Yuko Mabuchi
The Yuko Mabuchi Trio will be one of the highlights of the Blue Jay Jazz Festival set for three August dates in the Lake Arrowhead area.
The Takin’ It Lakeside festival will be held along the water’s edge at the Arrowhead Lake Association’s Tavern Bay Beach Club on the evenings of Thursday, Aug. 22, and Friday, Aug. 23, and on the pool deck of the Lake Arrowhead Resort on Saturday, Aug.24, beginning at 11 a.m.
Early-bird prices for single ticket start at $25 ($10 for full-time students), with tables of eight available as low as $230. Tickets can be purchased online at http://bluejayjazz.eventbrite.com. Regular pricing begins on Aug. 1.
On Aug. 22, it’s Big Band swing with the high-energy Cal State University San Bernardino Jazz Ensemble and guitar-and-vocal blues of the LA Jones Quartet. The CSUSB Jazz Ensemble, who perform a range of jazz styles including swing, funk, Latin, and vocal jazz, have appeared at regional jazz festivals sharing the bill with Peter Erskine, Manhattan Transfer, Poncho Sanchez, and many more. Gates open at 5 p.m.
A series highlight will be the festival debut of saxophone great Eric Marienthal, leading a quartet of top-line L.A. session musicians, on Aug. 23. Marienthal began his professional career with famed New Orleans trumpeter Al Hirt before helping found the seminal Chick Corea Elektric Band, for which he earned two Grammy Awards.
His solo recording career has earned him an additional five Grammy nominations and produced nine National Contemporary Jazz Radio Top Ten songs, including three at No. 1. Gates open at 6 p.m.
On Aug. 24, the internationally acclaimed Yuko Mabuchi Trio, featuring the brilliant young pianist, her longtime bassist Del Atkins and drummer Bob Breton, will be part of another innovation: the first brunch concert at the Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa. The trio, which recently opened for Branford Marsalis at Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa, has performed in Europe, Japan and locally at Walt Disney Hall. Tickets include light hors d’oeuvres and a drink coupon. Gates open at 10:30 a.m.
Joining the Blue Jay Jazz Foundation as co-presenter of the Yuko Mabuchi Trio on Aug. 24 is the Bill and Dinah Ruch Family Foundation. Major additional underwriting has been received from longtime festival supporter Lynne Wilson & Associates, Ed and Midge Riesman, and Dr. Kyi Kyi Win.
The festival is part of the Blue Jay Jazz Foundation’s mission to foster jazz appreciation and support music education in the mountain communities through scholarships and instrument lending.
Among the hotels and AirBnbs available to make the festival a three-day event for residents off the mountain, the resort is offering a special rate for Jazz Festival ticket-holders.
For more information visit www.bluejayjazz.org or call (909) 766-2553.