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Balcones Heights Does All That Jazz

A long-running jazz festival kicks off later this week.  It’s the Balcones Heights Jazz Festival.  And Q101.9's David Munoz says the quality of musicians is quite high.

"We bring in world class jazz artists. Basically smooth jazz. We've had a couple of straight-ahead, but mainly smooth jazz.  We have 2500-3000 people out there on each of the Fridays. This year of course it's going to be all four Fridays in July."  

It's held outside at the northwest corner of Wonderland of the Americas Mall, in a bowl-shaped amphitheater.

"We have a stage that is on the mall side of that man-made pond. Up above the grassy berm area we have a row of all of our vendor booths. They'll be selling food and beverage.  Ice chests and coolers are not allowed."

Seating is on that grass, but you're welcome to bring blankets and chairs.

"People have learned to bring out a lawn chair literally a week in advance. And they leave the chair there, and it stays there all week long; nobody bothers it."

Munoz says it will be hot, but attendees have air conditioning, always just a few steps away.

"Yes, people can go inside the mall to buy food and beverage there as well. The restrooms are located inside the mall; we don't have any outdoor porta-potties."

The month-long festival starts this Friday.

"Friday, July 7th our headliner is a very well-known name in smooth jazz. He's a trumpeter by the name of Rick Braun. Opening the show [at 7:30PM] is a guitarist who's not known for jazz but he can play some jazz. He'll do some rock-n-blues--it's Ruben V."

There's one more thing you should know before going:

"The price is right. It's free."

Find more on the Balcones Heights Jazz Festival here

Jack Morgan can be reached at jack@tpr.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii