About us

Performance History

You’ll find a record of our shows from the last few years on the “Past & Upcoming Events” page. But Squarespace limits the number of events on that page arbitrarily to 31, which means that anything before (as of this writing) October 2019 has vanished. Namely:

• Emilio Solla & Bien Sur! (September 20, 2019) and

• Seasons 1-13 (2006-07 through 2018-19), which unfolded on our old website, now defunct. Those years saw the appearance of more than six dozen headliners, from Rez Abbasi to Miguel Zenón, leading or co-leading ensembles—some fronted by instrumentalists, some by vocalists—ranging from intimate duos to explosive big bands, performing in idioms ranging from straight-ahead to “out” and other styles adjacent and in-between. You can see a season-by-season rundown by following this link.

Mission

Redwood Jazz Alliance wants more jazz in Humboldt County, more traveling artists coming our way, more performances in our venues, and more colloquy between well-known players and composers and local students and musicians.

Since 2006, the RJA has hosted musicians from across the country and around the world to perform in the Arcata-Eureka area and to lead workshops and clinics.

We’ve worked with local radio stations, club and theater owners, musicians, fans, festival organizers, fellow non-profits, and granting agencies to promote improvised music and to further develop the profile of an already thriving Humboldt arts scene.

From the beginning, we envisioned a future in which a visit to the Redwood Coast would be an absolute must for top-flight jazz musicians eager to experience our unique blend of enthusiasm for the music and hospitality for those who play it.

Board of Directors

• Dan Aldag

is a trombonist and Professor of Music at Cal Poly Humboldt, where he leads the Jazz Orchestra and AM Jazz Band, coaches the Jazz Combos, and teaches courses in jazz and on the history of rock and roll.

• Michael Eldridge

is a musical omnivore, lapsed trombonist, and Professor Emeritus of English and International Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, where he taught literature, postcolonial studies, and cultural theory.

• Eric Neel

is an Emmy-nominated journalist for ESPN, where he is Director of the Content Innovation Lab and Deputy Editor of Digital/Print Enterprise. His Ph.D dissertation (U. of Iowa, 2000) examined postwar idealism and American identity in the work of James Baldwin, Allen Ginsburg, and John Coltrane.

• Michael Quam

is a poet, gospel singer, Peace Corps veteran and retired Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, Springfield. He’s also a veteran club-goer and jazz-cruiser.

• David Stacey

is a trumpeter, barbecuer, native Yooper, sometime thespian, and Professor Emeritus at Cal Poly Humboldt, where he taught rhetoric and composition in the Department of English.

• John Clement Wood

is a musician, composer, teacher, father, Ph.D candidate, and founder of the late, lamented Learning Music Monthly. You can hear (and buy) his music at Bandcamp .

Emeritus (founding) board member Thomas Fossier is a carpenter, cabinetmaker, designer, potter, pianist, and whitewater rafter. In one of his many former lives, he was a commercial pilot and fish-spotter in Alaska. He's now pursuing other passions and still listening to jazz--on his own time.

And board member emerita Loralei Saylor is a former database analyst with a background in amphibian biology. Before moving to Humboldt, she volunteered for many years with the Healdsburg Jazz Festival. She's still a full-time grandmother.