Chocolate, wine, and all that jazz sweetens up the Festival of Arts this summer! On Thursday nights, indulge your senses at the “Art, Jazz, Wine and Chocolate” series.

Wine and Chocolate Pairings: Sample a wide variety of Kendall-Jackson wines expertly selected to compliment and enhance the nuanced flavor of high-end chocolates from XAN Confections. Cost: $20 (does not include Festival of Arts admission or reserved seating)

Over 15 years since first dazzling the contemporary jazz world with his breakthrough 1998 set Velvet, Chris Standring still revels in his restless creativity, discovering fresh, freewheeling and innovative ways to share his passion for groove, melody and dynamic guitarisma. 

Celebrating the remarkable milestone of album number Ten – an ever evolving catalog that includes the 2011 re-issue of his 1989 first indie recording Main Course (The Early Tapes) – he’s still got the cool, trippy sonics happening via a colorful fusing of live instrument and DJ sounds. But this time, while keeping his melodies, rhythms and arrangements as infectious as ever, the British born, L.A. based hit maker fashions them as the vehicle for him to unleash his deeper chops as a powerhouse jazz player and improviser. Soloing with a wild abandon he’s been holding back way too long, the longtime Benedetto endorsee introduces us to the latest love of his musical life, his new, gorgeous white Benedetto Bambino archtop jazz guitar.