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 5.

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, the Sharp Nine Band, the CSUMB Jazz Ensemble and special guest Greg Abate.

Abate is a saxophone and flute player, recording artist, an adjunct professor of Jazz Studies at Rhode Island College and a jazz clinician who travels extensively conducting workshops and master classes.

The Latin Jazz Collective is a seven-member group put together by John 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.

Sharp Nine, named for a chord typically used in jazz harmony, is a new band that originated from a jazz improvisation class in CSUMB’s Music and Performing Arts Department. It was formed to celebrate the synergy of students’ musical talents and their cultural prowess and proudly reflects their rich ethnic backgrounds. The songs celebrate the breadth of the Americas, from the United States to Mexico and Brazil.

The concert is sponsored by CSUMB’s Music and Performing Arts Department; the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; and the university’s Special Events Fund.

While the concert is free, a parking permit must be purchased from a nearby dispenser or online.

For information or disability accommodations, call 582-3009.