Jazzy Boston - Nine Days, 150 Events for Boston's Jazz Week 2007
Jazz Week 2007 is timed as a tribute to Duke Ellington, shown at the piano with Louis Armstrong on trumpet. Ellington was born April 29, 1899.
Everyone knows New Orleans is a jazz city, but Boston is about to earn some recognition too. When Jazz Week 2007 begins Saturday, Greater Boston will see a nine day, no-holds-barred explosion of jazz in all its varieties. More than 150 events will draw people to 50 clubs, restaurants, performance halls, museums, and other venues.
“Boston has a dynamic jazz scene that is incredibly diverse," said Mark Harvey, co-chair of planning for Jazz Week. “You can find just about every style of jazz played at a very high level, all the way from traditional to the most experimental. Yet many people don't know about its breadth and depth."
Jazz Week 2007 is a revival of similar jazz celebrations held in Boston from 1973-1983, until finances and volunteer commitment dried up. Nonetheless, in the 25 years since then, jazz has flourished in Greater Boston, fostered by musicians associated with Berklee School of Music and New England Conservatory of Music, as well as club owners and other jazz devotees.
“There has been a steady buildup, and now we're looking to bring the jazz community together and stimulate more interest," said Harvey, who also is co-leader of Jazz Boston and founder of the Aardvark Orchestra. “It's actually surprising to a lot of the jazz community that we have 150 events, because we don't often see jazz promoted under one umbrella."
Timed as a tribute to Duke Ellington's birthday, April 29, 1899, Jazz Week also coincides with Jazz Appreciation Month, an April celebration launched in 2001 by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. It's spearheaded by the year-old Jazz Boston, a nonprofit promoting jazz, with broad support from the wider community, including Mayor Thomas Menino and the CEO Roundtable.
With many free and low-price events, Jazz Week aims to reach the broadest audience. Most events are in Boston, but Cambridge, Brookline, Norwell and suburbs west and north of the city have offerings.
“We're hoping people will say, 'Gee, I didn't know about that,' and to give them exposure to all varieties of jazz," said Harvey, who teaches jazz at MIT and will perform a birthday tribute to Ellington at the Museum of Fine Arts on April 29. “Like classical music, people prefer different types."
Continue...
Everyone knows New Orleans is a jazz city, but Boston is about to earn some recognition too. When Jazz Week 2007 begins Saturday, Greater Boston will see a nine day, no-holds-barred explosion of jazz in all its varieties. More than 150 events will draw people to 50 clubs, restaurants, performance halls, museums, and other venues.
“Boston has a dynamic jazz scene that is incredibly diverse," said Mark Harvey, co-chair of planning for Jazz Week. “You can find just about every style of jazz played at a very high level, all the way from traditional to the most experimental. Yet many people don't know about its breadth and depth."
Jazz Week 2007 is a revival of similar jazz celebrations held in Boston from 1973-1983, until finances and volunteer commitment dried up. Nonetheless, in the 25 years since then, jazz has flourished in Greater Boston, fostered by musicians associated with Berklee School of Music and New England Conservatory of Music, as well as club owners and other jazz devotees.
“There has been a steady buildup, and now we're looking to bring the jazz community together and stimulate more interest," said Harvey, who also is co-leader of Jazz Boston and founder of the Aardvark Orchestra. “It's actually surprising to a lot of the jazz community that we have 150 events, because we don't often see jazz promoted under one umbrella."
Timed as a tribute to Duke Ellington's birthday, April 29, 1899, Jazz Week also coincides with Jazz Appreciation Month, an April celebration launched in 2001 by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. It's spearheaded by the year-old Jazz Boston, a nonprofit promoting jazz, with broad support from the wider community, including Mayor Thomas Menino and the CEO Roundtable.
With many free and low-price events, Jazz Week aims to reach the broadest audience. Most events are in Boston, but Cambridge, Brookline, Norwell and suburbs west and north of the city have offerings.
“We're hoping people will say, 'Gee, I didn't know about that,' and to give them exposure to all varieties of jazz," said Harvey, who teaches jazz at MIT and will perform a birthday tribute to Ellington at the Museum of Fine Arts on April 29. “Like classical music, people prefer different types."
Continue...
For more information contact All About Jazz.
