The Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society recently announced the signing of Jazz-funk artist Kermit Ruffins and his Barbecue Swingers as its headline act for the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, Memorial Day weekend, May 23-26, 2008. Ruffins was one of the founding members of the Rebirth Brass Band, which took the Jazz Jubilee by storm last year.
The New York Times has called Kermit Ruffins “...a trumpeter beyond compare—the crowned emperor of the New Orleans sound.” Hot jazz, plus the smokin’ barbecue Ruffins is known to cook up at his shows, equals a non-stop New Orleans party for the city of Sacramento. New Orleans is the only place on the planet that could have produced native son Kermit Ruffins, who is often referred to as “The King of New Orleans.”. Whether he’s blowing trumpet on a Louis Armstrong classic or one of his own original numbers, Ruffins embraces a tune with the true spirit of the city. Ruffins’ music, like New Orleans itself, swings hard with a big heart as it remembers tradition and the importance of good-time fun.
With more than 900 separate performances during Memorial Day weekend, the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee is the largest jazz festival in the Western United States, entertaining nearly 70,000 visitors every year. Thirty concert venues will stretch from Sacramento’s cosmopolitan downtown area to quaint Old Sacramento’s riverside boardwalks and cobblestones. There’s something for every music lover with about 100 bands performing in more than a dozen jazz genres, including Blues, Zydeco, Big Band, Swing, Western, Classic and Latin Jazz.
For more information contact the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society at (916) 372-5277 or log on to sacjazz.com