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Leave it to the folks in San Jose to put the "festive" back in "festival" as more than 1,000 artists and 100,000 music lovers converge for a weekend of fantastic musical diversity, tradition, and innovation at SummerFest, aka the 2012 San Jose Jazz Festival, Friday, August 10 through Sunday, August 12, in the heart of downtown San Jose.

The hottest weekend of the summer features a stellar lineup of international music stars and new discoveries playing straight-ahead jazz, blues, salsa, Latin and more on 11 stages and venues over three days. The annual festival transforms the heart of the downtown area with grooves, food and family fun.

Headlining artists for the 2012 San Jose Jazz Festival include The Jazz Crusaders (with original members Joe Sample, Wayne Henderson and Wilton Felder), trumpeter Terence Blanchard, smooth jazz saxophonist Boney James, songstress Dianne Reeves, sax sensation Tia Fuller, and Ivan Neville's New Orleans-flavored R&B/funk ensemble Dumpstaphunk.

There's also plenty of homegrown talent gracing the multiple stages all weekend long: Adam Theis and Subharmonic; singers Alexa Weber Morales, Joyce Randolph, and Sandra Marlowe (the latter performing with the Larry Dunlap Quartet); pianist Murray Low and his Mobius Trio; Nate Pruitt and Primary Colors; the Red Dragon Quartet featuring John Worley and Oscar Pangilinan; Kat Parra's Latin World Ensemble; guitarist Ed Johnson's Novo Tempo (in a tribute to Ivan Lins); and the 18-member Full Spectrum Jazz Big Band.

There's also something of a family affair this year, as Sandy Cressman leads her Homenagem Brasileira ensemble tribute to Brazilian jazz, and New York-based daughter Natalie (a triple threat: vocalist, trombonist and composer) performs with the Secret Garden band.

(We're not sure if papa Jeff will be performing somewhere around the festival during the weekend)

Mix in some of the best high school students in the Bay Area, a strong dose of Latin jazz, a bit of the blues, Morris Day & The Time, the Spinners, and the Lula Washington Contemporary Dance Foundation with Marcus L. Miller and his Freedom Jazz Movement... it just doesn't get any better!

And the ticket prices are certainly affordable: $45 for the entire weekend ($15 for kids), and $15-20 for one-day passes. Of course, San Jose Jazz members get in free.

Want even more music? The festival lights up downtown San Jose with great music on Friday and Saturday night beginning at 6 pm. There are no cover charges, and all venues are within walking distance of each other, just outside the festival grounds. Artists and venues have not yet been announced.

Here's the full schedule for this year's jazz festival:

Jump down the page to: Saturday, Aug. 11  |  Sunday, Aug. 12

For tickets or more information, please visit the San Jose Jazz Festival website at jazzfest.sanjosejazz.org. Tickets are available for purchase online, and at the festival.