Just back from Cordova, Alaska, Marshall Hawkins, the music director for the 21st-annual Jazz in Pines, is relaxed and ready. While he played some bluegrass, Hawkins was still ambassador for the true American music genre — jazz. And the jazz festival will be a showcase for this musical genre, and Hawkins, his friends and his…

Drop into a Starbucks and there’s a pretty good chance you’ll run across something invented by Clay Alexander, who graduated from Idyllwild Arts Academy in 1994. Nearly 4,600 Starbucks stores carry the temperature-controlled Ember Ceramic Mug (named by Time magazine as one of the best inventions of 2017), and about a thousand stores carry the Ember Travel Mug.

The performers for the 21st Idyllwild Jazz in the Pines, Aug. 16 and 17, have been announced. “This is the return of Marshall Hawkins,” said Anne Finch, chair of the popular jazz festival. “It’s a tribute. I’m thrilled.” Many of the performers are either Idyllwild Arts alumni or students of the renowned jazz performer and…