Take a little Latin jazz, some hot trombone, a dash of saxophone and a pinch of local talent and what do you get?

The Seventh Annual Penn State Jazz Festival, of course.

At about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Eisenhower Auditorium will swing and jump to the sounds of three nationally famous jazz acts, as well as a strong slate of performers from Happy Valley.

The free show is sponsored by the Penn State Jazz Club.

Opening the festival will be a group composed of members of State College's Chasin' It Straight, a band which has had success playing local bars and clubs.

Bassist Saadi Zain (graduate-acoustics) is excited that the festival is in Eisenhower this year.

"Last year it was in the HUB Ballroom on a Wednesday and we didn't get a large turnout," he said.

The group, also featuring singer Lamont O'Neil (graduate-linguistics), does "straight-ahead and standard jazz," Zain said.

The headline acts are the Ted Nash Quartet, Salsamba and the Robin Eubanks Quartet.

The Nash Quartet plays classic jazz and features his saxophone. Nash has appeared with Stan Getz, Ella Fitzgerald and Lionel Hampton.

Salsamba, a Pittsburgh quintet which plays Cuban, Brazilian and Carribean style arrangements has appeared with Tito Puente and Stanley Jordan.

Eubanks, a saxophone player, has received praise for his work with the Art Blakey Group. A recent review of his album Karma in the Boston Globe commented that he is "a young, spirited talent with the savvy and guts to try all sorts of musical experiments and make them work."

The festival gives University students the chance to expose themselves to different types of music, Zain said.

"At places like Spats and Stoney's it's only a small percentage of people who pay attention to us when we improvise," he said. "The festival is a chance for us to play where we will have a chance to interact with an audience that appreciates what's going on."