Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

The popular Balcones Height Jazz Festival will once again take place at the Wonderland of the Americas Amphitheater with two nights of smooth jazz music played outdoors around the central lagoon. The first concert will take place this weekend, on July 15, and the second is scheduled for July 29. After a couple of years of pandemic disruption, things are returning to normal ways.

“It’s great to have the summer festival like it used to be. Everybody is excited about that,” said Lorenzo Nastasi, the city of Balcones Heights Economic Development & Public Affairs Director, who added that the Jazz Festival is his favorite thing to talk about. “But we also have the new normal, like 110 degrees every day. In fact, we often get the question: “Why are you doing this in the summer time?” Half of the people say it’s great, it’s almost a badge of honor (to take the heat); performers keep coming back. It’s tradition and that’s what we do and I am happy we are doing it this summer. The heat adds to the atmosphere of the event.”

And Nastasi is “thrilled” with the 2022 lineup of artists. He participates in the selection of performers with David Munoz of iHeartmedia, who is known as the jazz expert in San Antonio. Munoz has his own jazz radio program on KQXT/Q101.9 HD-2.

“I recommend and book the artists,” said Munoz in a phone interview. “We try to bring artists who are either new to the fest or have not been here for a long time. For example, the last time one of our Friday headliners, Jeff Ryan, played at the festival was five or six years ago.”

Ryan will join the other headliner, Rob Zinn, a veteran vocalist, trumpeter and flugelhornist with an international reputation as a smooth jazz artist and composer. Bassist and Billboard recording artist, Tony Saunders, is the opening act.

The San Antonio band, Johnny P & the Wise Guys, will open on July 29, followed by headliner, Peter White, the British-born, LA-based guitarist, referred to as “one of the jazz industry’s greatest icons.” White first performed at the fest in 2010 and returned in 2015.

“I am especially pleased to have Peter White at this festival,” noted Nastasi. “He was supposed to perform in Austin in mid-June – I forget the name of the venue – but that venue closed and he did not get to perform. So, his only South Texas appearance will be at our festival. It’s very special for us because he’s a real crowd-pleaser, an artist in the top tier of smooth jazz performers. The fact that we can provide a Peter White performance free-of-charge, it just speaks to the tradition and appeal of this event.”

 White has recorded 18 solo and collaborative albums, won multiple awards, and performed all over the U.S. and beyond. He recently created a special collection of songs for STARLUX Airlines. That album is available through iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and other streaming platforms.

Nastasi is also looking forward to hearing the San Antonio band, Johnny P. and the Wiseguys, a group that will bring some original songs and sounds to the evening. “I like to mix up things a bit and we like to support local talent,” he said.

 Altogether, about 20 artists will appear on stage during the 2022 fest.

The Balcones Heights Jazz Festival started in 1994 with six concerts featuring mostly local and regional performers, explained Munoz. “Then we went down to five and four weeks. That was done in order to bring some bigger, nationally known names to perform without increasing the budget for the fest, he said. “The idea was to bring in bigger crowds.”

No festival took place in 2020 but there were two concerts last year, one in July and one at Christmas time, with nationally-known acts performing “since those are the ones that people really come out to see.”

The festival is co-produced by the City of Balcones Heights, the Wonderland of the Americas Mall and iHeartmedia, and is mostly supported by hotel-occupancy taxes with help from a few sponsors, including Brooks BBQ, explained Nastasi.

Traditionally, jazz lovers try to stake a place for themselves on the hill overlooking the lagoon, sometimes positioning their chairs days in advance, said Nastasi. Theft of chairs has not been a problem said the Public Affairs director.

As for him, he will not be sitting down to just enjoy the music. Instead, he will be up on the hill monitoring everything taking place below, to make sure everything works as expected. “I move around from one vantage point to another to make sure that everything is optimal, he said, “and there’s a breeze up there.”
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July 15 and July 29, 7:30 p.m., “rain or shine”; free, including free parking at the mall; Food and beverage vendors will be on site, and the Food Court inside the mall will also remain open. No outside food allowed.