KCSM Jazz 91.1 celebrated its summer concert festival on campus on Saturday. It was the 20th year of filling the area in front of the library with great jazz, blues, samba et al on the first Saturday of June. I always put it on my calendar right away. We had some wind and a chilly cloud cover for about an hour in the mid-afternoon, but otherwise bright sunny and fun.

Young Nathan Tokanaga from Belmont is back from his freshman year in NYC and has formed a new quartet for the summer. He’s a rising star– not just in Bay Area jazz– and has added the tenor sax to his talents. Long-timers Tuck & Patti followed. They’ve been playing for more than 40 years, and it showed. The Latin session followed with Roger Glenn’s Ensemble with Ray Obiedo sitting in. Roger claimed Ray taught Carlos Santana everything he knows and the guitar tone was familiar.

Things picked up steam with a tribute to Miles Davis on his 100th birthday from a group assembled for this show from top shelf musicians called “Miles Smiles” featuring Essiet Essiet, David Sanchez, Edward Simon, Eddie Henderson, and KCSM DJ and drummer Akira Tana. It doesn’t get much better than that, but the closer more than held her own. 35-year-old saxophonist Vanessa Collier is now out on her own after touring with Joe Louis Walker for years and she brought the event to a rousing, blues-driven close. Here she is.