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<\/a>The late James Moody. (Photo by Dino Perrucci\/Courtesy of San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival)<\/p>\nWhen the life and music of legendary saxophonist James Moody were celebrated with a concert in New York City earlier this year, Moody\u2019s widow Linda felt that a similar tribute needed to take place in San Diego. <\/p>\n
After all, it\u2019s the city where the late jazz legend \u2013 he died in 2010 at 85 \u2013 lived the last 20 years of his life.<\/p>\n
So Linda Moody reached out to Daniel Atkinson, the executive director of the San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival<\/a> (SDTJ Jazz) to let him know that she felt a celebration of Moody, who would have been 100 years old this year, was in order.<\/p>\n \u201cI absolutely, 100% agreed with her,\u201d Atkinson told Times of San Diego.<\/p>\n So this weekend\u2019s annual SDTJ Jazz event features a Moody tribute band called Moody @ 100, featuring the musicians David S\u00e1nchez, John Clayton, Gerald Clayton, Lewis Nash, Holly Hofmann and Gilbert Castellanos.<\/p>\n \u201cThis band is truly an all-star, one-time-only ever experience, to see these six musicians together on stage, devoted to honoring a legacy of this wonderful San Diego musician,\u201d Atkinson said. \u201cThat is a must-see, without question.\u201d<\/p>\n The performance is set for Saturday during the middle day of the second annual International Jazz Festival, which opens Thursday in San Diego\u2019s East Village, then continues Saturday in Escondido and Sunday in Tijuana.<\/p>\n The cross-border aspect makes it a one-of-a-kind event among the region\u2019s concerts and music events.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know of other jazz festivals anywhere that are actually doing this. To actually be in two major cities sitting next to one another across a border like this and communicating and cooperating on a cultural event in jazz, this is pretty unique,\u201d Atkinson said.<\/p>\n In addition to Moody @ 100, other artists scheduled to perform across the three days include Arturo O\u2019Farrill and the Afro Latin Ensemble, Latin-American jazz singer Lucia, the Ivan Trujillo Ensemble, the Irving Flores Afro-Cuban Jazz Sextet and vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa, an Escondido native.<\/p>\n O\u2019Farrill and his ensemble are coming in from New York City to perform in conjunction with the Tijuana-based group Fandango Fronterizo Colectivo on Saturday at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido and Sunday in downtown Tijuana.<\/p>\n According to Atkinson, the festival\u2019s mix of local, regional and international talent is by design.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we\u2019re bringing artists in to our region from outside (San Diego and Baja California), we\u2019re also featuring some special projects by people who are what I think of as an essential personality in the (regional) music community,\u201d Atkinson said.<\/p>\n