Annual Heritage Music Festival set for May 8 has Latin flavor

The community is invited to an evening of jazz on the campus of California State University, Monterey Bay as the annual Heritage Music Festival returns on May 8. The free concert will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. in the Black Box Cabaret, located on Fourth Street near the intersection of Gen. Jim Moore Boulevard and Inter-Garrison Road. The concert features the Latin Jazz Collective with John Nava, Que Caliente and the CSUMB Jazz Ensemble. The Latin Jazz Collective is a seven-member group put together by Nava and Martin Binder. Members of the combo have decades of combined experience doing studio work, stage performances and musical education. They maintain active roles as band leaders, arrangers and musical directors. Que Caliente is a powerful and exciting group that plays a variety of styles – infectious Afro-Cuban and salsa rhythms, Latin jazz, straight-ahead swing, funky blues and beautiful ballads and boleros. The concert is sponsored by CSUMB’s Music and Performing Arts Department, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and the university’s Special Event Fund. While the concert is free, a parking permit must be purchased from a nearby dispenser. Driving directions and a campus map are available here. For more information or disability accommodations, call 582-3009.

Latin Jazz Collective with John Nava (Left to right): Kevin McCullough, piano; John Nava, congas; Steve Ucello, bass; Martin Binder, drums and timbale; Jayson Fann, percussion; Patt Casion, saxophone. Not pictured: Ric Feliciano, trombone

Photo courtesy of James Chang of Top Dog Images