When San Jose Jazz chose funk legends George Clinton, Maceo Parker and Tower of Power to headline their Summer Fest in 2010, they took a gamble. Never mind that these acts featured some of the best jazz players in the world; the bigger question for some was: are fans ready for dance music at their jazz festival?
The answer was yes, and the festival’s success that year is still reverberating into 2012, with SJ Jazz announcing that Morris Day & The Time will headline this year’s Summer Fest, to be held August 10-12 at Plaza de Cesar Chavez in San Jose.
The Time is, of course, best known for their hits like “Jungle Love” and “Jerk Out,” and their close association with Prince, who was responsible for putting the band together, and played on their albums.. Day, a friend of Prince since they were kids, co-starred in Purple Rain and Graffiti Bridge, and evolved the Time from one of the Purple One’s many puppet projects to a breakout rival band (the competition between them was even written into Purple Rain). The band has broken up and reunited at various times over the years, but its original lineup got back together in 2008, including bassist Terry Lewis and keyboardist Jimmy Jam, who together went on to produce some of the biggest records of the ’80s and ’90s.
Also at this year’s Summer Fest will be the legendary fusion band the Jazz Crusaders, featuring the trio that originally formed the band in Los Angeles in 1960: Joe Sample, Wayne Henderson and Wilton Felder. Other performers include the Spinners, Dianne Reeves, Terence Blanchard, Boney James, Coco Montoya, Rene Marie, Tia Fuller, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Tony Monaco Group, Kat Parra, Jeff Hamilton Trio, Alessandro Penezzi Quartet, Marcus L. Miller w ith Freedom Jazz Movement, Amanda Shaw & The Cute Guys, Yoshiaki Miyanoue Tokyo Quartet, BlackMahal, Jackeline Rago & The Venezuelan Music Project, Girls Got the Blues and many more.
The 23rd Annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest will be held Fri.-Sun., Aug. 10-12, at Plaza de Cesar Chavez in San Jose. Tickets are $15-$20 ($5, children 5-12), available here.
.San Jose Jazz Announces Lineup for Summer Fest 2012
