Ruby and the Red Hots is a San Diego-based rockin’ blues, R&B, funk, and jazz band. For over 25 years their earth-shaking music has made audiences all over the U.S. and abroad simmer as they’ve performed arrangements of classics as well as original compositions. Ruby (Etoile Ruby Presnell), with her unique and powerful voice, beauty, and sensual stage presence, is known as the “first-class sultry lady of blues.”

More information: https://www.facebook.com/rubyandtheredhots/

Euphoria Brass Band is a San Diego-based musical collective that serves up a contemporary mix of old school New Orleans traditional brass band jazz, funky street beats, and new school edginess with a West Coast feeling. They recall the early days of New Orleans street bands. Euphoria Brass Band was created in 2011 by New Orleans transplants Ron Bocian and David Bandrowski and local jazz radio DJ Drew Miller. They quickly assembled a top-notch, hard-hitting horn section: Steve Ebner (trumpet), April West (trombone), David Jackson (tenor sax), J.P. Balmat (baritone and alto sax, clarinet), and Wayne Rice (sousaphone). Euphoria Brass Band was nominated five years in a row for various San Diego Music Awards. Embracing the exciting spirit of improvisation with a hard funk edge, Euphoria Brass Band has become known for their incendiary high-energy shows, guaranteed to get a crowd smiling, dancing, and having a good time.

More information: http://www.euphoriabrassband.com

Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Eric Kufs is one-part crooner, one-part protest singer, and every part artist. Kufs is a singer of the people, choosing to showcase his music as a busker in various street venues throughout Southern California. Belonging to the generation of independent recording musicians using today’s newest home recording techniques, Eric’s time performing in Southern California began seven years ago in local clubs and venues. With the lyrical poignancy of Will Oldham, the dynamic voice of Van Morrison, and the passion of Bruce Springsteen, he has performed around the world. With Common Rotation, he has recorded with the likes of They Might be Giants and Indigo Girls as well as his own songwriting hero and mentor, singer/songwriter Dan Bern. On his new solo EP he has traded in the ironic folk element of past work for a more sincere and soulful 70s pop sound. His latest album, Sense and Nonsense in Psychology, Pt. 1, showcases his standout voice, style, and songwriting vision.

More information: https://www.erickufs.com

A triple-threat talent, Katie Thiroux has garnered considerable attention for her bravura bass playing, assured singing and compelling compositions. Her most recent album, Off Beat, from Grammy-nominated label, Capri Records, collected rave reviews, was named a Best Album Of 2017 by Downbeat magazine, and is featured on Emirates Airlines. With the release of her debut album, Introducing Katie Thiroux (2015), her substantial gifts as a bandleader and recording artist took center stage. Audiences and critics agree as the release received many awards, including Debut Record of the Year from the Huffington Post, and was named one of the Top Five Debut Records of the Year by the NPR jazz critics poll. Other accolades include being a 2015 semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk Competition, and subject of an NPR feature. The 30-year-old artist is going full-steam ahead with a busy international touring schedule and new projects in the works. Lending contemporary flair to mainstream stylings, Thiroux carries on the hard-swinging tradition of such bass masters as Ray Brown and John Clayton, while channeling the buoyant vocal finesse of iconic singers like Anita O’Day, Chet Baker, and Ella Fitzgerald. Thiroux offers in-the-moment jazz that draws upon the rich history of the music, from swing to bebop and beyond. Thiroux’s unique gift of simultaneously balancing sultry vocals and virtuosic bass playing leaves audiences worldwide in awe.

More information: http://www.katiethiroux.com

Stephens Recital Hall will be jammed to hear jazz greats Harry Pickens on piano, Marshall Hawkins on bass, and Roy McCurdy on drums. This trio is an audience favorite and returns each year to great acclaim. Pickens, a long-time festival favorite for his expressive playing that sometimes feels like he is a spiritual leader, is an extraordinary improviser and presence. Marshall Hawkins founded the festival and the Idyllwild Arts Academy Jazz Program. He toured with Miles Davis and was Roberta Flack’s bassist for many years. He has also played with Shirley Horn and countless other legends. Jazz elder statesman McCurdy was formerly jazz great Cannonball Adderly’s drummer. This trio has fabulous chemistry and is not to be missed.

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Definiens, returning for their fourth year at Jazz in the Pines, is a sextet with classical instrumentation, including violin, cello, contrabass, flutes, clarinets, and piano, that combines elements of jazz, classical, and contemporary music. The mission of Definiens is to build new and diverse classical music audiences by providing innovative chamber music performances and educational music programs, all with a strong focus on showcasing new music by living and local composers. They create opportunities for the public to discover and enjoy chamber music, not only for its power to inspire imagination, but for its ability to create shared experiences that build community. Their vision is that classical music appreciation and creation is accessible to all people.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/definiensmusic/

Lisa Haley and the Zydekats bring modern Roots music to a wide audience, reaching far beyond a traditional genre. Lisa is a Grammy-nominated fiddler, dancer, vocalist, and songwriter, serving up heart-moving Louisiana Bayou rhythms, traditional stylings, and original songs that speak to all ages. They’re the most joyful Americana/Cajun/Zydeco act on tour today. A fourth-generation fiddler and a Blue Fiddle Records recording artist, Lisa’s musical upbringing combines multi-faceted genres of Americana, Cajun/Zydeco, Irish/Celtic, World/Pop, Folk/Bluegrass, Blues, R&B, and Jazz genres. Her work tells the story of a family and cultural journey through time. Her mother’s family were Irish immigrants, arriving in Roddy Bayou, Louisiana, in 1718 to escape a smallpox epidemic. Close on their heels came the French Diaspora of the late 1700’s. The family soon married into the LeBoeuf, Broussard, Lambert, and Thibodaux families. Born in Delaware to expatriate Southern parents serving in the Navy Reserve and the Pentagon, Lisa is a descendant of Francis Scott Key and also kin to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Bill Haley, and Pocahontas. She spent much of her early life in the South and began performing at age four, becoming the protégé of legendary Cajun accordionist Joe Simien.

More information: http://www.lisahaley.com

At age three singing before a congregation of 1500 people on Easter Sunday, Yve (pronounced “Eve”) Evans had no idea that performance was her destiny. However, the little girl grew up to be an outstanding singer and pianist. There is an intangible quality in her music that gives it a life of its own, a life that reaches out and touches the souls of the people who hear it. Yve has performed all around the world and has played with some of the greats in jazz and cut five CDs (all done live and in only one take, the way jazz was meant to be). Evans was mentored by internationally renowned choral conductor Jester Harriston and attended the University of Califorina, Irvine, School of Fine Arts where she studied Opera and Theater. Evans’ band (she calls it her Company) is comprised of some of the industry’s most accomplished musicians. Each performance shows a dedication to the tradition and understanding of jazz and its timeless repertoire. The goal is sharing the sheer joy and freedom that her music brings, or at the very least taking the audience on a musical roller-coaster ride with Yve at the helm. The title of her latest CD sums up her style “3 Degrees Celsius – not frozen, just very cool.”

More information: http://www.yveevans.com/home.html

Gilbert Hansen was formerly the bassist for The Pointer Sisters. Now he has his own band that plays cover tunes, including standard rock ‘n roll and R&B.

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Saxophonist Paul Carman, who has been playing in Southern California for over 35 years, is a veteran of the Frank Zappa Band of the late 1980s. Other artists Paul has played and recorded with include Kei Akagi, Vinny Golia, Bruce Fowler, Larry Koonse, Kim Richmond, and Brad Dutz. Forbits is only one of the jazz groups Paul has led over the years. He is also a member of the Los Angeles collective WEDU, collaborating with trombonist Joey Sellers and saxophonist Matt Zebley. An accomplished composer, he has released four critically acclaimed CDs and has composed and recorded music for several independent films. Passionate about jazz education, Paul has taught jazz, jazz history, saxophone, and computer music applications at USC, UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Saddleback Collage, and several high schools. He is the developer of the acclaimed jazz teaching tool, CD Metronome, used in virtually every jazz school in the world. Paul also maintains a private teaching practice and teaches jazz studies and saxophone at Idyllwild Arts Academy in Idyllwild, where he lives with his family.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/paulcarmanmusic/

Jazz in the Pines audiences will have a special opportunity to hear six students from Idyllwild Arts Academy perform during the festival. Their teacher Paul Carman and recent alum Owen Zorn will join the sextet as they play material performed at the Berklee High School Jazz Festival in Boston and the Reno Jazz Festival. The students are Moe Fienberg (Class of 2018, trumpet), Mark Beebe (Class of 2019, alto sax), Cisco de la Garza (Class of 2018, tenor sax), Michael Dunaevsky (Class of 2020, piano), Ray Godfrey (Class of 2020, bass), and Caelen Perkins (Class of 2019, drums). Moe and Cisco will attend The New School in New York to continue their jazz studies.

Originally from Hemet, California, Owen Zorn moved to Idyllwild in 2014 to attend Idyllwild Arts Academy, and in 2017 to Los Angeles, where he maintains a performing and recording schedule as an up-and-coming artist. He studied under jazz legend Marshall Hawkins for six years, including a year of private study when he was 11, a year coming up to the Academy to play in Hawkins’ ensembles when he was 12, and four years at the Academy. Zorn is a member of the Jed Holtman Trio and of Erik Findling Entity and has performed on KCSB 91.9 with Finding Ikigai, led by Avery Scanlon. He has also performed with Richie Cole, Harry Pickens, Evan Christopher, Charles Owens, Bob Boss, Gilbert Castellanos, John Rodby, Tom Heinz, Sherry Williams, and Andy Fraga.

More information: https://owenzornbass.wordpress.com

Theo Saunders: Piano
Thedross Avery: Saxophone
Henry Franklin: Bass
Yayo Morales: Drums

Henry Frankiln is a jazz double-bassist who played on Hugh Masekela’s 1968 number-one single, “Grazing in the Grass,” as well as with Masekela’s band at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival. Franklin has played and recorded with Gene Harris & the Three Sounds, Hampton Hawes, Freddie Hubbard, Bobbi Humphrey, Willie Bobo, Archie Shepp, O.C. Smith, Count Basie, Stevie Wonder, and Al Jarreau. His recording of “Soft Spirit,” composed by Sanifu Al Hall, Jr., was featured on the breakbeat compilation Tribe Vibes, as it had been sampled by A Tribe Called Quest. Franklin recorded five albums with Hampton Hawes and played with Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Billy Higgins, and Scott LaFaro. He appears on more than 100 albums, many produced under his leadership, and has published a method book for bass players called Bassically Yours.

More information: http://www.henryfranklin.com