True Blue Jazz grows in year six

The 2018 True Blue Jazz Festival in downtown Rehoboth Beach will celebrate the sixth anniversary of what has become the signature jazz event on the Eastern Seaboard. Set for Wednesday, Oct. 10 to Sunday, Oct. 14, the festival will continue its tradition of commitment to real, straight-ahead jazz, the preeminent American art form. Every year, True Blue Jazz receives kudos and mounting recognition from jazz writers, publications, musicians and October’s visiting and local jazz fans.

Keeping the bar high for the True Blue Jazz Festival is the prime directive for Peggy Raley, True Blue’s artistic director. “Searching among the premium level of jazz musicians and performers to book each year is more complicated than ‘who’s hot and who’s not’ for our festival. When we can find the real jazz artist who makes part of their life in jazz a commitment to music education for the aspiring young jazz students at all the grade levels, that’s a performer and a person that we want on our True Blue Jazz calendar,” said Raley. “In 2018, we have two such headlining jazz stars! The great Latin jazz percussionist, drummer, bandleader and multi-Grammy nominee Bobby Sanabria is scheduled for a very high-energy show Friday, Oct. 12, at the Atlantic Sands Ballroom with his nine-piece Latin jazz band Ascension. And we’re following that Saturday, Oct. 13,  with another truly committed music educator, multi-instrumentalist and winner of the 2017 International Trombonist Association Award – the incredible Wycliffe Gordon.”

As only he can, Eddie Sherman capsulized the entire festival in a straight-no-chaser style that is trademark for this vocalist and festival producer. He said, “This True Blue Jazz Festival is 25 amazing events, one week of real jazz in a dozen downtown Rehoboth venues.”

Offering more than ever this year, True Blue Jazz introduces several new facets of this continually evolving celebration of straight-ahead jazz.

As Raley has said many times that jazz is the one true American art form, it seemed only natural to give real jazz fans a place to embrace that concept. True Blue Jazz announces, for 2018’s festival, its Jazz Iz Art Expo Center in the Community Room of CAMP Rehoboth at 37 Baltimore Ave.

“Peggy and I are extremely excited about this concept, and the collection of  jazz art we’ve been able to acquire, represented in three distinct media formats and styles,” said Sherman. “We’re bringing three very accomplished producer/directors to our festival, and their award-winning, jazz-based documentaries for our Directors Screening Room. They will present their film and offer making-of and anecdotal insights about their film work, and why they felt it important enough to bring it to the screen.”

The Jazz Iz Art Expo Center will also feature jazz art and jazz photography, exhibited for pure jazz aficionado pleasure, or for purchase if so inspired.

“Ever Expanding” is the jazz theme song for this year’s festival. In a cooperative fundraising effort with favorite sponsor Rehoboth’s volunteer firefighters, the festival is hosting an event that will burn it up for jazz fans from 1 to 6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 13. It’s five hours of smokin’ hot firehouse jazz, featuring three red-hot big bands from around the region, and the Bill Dilks B-3 Organ Trio, the same act that scorched the paint off the firehouse walls in last year’s festival. They will be trading off the sets across the afternoon. Tickets for five hours of nonstop big band and jumping’ organ trio jazz  will benefit the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company.

Sherman said, “As we begin the second half of our first decade for True Blue Jazz, a big thrill for us this year is our return to the Atlantic Sands Hotel as our newest venue location.”

Raley said, “It’s fitting that we begin our next five-year run of our festival at the Sands. Though we started this whole thing down in their Boardwalk Grille back in 2013, this time ‘round we’re in the ballroom, for another great addition to the True Blue Jazz stage, Friday night’s Bobby Sanabria Latin Jazz Celebration show!”

Tickets are on sale now. For more information and a complete schedule of events, go to www.truebluejazz.org.