BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ANNOUNCES 2009 TANGLEWOOD JAZZ FESTIVAL, SEPTEMBER 4-6

The Boston Symphony Orchestra will present its annual Labor Day Weekend Tanglewood Jazz Festival September 4-September 6, 2009 at the Orchestra’s summer home in the Berkshire Hills in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Jazz greats highlighting this year’s festival include Paquito d’Rivera (pictured left), Regina Carter, Nnenna Freelon, Kenny Barron, Mulgrew Miller, John Pizzarelli, Jessica Molaskey, Kurt Elling, Harry Allen, Bucky Pizzarelli, Aaron Weinstein, Dave Holland, Steve Nelson, Chris Potter, Robin Eubanks, Antonio Hart, Gary Smulyan, Nate Smith, Alex Sipiagian, Jon Faddis, David Hazeltine, Wallace Roney, Sean Jones, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Harolyn Blackwell and Mike Garson. All shows will be held in Seiji Ozawa Hall.

For additional information, bios, and photos n the performing artists, please review the electronic press kit at TanglewoodJazzFestival.org/presskit.

On Friday, September 4, at 8 p.m. the 2009 Tanglewood Jazz Festival will open with “An Evening with Paquito d’Rivera” in which the famed clarinetist performs pieces from his Latin jazz and classical repertoires. A 2005 NEA Jazz Master, winner of the 2008 Downbeat Reader’s Poll for best clarinetist and guest artist on Yo-Yo Ma’s most recent recording, Songs of Joy & Peace, d’Rivera has extensive expertise in both the jazz and classical music worlds.

On Saturday, September 5 at 2 p.m., John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey (in her Tanglewood debut) will tape their popular radio program, “Radio Deluxe,” at the festival for later broadcast on more than 60 stations nation-wide. Normally broadcast from their living room “high above Lexington Avenue,” the Tanglewood program will officially take Radio Deluxe on the road for the first time since the program’s inception in 2005. The show’s format, marked by the duo’s urbane, sophisticated humor, inventive playlist, and extensive knowledge of the Great American Songbook, is expanding its repertoire to include such rock era voices as Randy Newman and Joni Mitchell. “Radio Deluxe” from Tanglewood will feature special guests Kurt Elling, Bucky Pizzarelli, Aaron Weinstein and Harry Allen.

On Saturday, September 5 at 8 p.m., jazz violinist and MacArthur Fellowship recipient, Regina Carter will perform with her quartet in a program titled “Reverse Thread,” which includes material from her Paganini project plus music from Mali, Senegal, and Uganda. O Magazine said “Carter is a knockout violinist who leads a knockout band.”

Following Ms. Carter will be Grammy nominated jazz vocalist, Nnenna Freelon and classical vocalist, Harolyn Blackwell, in “Dreaming the Duke,” a program that celebrates the legacy and influences of the great Duke Ellington with innovative solo pieces, duets with chamber and jazz quartets and intimate vocal-piano selections. Noted pianist and arranger, Mike Garson, whose work with David Bowie and in jazz and classical genres has earned him high praise as an arranger, will perform as accompanist and musical director. They will perform classical Ellington standards and selections from Ellington’s famed “Black, Brown and Beige Suite.”

The Sunday afternoon concert on September 6 will open at 2 p.m. with a rare and exclusive piano duet featuring Kenny Barron and Mulgrew Miller on two nine-foot Steinways performing spontaneous improvisations on original and jazz standard compositions. Performed at the 2005 Marciac Jazz Festival in France, this program has only been performed a few times in the U.S. and in Europe. Barron recently received the BNY Mellon Jazz 2008 Living Legacy Award by the Bank of New York/Mellon.

Barron and Miller will be followed by one of the most enduring large jazz ensembles in the U.S., the Grammy-winning Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Founded by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, the orchestra received a Grammy Award in 2009 for its recording, Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard (Planet Arts Records) in the “Best Large Jazz Ensemble” category. For over four decades the Orchestra has performed on Monday nights at the world-famous jazz club, the Village Vanguard in New York.

Closing the festival on Sunday, September 6, at 8 p.m. will be trumpeter Jon Faddis and his Quartet with guest trumpeters Sean Jones and Wallace Roney. “The Majesty of the Trumpet” is a celebration of the role of the trumpet in jazz throughout the past century, from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and more.

Jon Faddis will be bassist and big band leader, Dave Holland, with his all-star band including Chris Potter, Jaleel Shaw, Gary Smulyan, Steve Nelson, Nate Smith, Alex Sipiagian and Robin Eubanks. A native of the United Kingdom, Holland worked extensively with Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Jack DeJohnette and Herbie Hancock in addition to performing with chamber orchestras and classical composers.

Jazz Café artists this year include saxophonist Benny Reid, pianist and vocalist Michael Kaeshammer, pianist Evgeny Lebedev, vocalist Steven Santoro and violinist Ben Powell. Jazz Café events are free with a ticket to the main stage event.

For the first time, “The Jazz Session” produced and hosted by Jason Crane, will be on-site in the jazz tent conducting interviews with musicians and ticket holders for podcast downloading at thejazzsession.com and at allaboutjazz.com.

Tickets for the 2009 Tanglewood are available by calling SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200 or online at tanglewood.org and in person at the Tanglewood Box Office in Lenox. For further information, please call SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200 or visit our website at tanglewoodjazzfestival.org.

The Tanglewood Jazz Festival’s online media partner is jazzcorner.com.


2009 Tanglewood Jazz Festival
Ticket Prices
Friday, September 4, 6:30 p.m.
Benny Reid Quartet
Jazz Cafe
Admission free with ticket to main stage event

Friday, September 4, 8 p.m.
An Evening with Paquito d’Rivera
$41/$48/$59/lawn $17

Saturday, September 5, 12:30 p.m.
Michael Kaeshammer
Jazz Café
Admission free with ticket to main stage event

Saturday, September 5, 2 p.m.
“Radio Deluxe” with John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey
Special guests Kurt Elling, Bucky Pizzarelli, Aaron Weinstein, Harry Allen
Live taping for national radio broadcast
$32/$40/$55/lawn $18

Saturday, September 5, 6:30 p.m.
Evgeny Lebedev Trio
Jazz Café
Admission free with ticket to main stage event

Saturday, September 5, 8 p.m.
“Reverse Thread” with the Regina Carter Quartet
“Dreaming the Duke” with Nnenna Freelon, Harolyn Blackwell and Mike Garson
$45/$60/$75/lawn $19

Sunday, September 6, 12:30 p.m.
Steven Santoro Quartet
Jazz Café
Admission free with ticket to main stage event

Sunday, September 6, 2 p.m.
“A Piano Duet” with Kenny Barron and Mulgrew Miller
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
$32/$40/$55/lawn $18

Sunday, September 6, 6:30 p.m.
Ben Powell Quartet
Jazz Café
Admission free with ticket to main stage event

Sunday, September 6, 8 p.m.
“The Majesty of the Trumpet” with the Jon Faddis Quartet and special guests
Sean Jones and Wallace Roney
Dave Holland Octet with Chris Potter, Robin Eubanks, Jaleel Shaw,
Alex Sipiagian, Gary Smulyan, Nate Smith, Steve Nelson
$41/$48/$59/lawn $17

All day lawn pass Saturday and Sunday
$34

For additional information, bios and photos on the performing artists, please review the electronic press kit at tanglewoodjazzfestival.org/presskit or contact:

Boston Symphony Orchestra:
Bernadette Horgan (bhorgan@bso.org) and Kathleen Drohan (kdrohan@bso.org)
413-637-5280

Dawn Singh Publicity:
Dawn Singh
dawn@dawnsinghpublicity.com
617-765-4012 (google voice)