2005 Stanford Jazz Festival

Headliners Include Slide Hampton, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Mulgrew Miller, Don Friedman, David "Fathead" Newman, Curtis Fuller, Houston Person

The 2005 Stanford Jazz Festival begins June 25 and continues through August 6, featuring more than 100 artists performing more than 30 mainstage concerts. Presented by See's Candies and the Stanford Jazz Workshop (SJW), the annual festival is renowned for presenting a healthy dose of straight-ahead jazz, flavored with innovative modern stylings, traditional, blues, salsa, Brazilian, and other cross cultural approaches to improvised music.

Top performances for the 2005 Stanford Jazz Festival include sets by master trombonists Slide Hampton and Curtis Fuller; talented pianist Mulgrew Miller in a trio with Rufus Reid and Akira Tana; saxman Charles McPherson, featured performer on the film Bird; famed big band arranger Toshiko Akiyoshi presenting the premiere of a new composition for quartet; saxophone master and longtime Etta Jones sideman Houston Person; a jazz tribute to the late Ray Charles featuring his long-time saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman; a rare Bay Area appearance by pianist Don Friedman; the debut concert performance pairing Hawaiian slack-key guitarist Keola Beamer with pianist Geoffrey Keezer.

This year the Stanford Jazz Festival introduces "Inside Jazz," a series of talks by prominent jazz artists and educators presented before selected concerts, providing context and insight into the art form. The 2005 Stanford Jazz Festival offers half-price tickets for students (with valid ID) and children under the age of 18.