![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Christian-Vela-soundcheck-5.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe kid who once rode his bike to the downtown jazz festival each year will now run the show.<\/p>\n
Jul 6, 2026<\/p>\n
Updated 10:50 am PT<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Christian Vela, seen here coordinating a soundcheck, has been named the new artistic director of San Jose Jazz. \u00a0(Courtesy San Jose Jazz)<\/p>\n
As a freewheeling kid growing up in East San Jose<\/a> in the late 1990s, Christian Vela anticipated each San Jose Jazz Festival with a mounting excitement that he can still recall vividly.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the feeling you get the last day of school, or right before Christmas, then I\u2019d get on my bike and ride down to the festival,\u201d he recalls, still sounding amazed at seeing musicians he loved on the same downtown plaza stage where he\u2019d skateboard. \u201cOne year, I ended up getting backstage and took a photo with Poncho Sanchez, who was a hero of mine. I couldn\u2019t believe it!\u201d<\/p>\n With today\u2019s announcement<\/a> that Vela will take over as artistic director of that very same festival \u2014 now known as Summer Fest<\/a>, which from Aug. 7\u20139 brings dozens of jazz, blues, R&B, Latin and soul acts to downtown San Jos\u00e9 \u2014 he\u2019s made a full-circle journey back to the organization that shaped his love of music.<\/p>\n Vela\u2019s already made an impact since taking over as San Jose Jazz<\/a>\u2019s production manager in 2024, and his appointment last year as associate artistic director. He steps into the lead curator role in September, filling the big shoes of Bruce Labadie, the pervasively influential South Bay music programmer who\u2019s booked Summer Fest since its inception in 1990.<\/p>\n At 45, Vela brings a wealth of experience to the position \u2014 and not just from riding his bike to the festival each year as a teenager. He served as SFJAZZ<\/a>\u2019s senior production manager for 11 years, from 2013-2024, followed by a year-long stint as COO of the Presidio Theatre. After coming back home, he\u2019s spent the past two years under Labadie\u2019s wing at San Jose Jazz.<\/p>\n \u201cChristian knows how to work with artists,\u201d says Labadie, whose half-century career encompasses booking three dozen venues and festivals across the state, including last summer\u2019s Monterey Jazz Festival. \u201cHe\u2019s involved in all kinds of other things that San Jose Jazz is doing, like the Break Room, but Summer Fest is a different level. I cautioned him, it\u2019s non-stop work.\u201d<\/p>\n Judging by his track record at the Break Room, an intimate venue that San Jose Jazz opened during the pandemic, Vela has already brought in a trove of new ideas. A self-described vinylphile, he added artist residencies into the Break Room mix, which includes taking musicians record hunting before they spin albums and discuss their formative influences for an audience.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s actually very selfish, bringing together all the things that I like,\u201d Vela says. \u201cMy partner and I are into vinyl \u2014 she spins as DJ Weekend Girl \u2014 and I wanted to think of a unique way to introduce a vinyl night.\u201d Another idea of Vela\u2019s was having the resident artist join an all-ages jam session that takes place on First Fridays<\/a>.<\/p>\n One of four children born in San Jos\u00e9 to parents from Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez, Vela got his start as a musician playing guitar in church. When a group of friends at Independence High School gained traction with the ska band Firme, he became their tour manager. As the keeper of the band\u2019s van, he ended up providing transportation for Manu Chao, and struck up a friendship with the polyglot French-Spanish star.<\/p>\n If he was helping forge a new venue identity at SFJAZZ, he\u2019s taking on a very different role at San Jose Jazz, which for decades has maintained one of the West Coast\u2019s premiere festivals by building upon San Jos\u00e9\u2019s downtown resources, like the Tech Museum, Montgomery Theater and expansive plaza.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1986_Bruce_Labadie_with_Nancy_Wilson.jpg\")
San Jose Jazz founder Bruce Labadie, at right, with singer Nancy Wilson in 1986. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Christian-and-Chucho-1.jpg\")
Christian Vela, at left, with the Cuban pianist Chucho Vald\u00e9s. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SJZ-SF_Kamasi-Washington_photo-by-Grason-Littles.jpg\")
Saxophonist Kamasi Washington performs as part of Summer Fest in downtown San Jos\u00e9. <\/p>\n