Announcing The 53rd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, September 17-19

(Chick Corea)

The 2010 Monterey Jazz Festival Presented by Verizon will feature a variety of legendary performers, popular favorites, and visionary new artists in a weekend of jazz, blues, gospel, and genre-defying music that has characterized the world-renowned event since its inception in 1958. The 53rd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival Presented by Verizon takes place September 17 - 19, 2010 in Monterey, California on the oak-studded Monterey Fairgrounds, site of the first Festival, and home to MJF for 53 years.

Tickets are on sale now by phone at (925) 275-9255 and on the Monterey Jazz Festival’s website, montereyjazzfestival.org. Full Weekend Arena Packages are available from $225, offering a reserved seat to each of 5 concerts on the Arena/Jimmy Lyons Stage (renewable annually), plus general admission access to 7 additional Grounds Stages and all Grounds activities. Daily Grounds Tickets are available from $35, including general admission access to 7 Grounds stages and activities, plus simulcasts of all Arena concerts. Full Weekend Grounds Tickets are available for $110. MJF’s Family Discount Package begins at $80 for 2 Adult and 2 Youth Grounds Tickets, offering a savings of up to $20. Throughout the weekend, Youth Tickets (Ages 2 - 18) will be available for $15.

NEW SINGLE DAY ARENA TICKETS, PREMIER ACCESS PASS, LOCAL’S PACKAGE, OFFICIAL HOTELS

New for 2010 are Single Day Arena Tickets, including a reserved, non-renewable seat for the Arena concerts on the day selected, plus general admission access to 7 Grounds stages and activities. Friday’s Single Day Arena Tickets are $66 and include one Arena concert plus all Grounds entertainment; Saturday or Sunday’s Single Day Arena Tickets are $99 and include two Arena concerts on each day plus all Grounds entertainment.

The Festival is also introducing a new, VIP opportunity for fans, the Premier Access Pass. Priced at $65 for Friday, $100 for Saturday or Sunday, and $265 for the entire weekend (with 2010 MJF adult ticket purchase), the Premier Access Pass will include a special VIP entrance to the Fairgrounds, access to the Premier Access Club (with closed-circuit simulcasts of Arena concerts, meet and greet visits by 2010 MJF artists, a no-host bar, and private restrooms), and a Premier Access Gift Bag (with gifts from MJF and from its Premier Access Partners, including the Cayman Islands Tourism Department).

Also new in 2010, MJF will offer residents of Monterey County a “Local’s Package,” which includes a copy of the 2010 MJF Souvenir Magazine and a discount coupon for MJF merchandise. The Local’s Package is available to those purchasing an Arena Package, Single Day Arena Ticket, or Grounds Ticket (excluding Youth Tickets).

This year the Festival welcomes a new partner, The Inns of Monterey, Official Hotels of the Monterey Jazz Festival. Offering 5 distinctive, unique, boutique hotels, The Inns of Monterey will be including special rates and amenities for their Monterey Jazz Festival guests. Details are available from The Inns of Monterey at (800) 232-4141 or on their website, innsofmonterey.com.

NEW GROOVES NIGHT, FAMILY DISCOUNT PACKAGE, FAMILY DAY, FRONT BOX AUCTION, ON AND OFF SITE PARKING

The Festival's new, innovative approaches for 2010 will be joined by the return of prior successes, including New Grooves Night, Family Day, and MJF's Annual Front Box Auction.

New Grooves returns on Friday, September 17, with some of the more offbeat groups of the Festival. New Grooves for 2010 features the Hip-Hop symphony, Brass Bows and Beats in Dizzy’s Den; the dynamic and quirky pianist and vocalist Nellie McKay and the cutting edge Indo-Pak Coalition with Rudresh Mahanthappa in the Night Club. The virtuoso vocal group, the House Jacks, rounds out New Grooves on the Garden Stage.

Families can one again take advantage of MJF’s Family Discount Pack, which includes two Adult Grounds Tickets and two Youth Grounds Tickets (2 - 18 years old) for only $80 on Friday, $100 on Saturday or Sunday -- a savings of up to $20. Children under 2 are free.

Sunday, September 19 marks the Festival’s 5th Annual Family Day. Families and children of all ages can participate in special activities, hear the top student jazz ensembles from around the United States (selected at the Next Generation Jazz Festival, April 9 - 11, 2010) along with MJF’s own Next Generation Jazz Orchestra and the Monterey County High School All-Star Band, and join in the fun with the return of the popular Percussion Playshop, MJF’s innovative Instrument Petting Zoo with high-tech, professional musical instruments provided by Yamaha. The younger set can also bounce in the “Jazzy Jumper” on the West Lawn.

MJF’s Front Box Auction presents a golden opportunity for jazz fans to enjoy the Monterey Jazz Festival while supporting jazz education. Patrons can bid to sit at the front of the Arena with three of their closest friends in four Front Box seats for the 53rd annual MJF. The Front Box Auction opens on March 29, 2010 at 9:00 am and concludes on June 1, 2010 at 4:00 pm Pacific Time. For more information, please visit montereyjazzfestival.org.

On-site Fairgrounds Parking will be made available this year to purchasers of Full Weekend Arena Packages and to purchasers of the new Premier Access Pass. As in 2009, the Festival will be partnering with Monterey Peninsula College and Monterey Salinas Transit to offer off-site parking at Monterey Peninsula College and a frequent shuttle service between MPC parking and the Festival Grounds. The Festival charges a $10 fee for parking at MPC.

2010 MJF Performance Highlights Include:

· Return of jazz legends Chick Corea, Dianne Reeves, Roy Hargrove, Chris Potter, Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride, Billy Childs

· World Premiere of 2010 MJF Commission, Billy Childs’ “Music for Two Quartets” with Kronos Quartet

2010 MJF Showcase Artist Roy Haynes performs with Freedom Band, Fountain of Youth and is in conversation with the Jazz Journalists Association
Artists-In-Residence Dianne Reeves performs in the Arena and Grounds
Ahmad Jamal, Harry Connick, Jr., Angelique Kidjo, Les Nubians, Delbert McClinton, Trombone Shorty, Nellie McKay, Indo-Pak Coalition, Septeto Nacional de Cuba, Fred Hersch and George Wein make debuts at MJF
Friday’s "New Grooves" features Brass, Bows and Beats, Nellie McKay, Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition and the House Jacks
Saturday’s blues show in the Arena includes Delbert McClinton, Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Internationally-flavored artists include Septeto Nacional de Cuba, Les Nubians, Angelique Kidjo, Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition; Mark Levine & the Latin Tinge, Jake Shimabukuro, Somi, Berklee Global Jazz Institute Septet, Hristo Vitchev, and Dianne Reeves’ “Strings Attached” featuring Romero Lubambo
Tributes to Artists include Mark Levine & the Latin Tinge “Music of Moacir Santos”; John Firmin & the Nocturne Band “Tribute to Hank Crawford, David ‘Fathead’ Newman and Leroy ‘Hog’ Cooper” and Javon Jackson Band with Les McCann “Swiss Movement Revisited”
Special conversations with Roy Haynes, George Wein, Sam Stephenson of The Jazz Loft Project; DownBeat Blindfold Test with Fred Hersch
Coffee House Gallery Exhibit: The Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957-1965
2010 MJF NEA Jazz Masters include Ahmad Jamal, Chick Corea, Roy Haynes, George Wein
2010 MJF artists have earned a total of 38 Grammys
Return of Sunday's “Family Day” with fun for all ages
Film screenings of Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense
Continued releases from Monterey Jazz Festival Records, featuring rare and rarified recordings from the last 50 years on CD in conjunction with Concord Music Group

Artist-In-Residence: Dianne Reeves ● Showcase Artist: Roy Haynes ● Commission Artist: Billy Childs

ARENA ARTISTS

Friday, September 17

Septeto Nacional de Cuba; Les Nubians; Roy Hargrove Big Band

Saturday, September 18

Delbert McClinton Band, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens; Freedom Band with Chick Corea, Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride, Roy Haynes; Dianne Reeves, Billy Childs Quartet (with Steve Wilson, Scott Colley and Brian Blade) and the Kronos Quartet, “Music for Two Quartets” (2010 MJF Commission)
(Roy Haynes)

Sunday, September 19

Angelique Kidjo featuring Christian McBride, Lionel Loueke, Kendrick Scott, Mino Cinelu; Next Generation Jazz Orchestra with special guest Dianne Reeves; Top High School Big Band from the Next Generation Festival; Harry Connick, Jr.; Ahmad Jamal

GROUNDS ARTISTS

Friday, September 17

Roy Hargrove Big Band; Nellie McKay; Marcus Roberts Trio; Brass, Bows & Beats; Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition; Mark Levine & the Latin Tinge “Music of Moacir Santos”; the House Jacks; Ben Flocks Quartet; Berklee Global Jazz Institute Septet
(Mark Levine)

Saturday, September 18

Jake Shimabukuro; Chris Potter Underground; Septeto Nacional de Cuba; Gretchen Parlato; Kronos Quartet; Billy Childs Quartet; Somi; Gerald Clayton Trio; Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue; Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens; John Firmin & the Nocturne Band “A Tribute to Hank Crawford, David “Fathead” Newman & Leroy “Hog” Cooper”; Hristo Vitchev Quartet; Berklee Global Jazz Institute Septet; Mo’Fone; Downbeat Blindfold Test with Fred Hersch; Conversation with George Wein

Sunday, September 19

Dianne Reeves “Strings Attached” with Russell Malone & Romero Lubambo; Roy Haynes Fountain of Youth Band; Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio; Javon Jackson Band with Les McCann “Swiss Movement Revisited”; Fred Hersch Trio; Sachal Vasandani; George Wein & the Newport All-Stars; Kim Nalley; Le Boeuf Brothers; Banana Slug String Band; Conversation with Roy Haynes; Conversation with Sam Stephenson from The Jazz Loft Project; Nice Guy Trio; the Country’s best high school & college bands

ALL WEEKEND

Jazz on Film: Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense; Judy Roberts on the Yamaha AvantGrand with Greg Fishman on saxophone; Arena Simulcasts in the Jazz Theater; Coffee House Gallery Exhibit: The Jazz Loft Project. Partial list, with more artists to be announced. Artists subject to change.