The Oasis Smooth Jazz Awards were handed out in April at the Seabreeze Jazz Festival in Destin, Florida. Smooth Jazz Fans had voted for months on-line, In categories like Best Brass Smooth Jazz Artist. Best Smooth Jazz Saxophonist. Best Smooth Jazz Guitarist. Under the Category of Best Jazz Festival in America The Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival WON. October's JazzTrax Festival VOTED the Honor of BEST JAZZ FESTIVAL IN AMERICA.
This unexpected Honor was the JazzTrax Moment of the Year. Along with September when KCET Public Television in Los Angeles aired a 'History of Aviation on Catalina Island' to which JazzTrax contributed full series JazzTrax Festival tickets for the program's pledge drive. That special which aired numerous times in early Fall, immediately returned JazzTrax ticket sales not only back to normal from Summer's bad national economic doldrums but quite obviously contributed to one of the biggest October Ticket Walk-Ups in the festival's 25 year history. A Smooth Jazz History
who's length has now eclipsed even the time period of the Big Band's of the Avalon Ballroom's 30's and 40's. Thank you John Mazur and KCET.
One final added moment came on one of the 2012 Pre Ticket Order forms. A festival goer, saying, "we used to go to jazz festivals all over the place but now we just come to Catalina Island because there simply isn't any other festival like it." Thank You.
