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IT MAY NOT BE OBVIOUS, but San Diego is actually quite a jazz town, at least if you consider the international talents residing in the area. Here are a few names to know:
• Renowned pianist Mike Wofford’s résumé includes stints with Ray Brown and Ella Fitzgerald. He now performs in a quartet with his wife, flutist Holly Hofmann, with whom he recorded 2007’s Live at Athenaeum Jazz, Vol. 2.
• Sarah Vaughn was so impressed with Bob Magnusson’s bass chops she invited him to play at the 1971 Monterey Jazz Festival and many shows thereafter. The San Diego Symphony veteran, teacher and author recently released Liquid Lines, inspired by his love of surfing.
• Now in his ’80s, saxophonist James Moody continues to tour the globe, showing off the style that made him a favorite of Dizzy Gillespie and Dinah Washington.
• Jeannie Cheatham carries on the Sweet Baby Blues Band, started with her late husband of 47 years, Jimmy Cheatham.
• Mississippi-born Mundell Lowe spent 17 years as a guitarist at NBC before turning to composing film scores in L.A. Recent years have found him touring and recording with the André Previn Trio.
• Since starting his professional career at 19, saxophonist Charles McPherson has toured five continents and recorded with the likes of Charlie Mingus, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Wynton Marsalis.
• Latin jazz guitarist Jaime Valle is nothing if not a local icon. Solo and with his group Equinox, Valle has no fewer than 13 San Diego Music Awards to his credit.
• Among the city’s most tireless performers are bassist Rob Thorsen, guitarist Peter Sprague and trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, who play so many shows in San Diego we’re suspicious they’ve cloned them selves.
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