What’s better than a jazz ensemble led by a master musician? A jazz ensemble made up entirely of master musicians. Such is the case with the veteran all-star septet the Cookers, who perform this week at the 17th annual Healdsburg Jazz Festival.

Each distinctively talented member of the Cookers is a celebrated figure in his own right, with decades of experience. Saxophonist Billy Harper, bassist Cecil McBee, pianist George Cables, trumpeter Eddie Henderson and drummer Billy Hart have shared stages with legends like Herbie Hancock and Lee Morgan, played in groups since the mid-1960s and influenced generations of performers.

The Cookers are rounded out by relative youngsters David Weiss on trumpet and Donald Harrison on saxophone, innovators in nouveau swing and modern jazz. Together with the old-timers, they take their cues from the world of hard bop with improvisational brilliance and Coltrane-esque avant garde compositions.

The Cookers will be putting the fire to the pan and pushing the boundaries when they appear in Healdsburg, the headlining act of a weekend of varied acts that highlight everything from Latin rhythms to New Orleans–tinged brass. The Healdsburg Jazz Festival is happening now and runs through Sunday, June 7. The Cookers play Saturday, June 6, at the Raven Theater, 115 North St., Healdsburg. 7:30pm. $45–$65. 707.433.6335.

‘In 1968, I was an 18- year-old kid in Ohio who wished I could stroll through the Haight-Ashbury,” says San Rafael marketing guru Bruce Burtch, who helped provide us with our cover this week.

The painting is an original portrait of Jerry Garcia by legendary 1960s rocker Commander Cody. The painting will be part of a month-long fandango orchestrated by Burtch to celebrate rock icons in what we’re decreeing is the Summer of Jerry.

The event is called, naturally, San Rafael Rocks, and San Rafael will commence to rock in June. It will rock through July, thanks to Burtch, who has produced and curated a multi-platform celebration of the art of rock that includes the biggest-ever showing of art by the late Garcia (thanks to the good graces of the Jerry Garcia Foundation, which is overseen by the musician’s family). This is the first-ever project of the foundation in the United States, says Burtch.

The raison d’être goes beyond the celebration of a dearly departed icon with San Rafael roots: Burtch is raising money for a cause he’s passionate about, helping at-risk youth.

With the Fare Thee Well hoopla as backdrop, Burtch’s first move was to approach well-known musicians who are also noted visual artists, and get them to donate paintings to benefit DrawBridge, a Bay Area organization that connects youth-at-risk with art programs.

Now there’s an art show, a film festival, a street fair, a planned musical tribute to Garcia and a local webcast of the final Fare Thee Well Grateful Dead show.

The Art of Rock Legends kicks off June 12 and runs through July 24 at Artworks Downtown (1337 Fourth St., San Rafael). Along with seven Garcia artworks to be auctioned, Burtch has used his powers of persuasion to coax works into the San Rafael gallery from the likes of the Jefferson Airplane’s Marty Balin, Carlos Santana and Rolling Stone photographer Baron Wolman.

The Rock and Roll Film Festival unspools July 6–8 at the Rafael Theater (1118 Fourth St., San Rafael) and will emphasize films about the Grateful Dead and the Jer-Man. As a high-impact warmup show, on July 5, the Rafael Theater will webcast the last of the Fare Thee Well Dead shows from Soldier Field in Chicago.

A rock and roll Block Party in downtown San Rafael on July 11 will include all kinds of cool, vintage poster art from the folks at the Rock Poster Art Society.

And finally, the Fenix (919 Fourth St., San Rafael) is tentatively putting July 15 on the calendar for a musical event hosted by Merl Saunders Jr. Merl Jr. works at the theater and Merl Sr. was a musical collaborator with Garcia. Burtch says to expect “a very special guest” at this show, the details of which are still being hashed out.

For more info, go to sanrafaelrocks.com.