Fullerton College held its 41st Annual Jazz Festival as a two-day event on Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23. Attracting hundreds of spectators and jazz bands from all over California and beyond, this Jazz Festival was held in the music department quad, where a stage was set up for the bands to perform upon, next to vendors selling different types of food as well as musical merchandise. Beyond the quad were performances being held inside the music building.
The two-day Jazz Festival event was split up into two different days to categorize Friday as Vocal Jazz, and Saturday as pure Instrumental Jazz. Both categories were just as successful when it came to the size of the spectating crowd.
Trumpet player Micha Laird from the Tuscan Arizona Jazz Institute was very satisfied with the outcome of the festival at Fullerton College. “I am really enjoying the carefree nature of the campus,” explains Laird. “Even though this was not my band’s best performance, we felt no pressure to do anything impossible. It was overall a fun festival that I looked forward to for months.”
In addition to the performers that came from far were performers that came from neighboring cities that were just as excited to participate in the festival. “I really liked to watch the other bands perform, not only my band,” said Stephen Jimenez, from Santa Fe Springs High School Jazz Band. “The bands were really good; I’m impressed. I would definitely come back to perform here next year.”
The performing jazz bands were not the only groups that were happy to be part of the festival, but the vendors that came to the festival had good intent for being there. Kelley’s Enterprises was one vendor that was dedicated to donating all of their proceeds towards local music programs. Mo’s Fullerton Music Centers also came to campus to promote their music shop and inspire people to become more involved in the music programs. A&J; Concessions came to sell funnel cakes and kettle corn for its fourth year in a row at Fullerton College, to simply support the Festival and to enjoy the outdoor stage.
Overall, participants of the 41st Jazz Festival held at Fullerton College was quite a success and will be looked forward to by many. Mother of Jazz performer from Sutter Middle School in Folsom Paulette Bickel hopes to have her son perform here next year. “I enjoyed seeing my son play today, he worked very hard for the past 2 years to be here,” Bickel said. “Hopefully next year we will be able to perform along the other talented bands and win awards.”