Temecula Jazz Festival gears up for a great show in July
Temecula, California - The Temecula Valley International Jazz Festival has announced the headliners and featured performers for its 5th Annual Event to be held between July 10 and 13, 2008, in Historic Old Town Temecula. Recently voted one of the most popular local events by a city-run survey, the Jazz Festival is unique in its broad appeal. This event attracts not only local, and regional, but also national and international attention, thanks in part to sponsorships by Down Beat magazine, Jazz 88 FM, KJAZZ 88.1, Jazz Times, LA Jazz Scene and All About Jazz, by showcasing living legends of one of the only true American Art forms – Jazz Music.
Festival organizers are thrilled to book Gerald Wilson’s Big Band, Herb Jefferies, Richie Cole, Jimmy Mulidore, James Tormé, Sal Marquez, Al Williams, Dick Berk, George Lesiw, Gunnar Briggs, Henry Franklin, the JAZZ 88 All-Stars, Marshal Hawkins, Theo Saunders, and much more including the Chuck Niles Jazz Singer and Be-Bop award competition. Vocalist Jeffries is, among many other things, the sole surviving original member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the singer on the band’s hit songs “Flamingo” and “Satin Doll.”
Wilson has received a number of Grammy nominations throughout his career. He is an NEA recipient as a Jazz Master and his works are ensconced in the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. He was honored at the Kennedy Center in March 2007, along with a number his peers, as a “Living Legend of Jazz”. He also played and arranged for Count Basie and later for Duke Ellington. In addition to leading his band and writing arrangements for others (including Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Julie London, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Nancy Wilson), Maestro Wilson has been a member of the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles, for many years, recently winning (late in his ninth decade!) a “teacher of the year” award. He also served on the faculty at California State University, Northridge in the 1970s where he taught Jazz History to wide acclaim among the student body. He currently teaches Jazz History classes with fellow Jazz player, Kenny Burrell at UCLA.
In February 2006, Wynton Marsalis and The Lincoln Jazz Center Orchestra performed his music with Wilson conducting.
Most of the festival is free and open to the public thanks to sponsorships from the City of Temecula, Paul & Diane Garrett and a host of others who donate time, money and services.
Produced by Jon and Jane Laskin of Musicians Workshop this event is more of a cultural enrichment event than a fundraiser, however any proceeds benefit children’s performing arts & music scholarships and the Temecula Valley Cultural Arts & Music Center. For more information visit www.TemeculaJazzFest.com or call (951) 678-2517.