If you don't go to Park City this weekend, you don't know jack.

I was going to write the cliché "you don't know jazz," but there is much more than just jazz at this weekend's Park City Jazz Festival.

Festival officials are bringing in a variety of nationally known musicians, including the Blind Boys of Alabama, Blues Traveler and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - none known for being jazz bands - but also local jazz bands like the Park City All-Star Band and the Crescent Super Band.

Members of the Blind Boys, Blues Traveler and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy talked to The Salt Lake Tribune about this year's festival.

Blind Boys of Alabama » The group, performing Aug. 24, formed in 1939 at the Ala

bama Institute for Negro Blind. Jimmy Carter is the only original singer left, but newer members have reinvigorated the venerable gospel group, which won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album every year between 2002 and 2005.

Drummer Ricky McKinnie, 56, has been blind since he developed glaucoma at age 16.

"I'm not blind," he said. "I just can't see. . . . I may have lost my sight, but I haven't lost my direction."

The group's latest release is "Down in New Orleans," a gospel album recorded with some of the Crescent City's most accomplished R & B and jazz musicians, including the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

"If [an audience member] comes to a show feeling sad, the Blind Boys are going to make you glad," McKinnie said.

Blues Traveler » Tonight's headlining act has been around since 1987, with its biggest success coming in the mid-1990s when "Run-around" and "Hook" plunged the bluesy jam band into the mainstream. While it hasn't matched that success, Blues Traveler maintains a devoted following.

Keyboardist Ben Wilson joined the band in 2000, after the death of bassist Bobby Sheehan. Wilson said the band wanted a delineation between its first incarnation and the new one, so he was hired as its first and only keyboardist.

Wilson got the job after answering an online ad. The band flew him and five other keyboardists in for an audition and "hired me on the spot."

"There's been ups and downs, but we've been honest, and people stick with you if you do what got you there," Wilson said.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy » The group formed in 1989 and revived contemporary swing in "Swingers" and other films. Its biggest hits were "Go Daddy-O," "You and Me and the Bottle Makes Three Tonight" and "Mr. Pinstripe Suit."

Trumpeter Glen "The Kid" Marhevka said Jon Favreau saw the band perform every Wednesday when he was writing the "Swingers" screenplay. Favreau, who later directed "Iron Man," told Marhevka he wrote the film with the band in mind. When the movie premiered, "it was huge for us," Marhevka said. "We could go to any city in the U.S. and they knew us."

The swing band's horn section will teach one of the festival's free clinics at noon on Aug. 23. "I've been teaching trumpet since I've been about 15," Marhevka said.

David Burger writes about popular music. Contact him at dburger@sltrib.com or 801-257-8620.

Park City Jazz Festival

When » Today at 3:30 p.m., Aug. 23 at 2 p.m., Aug. 24 at 1 p.m.

Where » Deer Valley Resort, 2250 Deer Valley Drive, Park City

Tickets » Each day general admission is $45. Children 12 and younger are free. $25 general admission tickets for locals (residents of Summit and Wasatch counties) are available in limited quantities. Call 435-940-1362 or go online at www.parkcityjazz.org for tickets.

Lineup of performers

Friday, Aug. 22 » 3:30 p.m. Doors open; 4:30 p.m. Pat Carnahan Quartet; 5:30 p.m. Joshua Redman; 7 p.m. Park City All-Star Band with special guest Christian McBride; 8 p.m. Blues Traveler

Sat., Aug. 23 » 2 p.m. Doors open; 3 p.m. Little Big Band; 4 p.m. Anna Wilson; 5:15 p.m. Los Hombres C; 6:45 p.m. Crescent Super Band with special guest Stefon Harris; 7:30 p.m. Student scholarship and merit awards; 7:45 p.m. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Sun., Aug. 24 » 1 p.m. Doors open; 1:30 p.m. Four Corners; 2:30 p.m. Papa Grows Funk; 3:45 p.m. Blind Boys of Alabama; 5 p.m. Javon Jackson with Les McCann; 6:15 p.m. The Rippingtons

Clinic schedule

All clinics are free and held Aug. 23, at Ecker Hill Middle School, 2465 Kilby Road, Park City. You may preregister by calling 435-940-1362.

10 a.m. » Bill Summers (percussion) presents: "Clave Is the Key," Ecker Hill Auditorium; Christian Sands (piano) presents: Musical Ingredients for Success," Clinic Room 1; Maurice Brown (trumpet) presents: "Hip to Bop: Combining Modern Elements with the Traditional," Clinic Room 2

11 a.m. » Stefon Harris (mallets) presents: "Evolution: Developing a Musical Vocabulary," Ecker Hill Auditorium; Javon Jackson (sax) presents: "Improve Your Improv," Clinic Room 1; Lars Yorgason (voice) presents: "Understanding Vocal Jazz Stylings," Clinic Room 2

12 p.m. » Christian McBride (bass) presents: "Say It Loud: Preparing to Perform With Confidence," Ecker Hill Auditorium; Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Horns (horns) present: "The Art of Section Playing," Clinic Room 1