The 56th annual Texas Jazz Festival will be Oct. 21-23 at Heritage Park, and once again the Del Mar College MWF Jazz Band will open the event. This will be their last year performing under the direction of David Irving, who plans to retire at the end of this semester.
The Texas Jazz Festival began as a nonprofit organization. In 1959, Skip Veeters and Joe Kallardo, along with Kallardo’s uncle Al Garcia, gave a jazz demonstration for the Del Mar Jazz club, and approximately 150 people showed up to the demonstration. Starting at such a small scale, it is amazing to see how the Texas Jazz Festival has grown into what it is today.
This year at the Texas Jazz Festival, the Del Mar College MWF Jazz Band will kick off the event with a performance on the North Stage. Students who have heard the Jazz Band play during events at Del Mar College will know that they are a very talented group and if there are any students who have yet to hear the band play, the Texas Jazz Festival would be a great place to have some fun while listening to the music.
Along with the Del Mar Jazz Band, there will be many other bands playing at the Texas Jazz Festival. Bayou City Brass Band, a jazz band that pays homage to jazz, R&B, and hip-hop, will be playing at the Jazz Festival on Saturday, and The SanGabriel
