Saxophonist Dawan Muhammad, pianist Sandra Manning, guitarist Calvin Keys and percussionist Prince Lawsha perform for the students of Soquel Elementary School Tuesday morning as an installment in the fifth annual International Jazz Week in Santa Cruz County schools.
Working with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and with the special support of Superintendent Michael Watkins, Mr. Lawsha created the program over five years ago.
An extension of International Jazz Day worldwide, the City of Santa Cruz joins the global celebration with a free afternoon of jazz concerts at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf on Saturday.
The daylong festivities are intended to promote jazz music’s strong positive values, which include peace, intercultural dialogue and cooperation between nations. Saturday’s concerts will headline world renowned jazz steel drummer Andy Narell, who will perform at 3 p.m.
Special thanks to Shmuel Thaler of the Santa Cruz Sentinel for the fantastic (and very noteworthy!) photo.