At 6’5″, he commands a room.

Afro-Cuban All Stars is the legendary Cuban orchestra at the heart of the Buena Vista Social Club phenomenon, one of the most celebrated ensembles in the history of Cuban music. Founded by producer and bandleader Juan de Marcos González, the group has earned four Grammy nominations and made many of its members international stars.

Los Tocayos was born in a Santa Cruz garage during the pandemic — two Stephens, a neighborhood full of collaborators and a shared obsession with Caribbean rhythm. Pianist Stephen Peterson and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Vahle draw on Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, Puerto Rican and Yoruban traditions for music built to make you dance.

Orquesta Akokán burst onto the global music scene in 2018 with a no-holds-barred take on Cuban mambo, earning a Grammy Award nomination, a Billboard Latin Music Award and a Songlines Music Award along the way. Led by producer Jacob Plasse and pianist and arranger Michael Eckroth, the ensemble draws its name from a Cuban Yoruba word meaning “from the heart.”

Raised in Oakland, California, guitarist Jubu Smith spent more than 25 years as lead guitarist for Maze featuring Frankie Beverly while also making his mark early on with Tony! Toni! Toné! His sound—warm, raw and spiritual—is rooted in the gospel church and polished on the world’s biggest stages.

The Green Feather Jazz Society is a community band of tremendously talented musicians whose first priority is to bring jazz music back into our communities. They are a group of veteran players from the local jazz scene, performing as a full-size 18-member jazz orchestra.

Patti LaBelle is one of American music’s living legends; a two-time Grammy Award winner and 13-time nominee whose voice has left an indelible mark across six decades of R&B, pop and gospel. The Philadelphia native first charted in 1962 with The Bluebelles before rising to global acclaim with the genre-bending trio Labelle.

Sabrosas Latin Orchestra is San Diego’s first and only all-female salsa band — and a 501(c)(3) organization now celebrating seven years of community, music and fun. Founded to unite female musicians around a shared love of salsa and Latin music, the band brings infectious energy to audiences throughout Southern California.

Olas Perdidas is an innovative new band that fuses the vibrant, rhythmic traditions of Son Jarocho from Veracruz, Mexico, with the cinematic, evocative sounds of spaghetti Western music — a unique soundscape that bridges coastal Mexican folk and the rugged, dusty trails of the Wild West.