Festival News

JazzAscona Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary: June 25 - July 5, 2009

Source: All About Jazz
April 27, 2009

We are excited to announce some of the first musicians and performances scheduled for JazzAscona 2009, one of the most significant jazz events in Europe:

Homage to the legendary Kansas City singer and “king of blues & rock 'n' roll Big Joe Turner by soul-jazz stars Bernard Pretty Purdie, Reuben Wilson & friends; tributes, one hundred years from their birth, to swing icons Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa; concerts devoted to legendary New Orleans guitarist and vocalist Danny Barker; numerous ...

Continue Reading...

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival: The Rebirth Brass Brand, Galactic and More

Source: Michael Ricci
April 26, 2009

The Rebirth Brass Band, wearing identical green Rebirth T-shirts, stood in the bright Saturday sun on the second day of this years New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

The front line of three trumpets, two trombones and a tenor saxophonist was backed by a rub-board player, a bass drummer, a snare drummer and a tuba player -- the giant golden bell of his horn emblazoned with the bands name.

With no stationary instruments such as a keyboard or a trap-drum ...

Continue Reading...

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

Source: Michael Ricci
April 25, 2009

Henry Butler, Donald Harrison, Wynton Marsalis and more

The older he gets, the more New Orleans pianist Henry Butler resembles Professor Longhair. When Butler, now 59, performed Friday, the opening day of this year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, his tall, lanky frame, bald, narrow head and wraparound sunglasses gave him the gaunt look of Henry Roeland Byrd, the musician immortalized as Professor Longhair (or Fess).

And when Butler started rattling his Roland electric piano with two-fisted chords, adding ...

Continue Reading...

Planetair Launches a Guide for Organizers of Carbon-Neutral Festivals and Events

Source: Michael Ricci
April 23, 2009

Montreal, -- Last year, Planetair, the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, the Fonds d’action quebecois pour le developpement durable (FAQDD) and Rio Tinto Alcan launched a pilot project aimed at making the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal carbon-neutral. It served to demonstrate the possibilities and as the basis for producing a guide, information tools and training sessions geared to all Quebec festival organizers wishing to reduce their carbon footprint. For its part, Rio Tinto Alcan committed to a ...

Continue Reading...

2009 Ballard Jazz Festival Schedule

Source: All About Jazz
April 23, 2009

The Ballard Jazz Festival, a cornerstone of the Northwest Jazz Scene since 2003, celebrates its 6th season with a 5-day schedule of events, April 22-26, 2009. Again, the festival is teaming with the Nordic Heritage Museum to present Saturday night's mainstage concert featuring performances by the dynamic New York vibraphonist Joe Locke. Featured with him is Portland-based pianist Darrell Grant and special guest, Seattle trumpeter Thomas Marriott. Also on the bill is the virtuostic guitarist Corey Christiansen and his quartet. ...

Continue Reading...

Newport Jazz, Folk Fests Returning to Roots

Source: Billboard Magazine
April 22, 2009

Lineups for the Newport folk and jazz festivals indicate both are returning to their roots. Joan Baez and Pete Seeger, who played the first Newport festival in 1959 and remain vital figures in the folk genre, are scheduled to perform again this year. Judy Collins and Arlo Guthrie also are on the bill, along with more contemporary acts like the Decemberists and Iron and Wine. “The whole concept of the folk festival is a reunion of the old people to ...

Continue Reading...

Lollapalooza: Depeche Mode Tool, Killers, KOL, AC, STS9

Source: JamBase
April 22, 2009

Lollapalooza | 08.07 - 08.09 | Grant Park, Chicago Depeche Mode, Tool, Killers, Jane's Addiction, Beastie Boys, KOL, STS9, TV on the Radio

Set to go down August 7-9 in Chicago's Grant Park, the Lollapalooza festival has announced the lineup for their 2009 event. Big names include: Depeche Mode, the Killers, Beastie Boys, Jane's Addiction, Animal Collective, STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9), Thievery Corporation, Lou Reed, Ben Harper and Relentless7, TV on the Radio, Andrew Bird, Vampire Weekend, ...

Continue Reading...

David Byrne First Artist to Curate Stage at Bonnaroo

Source: JamBase
April 21, 2009

David Byrne First Artist to Curate Stage at Bonnaroo Byrne also to perform “Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno"

David Byrne David Byrne has assembled a number of performers for the first artist-curated stage in the eight-year history of the Bonnaroo Music Festival. On the evening of Friday, June 12 Byrne, who is performing the “Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno," will host his recent collaborators Santigold and Dirty Projectors, singer/songwriter and founder of Righteous Babe ...

Continue Reading...