The Half Moon Bay Wine & Jazz Festival features some of California’s finest wineries. We believe some of the best wine in the world comes from California, and we hope you’ll come sample them for yourself. When you arrive, you’ll get a commemorative stemless wine glass and an event wristband – then you’ll be free to explore the many winemakers that will line Half Moon Bay’s historic Main Street.
(Confirmed participants below, this list will expand as the event draws closer)
It’s an honor to bring some of the finest jazz musicians in the world downtown for the Half Moon Bay Wine & Jazz Festival. Appearing on the Main Stage are percussionist and vocalist Jesús Diaz Y Su QBA, Marcus Shelby Nontet performing a special program celebrating Miles Davis, Stella Heath with a tribute to Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf, and jazz flutist Rabiah Kabir, a rising star in the Bay Area jazz scene.
Havana-born percussionist and vocalist Jesús Diaz arrived in the US in 1980, quickly making the Bay Area the home base for a stellar career. Renowned for collaborations with top global artists, Diaz enriches the music scene with his unique fusion of traditional Afro-Cuban sounds, jazz, and funk, also known as Timba.
A QBA performance is an unmissable, high-energy experience—bring your dancing shoes and an open heart.
In celebration of the centennial anniversary of trumpeter Miles Davis, the Marcus Shelby Nonet will perform a special program titled Birth of the Cool Revisited, which will be music performed in its original instrumentation from the groundbreaking Miles Davis recording Birth of the Cool (1949). The album was the composite work of a young innovative genius at the beginning of his long and storied career, surrounded and supported by a group of forward thinking musicians, composers, and arrangers. Birth of the Cool remains one of the most endearing recordings in the history of music—let alone jazz.
Birth of the Cool Revisited is part of a year-long celebration of the centennial birthdate of trumpeter Miles Davis in 2026.
The Marcus Shelby Nonnet is made up of 9 master musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area:
Trumpet: Mike OlmosAlto Sax: Tony PeeblesBaritone Sax: Melecio MagdaluyoHorn: Heidi TrefethenTrombone: Remee AshleyTuba: Jonathan SeiberlichPiano: Greg JacobsDrums: Jemal RamirezBass: Marcus Shelby
All of these artists are part of the Marcus Shelby New Orchestra, which has 5 recordings, including “Port Chicago”, “Harriet Tubman”, “Soul of the Movement”, “Transitions” and “The Lights”.
Both born in 1915, Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf came from different countries and sang in different languages, yet their lives shared striking parallels. Each rose from difficult beginnings to become one of the defining voices of the 20th century, transforming personal hardship into music of remarkable honesty and emotional power.
In From Billie Holiday to Edith Piaf, Stella Heath connects these two extraordinary artists through their songs, stories, and enduring influence, backed by a dynamic band that moves seamlessly between jazz and French chanson.
Travel across cultures, styles, and decades—guided by music that continues to speak clearly, deeply and with emotional intensity.
Singing since the age of eight, Stella feels wholly blessed to be able to express herself through music and song, and to carry forth the torch of Jazz Music that she loves so dearly. She grew up in the North San Francisco Bay Area, steeped in her mother’s eclectic music collection; some of her early musical influences were Louis Armstrong, Edith Piaf, Buena Vista Social Club, Billie Holiday, Tom Waits, Bod Dylan and Ella Fitzgerald.
Heath’s early training was in acting. She studied at Interlochen Arts Academy and later at Syracuse University, where she earned degrees in Acting and Cultural Geography. After graduating she moved to New York City and worked in theatre, performing in primarity Shakespeare productions and musicals. During this time she reconnected with jazz through legendary Harlem pianist Marjorie Eliot’s weekly parlor concerts.
After returning to California in 2014, Heath began performing full time and founded the eclectic gypsy-jazz inspired group Bandjango Collectif, blending French jazz manouche, New Orleans swing, and global folk influences. In 2019 she debuted The Billie Holiday Project, a historically centered concert program exploring the life, music, and cultural legacy of Billie Holiday. The project quickly gained traction, performing at listening venues and concert halls across the Bay Area and touring nationally.
Heath has since developed several historically informed jazz programs that combine music with storytelling, including Stella Meets Nat: Celebrating the Early Nat “King” Cole Trio, From Billie Holiday to Edith Piaf, Unsung Standards, and Stella Swings Ella. Her debut album For Billie, releasing May 15, 2026 on Matterhorn Records, grew out of the touring Billie Holiday Project and was supported by a Chamber Music America grant.
In addition to performing and leading ensembles, Heath serves as Education Coordinator for the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, where she works to bring jazz and cultural music education into public schools and communities throughout Sonoma County. She has a deep love for Jazz and its history, and believes it should be an integral part of American childhood curriculum.
Rabiah Kabir is a Bay Area jazz flutist whose expressive playing and thoughtful storytelling expand the boundaries of what jazz can be. Drawing on a rich musical upbringing in Berkeley—where sounds ranging from Charles Mingus to Erik B. & Rakim filled the family kitchen—Kabir creates music that is meditative, contemplative, and deeply personal.
A Stanford graduate and award-winning scholar, her debut album Jezebel: Rewritten explores themes of Black womanhood and feminism within jazz history, blending artistry with powerful cultural reflection. Kabir’s performances invite audiences into a soundscape shaped by the vibrant and diverse musical community of the Bay Area.
Rabiah Kabir is a Jazz flute player who uses her instrument, skill in storytelling and unique style to bend the expectations of what “Jazz” music really is.
Born and raised in the East Bay, Rabiah draws from her lived experience as a mixed Black woman to create music that is meditative, contemplative and conceptual. For her, musical memory begins in the kitchen, with her dad playing the sounds of Charles Mingus, Phillip Glass, Erik B. & Rakim, Dead Can Dance, Toots and the Maytals, Compay Segundo and Natacha Atlas (to name a few), as he cooked dinner in their Berkeley home.
As she dived into the Bay Area Jazz scene, she noticed how few women surrounded her, a problem that has plagued Jazz since its inception at the turn of the 20th century. Her debut album, “Jezebel: Rewritten” and related Honors Thesis paper from Stanford University, “The Jezebel Flute”, explores themes of Black womanhood and feminism, a core part of Jazz history often overlooked. She hopes the project carves a new place for scholarship surrounding flute players, power and Black feminist artistic expression. Her thesis, winner of the 2025 Stanford University George Fredrickson award, is published on Stanford’s Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity department page. The album,“Jezebel: Rewritten” is available for streaming on October 24, 2025.
Rabiah has had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with artists like Murray Low, Zheniia, José Andrés, Taleen, Jesús Díaz and Edgardo Cambon. She is unbelievably grateful for the vibrant and diverse musical community of the Bay Area and strives to celebrate its influence in her music.
The Half Moon Bay Wine & Jazz Festival is grateful to Marcus Shelby for his extraordinary leadership and vision as our Artistic Director. His deep knowledge of jazz, rich experience as a composer and bandleader, and unwavering commitment to excellence have been instrumental in shaping the festival’s musical identity.
Marcus Anthony Shelby is a composer, bassist, bandleader, and educator who currently lives in San Francisco, California. His work focuses on the history, present, and future of African American lives, social movements, and music education.
In 1990, Marcus Shelby received the Charles Mingus Scholarship to attend Cal Arts and study composition with James Newton and bass with Charlie Haden. Currently, Shelby is the Artistic Director of Healdsburg Jazz, an artist in residence with the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, and a past resident artist with the San Francisco Jazz Festival and the Healdsburg Jazz Festival.
Shelby has composed several oratorios and suites including “Harriet Tubman”, “Beyond the Blues: A Prison Oratorio”, “Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”, “Black Ball: The Negro Leagues and the Blues”, “Green and Blues”, and a children’s opera “Harriet’s Spirit” produced by Opera Parallel 2018. Shelby also composed the score and performed in Anna Deavere Smith’s Off Broadway Play and HBO feature film “Notes from the Field” (2019). Shelby is also the voice of Ray Gardener in the Oscar winning Disney Pixar film “SOUL” 2020. Shelby has also worked with a range of artists including Angela Y. Davis’ “Blues Legacies and Black Feminism” (2019), W. Kamau Bell (“1000% Me”), Joanna Haigood’s “Dying While Black and Brown” (2014), Margo Hall’s “Bebop Baby” (2013) and “Sonny’s Blues” (2008), the Oakland Ballet’s “Ella” The SF Girl Choir (2013), The Oakland Youth Chorus (2014), and many other productions over the past 23 years. Shelby has served on the San Francisco Arts Commission since 2013.
With all of that wine tasting and music, you’re going to get hungry, so we’ve assembled a food court where you can purchase food from some of our favorite local eateries. It’s a wine and jazz festival, but if wine isn’t your thing, or you’re just craving a cold one to wash down that delicious food from the food court, beer and cider will be available for purchase from a some great local breweries and cideries!
(Confirmed participants below, this list will expand as the event draws closer)
⏰ Early Entry (11 AM)
Get a head start on the festival before the crowds.
🍷 Premier Wine Tastings
Savor rare, highly curated selections, hand-picked for this exclusive setting.
🥖 Gourmet Pairings & Passed Delicacies
Indulge in an ever-flowing selection of exquisite bites, including Smoked salmon blini with crème fraîche & caviar, Braised short rib atop polenta cake, a variety of artisanal bruschetta, crisp, tender calamari, and many more chef-crafted delights.
🕊️ A Tranquil Escape
Step away from the bustle and unwind in the villa’s open-air courtyard, where the warmth of flickering fireplaces and fresh coastal air set the perfect ambiance for conversation and relaxation in a more private setting.
👑 A True VIP Experience
Whether you’re mingling with fellow wine and jazz lovers, savoring an extra pour, or simply soaking in the elegance of It’s Italia, this is your space to indulge, unwind, and celebrate in style.
🎟️ VIP tickets are available for $175 (includes general admission wine tasting). Availability is limited—secure your VIP experience now and treat yourself to a festival day unlike any other!
| 10:45 AM | 🎟️ VIP Check In Begins |
| 11:00 AM | ⭐️ VIP Lounge Opens |
| 11:15 AM | 🎟️ General Admission Check In Begins |
| 11:30 AM – 12:30PM | 🎵 Rabiah Kabir (Main Stage) |
| 12:00 PM | 🍷 Wine Tasting Begins |
| 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | 🎵 Stella Heath (Main Stage) |
| 2:30 PM– 3:30 PM | 🎵 Marcus Shelby Nonet: Birth of the Cool (Main Stage) |
| 4:00 PM– 5:00 PM | 🎵 Jesús Diaz Y Su QBA (Main Stage) |
| 4:00 PM | ⭐️ VIP Lounge Closes |
| 5:00 PM | 🛑 Event Ends |
The Half Moon Bay Wine & Jazz Festival wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of our sponsors and community partners. Sponsorship opportunities are still available for this year’s event, use our contact form to request more information.
