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Articles are starting appear. Here's one from the SF Chronicle: In Sonoma, a new festival of wine and song

- Jesse Hamlin, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, Steve Winwood and Boz Scaggs will headline a new event called Sonoma Jazz + Festival May 26-29 in a giant tent on a baseball field two blocks from the historic Sonoma plaza.

Produced by the people who put on the Jazz Aspen Snowmass -- a series of summer festivals and year-round concerts in Colorado -- the Sonoma event will feature four nights of concerts in the 3,000-seat tent and four days of "wine and song'' shows at various shops and restaurants around the plaza that will serve up music and Sonoma County wines.

Jim Horowitz, who founded the Aspen event in 1991, is the executive producer of this one.

"The city fathers and community of Sonoma have embraced this idea and made planning for the inaugural festival a smooth experience,'' Horowitz said. "There seems to be great anticipation surrounding the festival.'' The Aspen organization's first foray into Sonoma, he adds, "promises fabulous music, memorable wines and a great time with a sophisticated audience.''

Sponsored by the housing development company Hearthstone, Southern Wine & Spirits, NelsonJobs.com, and other businesses and private donors, Sonoma Jazz + Festival is a not-for-profit venture that will benefit the Sonoma Education Foundation and the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation.

Bennett will open the festival at Sonoma's "Field of Dreams'' Thursday night, May 26. Friday's headliner has yet to be announced. Krall stars on Saturday night, and Winwood and Scaggs close it out on Sunday. Violinist Regina Carter and singer Lizz Wright will be among the main-stage opening acts.

The daytime music-and-wine events will feature a wide range of Bay Area artists -- singers, beboppers, Latin and swing musicians. (The lineup is not yet finalized.) Patrons can float from show to show, sampling a Chardonnay, say, while checking out a chanteuse, or perhaps a little Merlot to go with the mambo.

Tickets for the evening shows, which go on sale Feb. 28, are $35-$85. Patrons ticket packages are also available. For more information, call (866) 527-8499 or visit www.sonomajazz.org.

Two other Sonoma county music festivals will take place in June: the Healdsburg Jazz Festival June 3-12 at various hometown venues and wineries such as Chateau Souverain, Quivira and Rodney Strong, and the Russian River Blues Festival, June 18-19 at Johnson's Beach in Guerneville.

The Healdsburg event will feature vibraphonist Gary Burton's band with the gifted young Santa Rosa guitarist Julian Lage, pianists Kenny Barron, Jessica Williams, Hilton Ruiz, saxophonist Bobby Watson, singer Mary Stallings, John Santos' Machete Ensemble and many others. Tickets are $10-$35. (The June 7 show with Santos in the town plaza is free.) Call (707) 433-4644 or visit www.healdsburgjazzfestival.com.

Al Green, Los Lobos, Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm, Coco Montoya, Shemekia Copeland, the Johnny Rawls Revue /and Bettye LaVette will perform at the Russian River bacchanal. Tickets are $42.50 per day or $80 for both. (Gold Tier seats, which include a beach chair and wine tasting coupon, are $225 for both days.) Call (510) 655-9471 or see www.RussianRiverBluesFest.com.

E-mail Jesse Hamlin at jhamlin@sfchronicle.com.


©2005 San Francisco Chronicle

Thanks, Bud. Since it appears the on-sale won't be through Ticketbast*rd, I wonder if Club DK will have a fan pre-sale? This sounds like it's going to be a great event. Diana + lots of wine = good times.

In semi-related news, I saw an article on Anthony Wilson in the LA Times today. My apologies if someone has already posted this somewhere else. Enjoy.

MY FAVORITE WEEKEND: ANTHONY WILSON

Jazz composer and guitarist Anthony Wilson was born in Hollywood, and his heart hasn't strayed far. He tried New York for a few years after college but came back to L.A. in 1994. "That was a tough thing because as a jazz musician everyone says you've got to be in New York," he says. "But I love California more than any place on Earth."

The Studio City resident knows how to pack a lot into his weekends, from Peruvian chicken to hiking above the Pacific.

Friday night, if I was feeling ambitious, I'd get together with friends or other musicians, and we'd start the night at LACMA for the jazz. You can see all sorts of amazing artists for free. There's great eye candy too, beautiful eccentric people.

Then we'd take a trip to 8th and Western to Pollo a la Brasa, where we'll get the greatest roast chicken that can be found in the whole of Los Angeles. You get to 8th, and you see this place with wood stacked up outside next to a carwash. And if you can see in the window, you see these chickens roasting on spits over a raging fire. There's only about four tables, so we might have to eat in the car. You get a whole chicken — the skin is crackling and the meat is tender and amazing — and rice and beans or fresh-cut fries. If we could get a seat inside, I'd bring a bottle of wine and drink it from plastic cups.

After that we'd go down to Steamers jazz club in Fullerton. It's one of the best jazz clubs in Southern California. It's a very casual, very friendly jazz club that makes it possible for people who are a little afraid of jazz to feel really comfortable.

Fueled for shopping

Saturday I'll go to Fryman Canyon in Studio City to do a little local hike and get the blood flowing. I'd get some breakfast at Ned's on Magnolia — it's really good for eggs — to have plenty of energy to go shop.

I'd start at Atomic Records in Burbank; it has an incredible selection of vinyl LPs, which I collect. Then I'd drop a bunch of money at Amoeba Music.

Looking for my home, Silho Furniture on La Brea is a furniture shop but they also have incredible art. Another really great store for art books and home design items is O.K. on 3rd Street. Next door there's a store called Douglas Fir, which is a really small shop that has the best men's clothes. It's very stylish, but nothing crazy or outlandish.

Saturday night I'd get dinner at Cheebo on Sunset Boulevard, where they make pressed sandwiches and this insane sausage and fennel pizza. Then I'll get really good seats at Disney Hall, or if there's nothing there, at the Cerritos Center.

Through the canyon

Sunday morning I go to the Studio City Farmers Market to get a breakfast burrito and watch the kids on the pony rides. It reminds me of being a kid. Half the block that is now the Beverly Center was an amusement park.

Then I'd have a nature day, starting by driving over Topanga to Malibu for another hike in Coral Canyon or anyplace in the hills. Maybe I'd stop at Woodland Hills Wine Co. — a great shop near Topanga Canyon and Ventura boulevards.

I'd return to the Valley over beautiful Topanga Canyon and stop at Froggy's for dinner. It's still one of the quintessential Topanga Canyon hangouts, with great fresh fish and a fun atmosphere in a really old building. I think even Neil Young owned Froggy's at one point, but doesn't he own everything in California? And of course, I'll bring in one of the great bottles of wine I bought earlier.

— Robin Rauzi