On the 40th Anniversary of the Jazz Garden Big Band’s 1978 premiere performance at the Eulipia Cafe in San Jose––and on the occasion of Dave Eshelman’s 70th birthday––Composer/leader Eshelman leads the Bay Area’s finest through a program of progressive/mainstream big band jazz for jazz lovers and newcomers featuring his originals and arrangements of music by Chick Corea, Duke Ellington and Michael Brecker to name a few. Celebrate the anniversary and Dave’s 70th birthday!

“The Jazz Garden Big Band must be considered a leader in the formation and presentation of big band music in the modern creative vein,” writes David Nathan in All Music Guide.

Band Members and Instrumentation: Saxophones: Mary Fettig, Rory Snyder, Dann Zinn, Bob Kenmotsu, Bob Farrington; Trumpets: Louis Fasman, Marvin McFadden, Mike Olmos, Erik Jekabson; Trombones: Dave Martell, Dave Eshelman, Jeanne Geiger, Rich Lee; Piano: Colin Hogan; Guitar: Randy Vincent; Bass: Tommy Folen; Drums: Alan Hall

Bio: 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the 1978 Jazz Garden Big Band premier to a standing room only audience at the Eulipia Café in downtown San Jose. Over the four decades since, it has performed in dozens of Bay Area jazz clubs, concert halls and festivals. The band has backed guest artists such as Mel Tormé, Joe Henderson and Bruce Forman in concert, and on its critically acclaimed CDs: The Jazz Garden (1982,) Deep Voices (1986), When Dreams Come True (1993), and Milagro’s Journey (2001. The band recorded and performed the suite Temperature Rising (1998), commissioned by San Jose Jazz Society.The Jazz Garden Big Band features some of the most active freelance musicians in the bay area. Many have performed with the band for decades including saxophonist Mary Fettig, alumna of the Stan Kenton Orchestra; trumpeter Louis Fasman, former member of the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra; saxophonist and wood flute virtuoso Dann Zinn, Director of Jazz Studies at CSUEB; guitarist Randy Vincent; jazz teachers Rory Snyder, Bob Farrington, Dave Martell, and Erik Jekabson, Jazzschool Young Musicians Program Director; and several are former students from Dave Eshelman’s jazz programs: saxophonist Bob Kenmotsu, drummer Alan Hall, trombonist Jeanne Geiger, bass trombonist Rich Lee, trumpeter Mike Olmos, Tommy Folen, bassist, Marvin McFadden, trumpeter with Huey Lewis and the News, and Colin Hogan, piano and accordion.