Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge – the big band that has garnered seven Grammy nominations and been called “One of the best large jazz ensembles in the country” by the New York Music Daily while collecting rave reviews from music critics in over 30 countries – celebrate their 30th anniversary in a big way this coming September!  Hosted by the Ocala’s Reilly Arts Center, the Tampa Jazz Club (performing 2 shows in the New Tampa Performing Arts Center), and Pilar’s Jazz Club in Winter Garden (just outside of Orlando) – the band embarks on their first Central Florida tour in over 3 and a half years.  Immediately following they head straight into the studio to record their 8th album!

Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge

Tuscawilla Park

On May 19, 2024, Pensacola Symphony Orchestra will host Jazz Brunch to Support Beyond the Stage, an event to raise funds in support of PSO’s community engagement and music education initiatives, and we want you to join us! This exciting event will be held at the Pensacola Country Club and feature live entertainment with a featured performance from New York’s Ike Sturm Quartet featuring Laila Biali and Sara Caswell. During this celebration of music, we will also recognize the long-term support of Nan and Jim DeStafney, who will serve as honorary chairs. This event is chaired by Marte Picker.

Jazz Brunch

Pensacola Country Club

The series concludes on March 2 with another local debut by the Oscar Peñas Quartet, featuring Oscar Peñas on guitar, Sara Caswell on violin, Motohito Fukushima on electric bass, and Richie Barshay on drums. Barcelona-native Peñas has released four jazz albums with Grammy winners Esperanza Spalding, Gil Goldstein, and Paquito D’Rivera. His latest recording, yet to be released, features legendary bassist Ron Carter. Downbeat wrote, “Oscar Peñas is a poet,” celebrating his “ability to bring together the strands of a broad cultural education—one encompassing classical studies as a teenager in Barcelona and jazz degrees at both Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory—in a seamless synthesis of musical idioms.” Esperanza Spalding commented, “Oscar is a beautiful player with a totally unique sense of sound and color in his writing.” And Gil Goldstein wrote, “Oscar Peñas has found a way to merge traditional Spanish music with jazz in a way that seems totally natural and fresh.” This concert is made possible with the support of Jazz Road, a national initiative of South Arts, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Sara Caswell

Events

Past events

Sep 24, 2026

Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge · Reilly Arts Center

May 19, 2024

Jazz Brunch · Pensacola Symphony Orchestra

About

Sara Caswell hasn't added a bio