Say what you want about the headliners, but there’s jazz in the Clearwater Jazz Holiday lineup. And while you’re not getting big names like Edison Award-winner Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, a giant like Herbie Hancock or even a fusion act like Snarky Puppy, the 40-year-old festival does have Trombone Shorty plus a James Suggs-led Young Lions session, a set from students at the University of Miami’s Frost School and one by Ruth Eckerd Hall’s youth jazz band.

You can try and argue for more jazz artists on the lineup, but it feels like Clearwater Jazz Holiday understands the economic challenges that play into pulling that off in Tampa Bay. It’s cool to see the party kick off its fourth decade of existence — because we’re all better off with the Jazz Holiday, than we are without it.

Clearwater Jazz Holiday w/Alison Krauss/Chicago/Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue/Boyz II Men/more. Thurs. Oct. 17-Sun. Oct. 20. Coachman Park, Clearwater. clearwaterjazz.com.