The West Coast"s answer to the Vanguard Orchestra in N.Y.C., the CJO has been playing Monday nights at Pearl"s in San Francisco for over 10 years. Led by saxophonist Alex Budman, the band features some of SF"s top musicians, composers and arrangers performing originals, and music from the foremost composers in the modern big band tradition: Thad Jones, Oliver Nelson, Frank Foster and Charles Mingus. They have performed at the Monterey Jazz Fest., the Fillmore Jazz Fest., Yoshi"s and more. "An incredible sound charged out of Pearl"s. I marched in and was met immediately with the glorious chaos that is the CJO - good God, these guys can play!" - San Francisco Examiner.