Long before the first notes were expected on Thursday of this week, workmen have been busy inside the Avalon Casino building stages, hanging lights, and running cables as many as 10,000 fans overall are expected to venture onto the island to enjoy JazzTrax for the next two weekends.
“I think we’ll be ready,” said founder and smooth jazz pioneer Art Good, who founded the festival nearly 40 years and has been promoting it annually ever since.
Good said tickets for this year’s JazzTrax festival sold fast this year. “We have a few tickets left for ‘daytrippers,’” said Good, expecting near-capacity crowds for the two-weekend event inside the Casino and at Descanso Beach.
Long before the festival, Good said he checks with local hotels that will be housing the festival goers and he arranges special ferry runs for the Catalina Express for people who want to get back to the mainland after late-night performances.
“Believe it or not, there are still hotel rooms available,” said Good.
The festival organizer said he has worked with Greg Hudson of Orange County to build the staging and lighting facilities that make the event so special. “I’ve worked with Greg for more than twenty years,” said Good.
Like last year, Good said festival goers will have to show proof of vaccination to get in. “My fans want to feel safe,” he said.
Good is a former radio D.J. whose love for smooth jazz helped develop the industry on the west coast and ultimately led to his founding of the festival in 1987.
“This year’s lineup is amazing,” said Good. The festival’s founder and promoter said he was “so excited” to have been able to book famed guitarist Lee Ritenour and production music legend Dave Gruisin to replace artist David Sanborn, who could not travel because of an illness.
“Dave Grusin has never played this festival. This is the first time,” he said, noting that Grusin was a Hollywood music legend, writing scores for hundreds of commercials and TV shows like the long-running favorite “The Andy Griffith Show,” “St. Elsewhere,” and movies such as “Havana,” “On Golden Pond,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys” and many others.
Ritenour and Grusin are near the pinnacle of the jazz world, having collaborated and played together on a variety of projects for decades, he said.
Good said he was also excited that the jazz legends would be headlining this opening weekend of the eight-day jazz phenomenon. The JazzTrax Festival runs Thursday – Sunday this weekend and next.
Other than Ritenour and Grusin, Good said top jazz players this year include Norman Brown, Richard Elliot, David Benoit, Damian Escobar, Dave Koz, Peter White, Paul Jackson Jr., Mindi Abair, Jessy J, Jazmin Ghent, Chris Standring, Eric Darius, Lindsey Webster with Adam Hawley, Greg Adams & East Bay Soul, Justin Lee Schultz, Mark Jaimes, Peet Project, Blake Aaron, Jeff Ryan, Daniel Ho with Danna Xue, Randal Clark with Jimmy Haslip, Gino Rosaria and Christian de Mesones with his 10-piece band.
Koz, a legendary jazz saxophonist, will headline JazzTrax next weekend, he said.
Good has spent the past couple of weeks hanging out on the island receiving shipments, taking care of paper and preparing for yet another two-weekend festival.
In order to stage the festival, Good said he sends over a barge full of equipment, two vehicles, including a jeep and other merchandise necessary to stage the festival.
“It’s a whole lot of work,” said Good, “but more than worth it.”
Good is expected to be seated at his special table arranged for him to watch the crowd just as much as the artists performing.
“It never ceases to make me happy,” said Good, “watching the smiles on the faces of the people in the audience.”
Good said he is amazed each year at the splendor of William Wrigley’s Casino and is dumbfounded when he thinks of the incredible jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie that have played there since it was constructed in 1929.
Good will be adding a few more jazz greats to that growing list to have played the Casino and you can be sure he will be perched at his special table watching the crowd watching the music. “It gives me a special feeling,” he said, “and I never get tired of seeing it.” For detailed scheduling of artists, visit Jazztrax.com.
