J@LC's 3rd Annual Spring Gala

Proceeds from the event will support the hundreds of performance and education events produced annually by Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) will present a once-in-a-lifetime evening with some of music's greatest talents - Bob Dylan, Jewel, Al Jarreau, Branford Marsalis, the Wynton Marsalis Septet and other special guests on Monday, June 7, 2004 at 7:30pm. The concert, held at the Apollo Theater at 253 West 125th St., will be the centerpiece of the arts organization's 3rd Annual Spring Gala 2004 themed “Teach Me Tonight." The proceeds of the evening will benefit the hundreds of performance and educational programs produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center, the not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to enriching the artistic substance and perpetuating the democratic spirit of American's music.

The evening will begin with the concert, conveying the living traditions of jazz and the art form's influence on these extraordinary artists, followed by a festive gala dinner in an adjacent tent. For information and tickets for the full gala evening, priced at $1000 and up, including dinner, please call JALC Special Events at (212) 258-9961. Lead corporate co-sponsors for the event are JP Morgan Chase and Studley. The participating sponsor is Cadillac. The gala co-chairs are Ashley R. Schiff and Vicki Fuller. The corporate co-chairs are Lewis Jones of JPMorgan Chase and Michael Colacino of Studley. Honorary gala co-chairs are Mica and Ahmet Ertegun.

Undoubtedly one of the most influential artists of the rock era, singer/songwriter Bob Dylan has released over 45 albums since his 1962 debut and remains an extremely influential musical figure to this day. Dylan was discovered in Greenwich Village by the visionary John Hammond of Columbia Records, who made possible his 1962 debut Bob Dylan and the 1963 hit The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, both in the folk music tradition of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. In 1965, Dylan brought about a fusion of folk and rock 'n' roll when he added an electric backing band on half of Bringing It All Back Home. Soon after, he released one of the most influential singles of his career, “Like A Rolling Stone," which was an inspiration to the counter-cultural movement of the 1960s. Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde followed, and are widely considered Dylan's all-time classics. Dylan went on to incorporate country influences in Nashville Skyline, and in 1974 released Blood on the Tracks, his most widely acclaimed album of the '70s. Dylan toured extensively in the '70s and '80s and in 1988 began what became known as “The Never-Ending Tour," which lasted through the '90s. In 1993, he released the folk album World Gone Wrong, which won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. Time Out of Mind was released in 1997 to great success, and went on to garner Grammys for Best Album of the Year, Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Male Rock Vocal. Dylan continues an active touring schedule, with extensive North-American and European travel this year alone. Dylan truly lives up to his name as the voice of a generation; as Bruce Springsteen once noted, “Elvis may have freed our body, but Dylan freed our soul."

Born in Milwaukee Wisconsin on April 12, 1940, Al Jarreau has broken the mold as the one of the rare artists to receive Grammy awards in the three different categories of jazz, pop, and R&B. Performing a highly sophisticated form of vocalese, Jarreau's style displays numerous influences, including music from within the world of jazz as well as sounds and rhythms from both African and oriental languages. Jarreau began his singing career by playing small clubs throughout the West Coast, eventually joining a trio headed by jazz giant George Duke. In 1975, he signed a contract with Warner Bros. Records and soon released We Got By, earning great acclaim for his unique brand of vocalese and winning positive comparison to the likes of Billy Eckstine and Johnny Mathis. After 1976's Glow, Jarreau issued Look to the Rainbow, a two-disc live set that reached the Top 50 on the U.S. album charts. In 1977, he embarked on his first world tour; that same year, he earned the first of five Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Performance. With 1981's Breakin' Away, he entered the Top Ten, scoring a pair of hits with “We're in This Love Together" and the title track, and attracting a broader audience. After recording 1986's L Is for Lover with producer Nile Rodgers, Jarreau scored a hit with the theme to the popular television program Moonlighting. In the 1990's, Jarreau released Heaven and Earth (1992) and Tenderness (1994). He has since signed with the GRP label, releasing Tomorrow Today in 2000 and All I Got in 2002. His next album, entitled Accentuate the Positive, is scheduled for release in August of this year.

Singer/songwriter Jewel is renowned for her unique lyrical style, expressive voice, and musical authenticity. Born in 1974 in Payson, Utah, and raised in Homer, Alaska, Jewel began her music career at the age of six, regularly performing alongside her singer/songwriter parents in local Eskimo villages and tourist attractions. Her musical talents eventually took her on scholarship to Michigan's prestigious Interlochen Fine Arts Academy, where she began writing her first songs; upon graduating, she moved to San Diego, eventually deciding to focus on a career in music. After signing to Atlantic in early 1995, Jewel issued her debut record, Pieces of You; the album took time to break onto the charts, but eventually the single “Who Will Save Your Soul" became a major hit, and soon the album was a best-seller as well. Two other hits, “You Were Meant for Me" and “Foolish Games," followed. In 1998, Jewel returned with Night Without Armor, a collection of her spoken-word poetry; her hotly anticipated second album Spirit followed later that year, as did the seasonal collection Joy: A Holiday Celebration. Chasing Down the Dawn was issued in fall 2000, and Jewel came back again in November 2001 with the looser and more upbeat This Way. Released in June 2003, Jewel's latest Atlantic album 0304 finds her moving in new musical directions, incorporating the influence of rock, pop, country, blues, classical, and jazz music.

Though first and foremost a jazz musician, world-renowned saxophonist Branford Marsalis has made his mark in the worlds of classical, pop, and jazz music. After graduating from Berklee College of Music, Marsalis joined his brother Wynton Marsalis in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and also toured with Clark Terry's Orchestra. A member of his brother Wynton's quintet for three years, Branford also worked with renowned musicians including Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, and was a member of Miles Davis' group from 1984 to 1985. In 1985, Marsalis displayed his versatility when he became a founding member of a band led by English rock icon Sting, which played a combination of rock, bop, and soul. Marsalis went on to work with his own quartet, but continued to collaborate with great pop icons including the Grateful Dead and Bruce Hornsby. In 1993, he won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance for his album I Heard You Twice the First Time, and another in 1994 for “Barcelona Mona," a single he recorded with Bruce Hornsby. Branford also gained great notoriety from his two-year tenure as musical director of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Marsalis has extended his work to producing, both for Columbia Records and now for his own music label, Marsalis Music. He has also collaborated as both composer and featured soloist on film scores, including Mo' Better Blues, Malcolm X, Clockers, The Russia House, and Sneakers. With such a varied career, Branford Marsalis has established himself as one of today's most versatile jazz musicians.

Wynton Marsalis is the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC). Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1961, Mr. Marsalis began his classical training on trumpet at age 12 and soon began playing in local bands of diverse genres. He entered The Juilliard School in 1979 when he was 17 years old, joining Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers that same year. Marsalis made his recording debut as a leader in 1982, and has since recorded more than 30 jazz and classical recordings, which have won him nine Grammy Awards. In 1983, he became the first and only artist to win both classical and jazz Grammys in the same year and repeated this feat in 1984. In 1997, Mr. Marsalis became the first jazz artist to be awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in music, for his oratorio Blood on the Fields, which was commissioned by JALC. In 1999, he released eight new recordings in his unprecedented “Swinging into the 21st" series, and premiered several new compositions, including the ballet Them Twos, for a June 1999 collaboration with the New York City Ballet. That same year he premiered the monumental work All Rise, commissioned and performed by the New York Philharmonic along with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (LCJO) and the Morgan State University Choir. Mr. Marsalis signed to Blue Note Records in 2003, and his debut CD, a quartet recording entitled The Magic Hour, was released March 9, 2004. Marsalis is also an internationally respected teacher and spokesman for music education, and has received honorary doctorates from dozens of universities and colleges throughout the U.S. He conducts educational programs for students of all ages and hosts the popular Jazz for Young PeopleSM concerts produced by JALC. Marsalis has also been featured in the video series Marsalis on Music and the radio series Making the Music. He has also written two books: Sweet Swing Blues on the Road in collaboration with photographer Frank Stewart, and recently released Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues of Life with Carl Vigeland. On March 20, 2001, Mr. Marsalis was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He is helping to lead the effort to construct JALC's new home