2018 marked 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 Torme, Joe Henderson and Bruce Forman in concert and on it's critically acclaimed cds: The Jazz Garden (1982) Deep Voices (1988) 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; trombonist Matt Hall; jazz teachers Rory Snyder, Bob Farrington, and Erik Jekabson, Jazzschool Young Musicians Program Director; and several are former students from Dave Eshelman's jazz programs: saxophonist Bob Kenmotsu, drummer Kelly Fasman, trombonist Jeanne Geiger, bass trombonist Rich Lee, trumpeters Mike Olmos and Marvin McFadden, and Colin Hogan, piano and accordion.
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