Berkeley, its Wednesday Night big band provides free concerts every Thursday noon on Lower Sproul Plaza, its various units perform throughout the San Francisco Bay Area including area high schools, travel to collegiate jazz festivals, and perform overseas, and for many years it sponsored the annual Pacific Coast Jazz Festival.

The first concert of the then-named ASUC Jazz Ensembles was in May, 1968, an event heralded by an article in The Daily Californian.

The guest artist at the festival was vibist Gary Burton and the band performed on Friday, March 19.

In 1974, after the ensembles began hosting the Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival, the Wednesday Night Band won 3rd place, having performed on April 27.

The Wednesday Night Band embarked upon a four-week tour of Europe, playing several major jazz festivals in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Poland.

Visiting bands have performed either in evening concerts on the Berkeley campus or at the weekly Thursday noon-time venue in Lower Sproul Plaza.

The UC Jazz Ensembles expanded to include seven part-time instructors, creating the structure that remains in place.

Dr. David W. "Doc" Tucker (1929–2003) was the force behind the success of the UC Jazz Ensembles and is inextricably associated with it.

His responsibilities with the Cal Band included rehearsing, auditioning prospective new members, and directing on the football field opposite director James Berdahl.

The band faced continual financial hurdles, with minimal funding from the university and low staff salaries, but prospered and grew in influence and popularity in the campus community.

It continued to expand its programming, adding combos to the big bands and, beginning in 1974 sponsoring the Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival (PCCJF).

Under Tucker's guidance, the PCCJF, later called the Pacific Coast Jazz Festival because of its inclusion of competition among high school bands, became the largest collegiate jazz festival in the country in terms of number of student participants and number of musical groups.

Tucker directed the UC Jazz Ensembles until he retired in 1985 to pursue other interests, having mentored, befriended, supported, and provided performing as well as management opportunities for hundreds of musicians.

His student musicians remember "Doc" fondly, how he served as a mentor to many and always took time to advise, lend a hand, or just chat.

Berkeley, surprisingly to many high school students attracted to the campus mainly because of its academic renown, as a jazz education and performance center.

He also supports alumni of the program, providing, for example, liner notes for their recordings[8] The PCCJF proved to be an effective recruitment tool for U.C.

Such include pianist Michael Wolff, saxophonist former Associate Director Dave Le Febvre, and first trumpet Paul Giorsetto.

These include tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins (1977), The Crusaders (1977), trumpeter Freddy Hubbard, flutist Hubert Laws (1974), The Tonight Show drummer Ed Shaughnessy, pianist Patrice Rushen, pianist Bill Evans, pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines, trombonist Bill Watrous, the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band, alto saxophonist Richie Cole, who also performed with the band at the Rio Vista Jazz Festival in the 1970s, vocalist Bobby McFerrin (1982), bassist Christian McBride (1997), saxophonist Joe Lovano (also 1997), trumpeter Jon Faddis (1998), trombonist Slide Hampton (also 1998), bassist Jimmy Heath (also 1998!

In the 2000s, it was decided that the PCCJF required manpower that was no longer available among the staff and members, underscoring the value of the motivational skills, ambition, and dedication of Tucker.

These include pianist Michael Wolff, who has worked with Airto, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, Sonny Rollins, Cal Tjader, Jean-Luc Ponty, Cannonball Adderley, Herbie Mann, among others, was the musical director for many years for vocalist Nancy Wilson, and was the director of the house band for The Arsenio Hall Show; Andy Narell, a pianist with the UC Jazz Ensembles who was the first widely recognized jazz player on the steelpan or "steel drums"; pianist Susan Muscarella, the founder of the Jazzschool[9] in Berkeley; bass guitarist, who played bass trombone and tuba with UC Jazz Ensembles, Dave Meros; pianist Steve Carter;[10] saxophonist Dave Le Febvre; flutist Cheryl Pyle;[11] Chris Gillock and his blues group, Mr. G and the Mystery Band;[12] bassist Dave Kopf and Octobop;[8] drummer Scott Latham, currently residing in Japan where he has performed and recorded with, among others, Eric Miyashiro;[13] saxophonist Bill Aron of the San Francisco Saxophone Quartet;[14] drummer Kent Reed, who also performs in symphony orchestras; composer/arranger/valve trombonist Jules Rowell of the Jules Rowell Quintet; pianist Murray Low of the Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet;[15] guitarist Harold Hansen; trombonist and composer Nic Ten Broeck (a classmate at Berkeley High School with Michael Wolff); Jeff Zias of the Touch of Brass big band; trumpet Russ Button of the Horns A Plenty brass band;[16] vocalist and agent Linda Goldstein; college music educators Dave and Don Megill, and others.

Under the management of Sam Lind and the direction of Paul Siebel,[17] the Cal Alumni Big Band has rehearsed and performed at various Bay Area venues for more than two decades.

It regularly donates income derived from its frequent public performances toward support of UC Jazz programs.

The alumni club was formed in the 1980s, with George Gaebler one of the primary driving forces, to keep graduates and staff of U.C.

[18] Its goal is to support the work of the organization by acquiring private and corporate funding to purchase teaching materials, sheet music, instruments, studio equipment, and recordings for the Duke Ellington Memorial Library.