Dizzy's 96th Birthday Celebration with Mike Longo Big Band, Jimmy Owens, Annie Ross & Ira Hawkins at Gillespie Auditorium, Oct. 22

Don't forget! Chase the ghosts and goblins away with us at Jazz Tuesdays on October 22, at 8pm (one show only!) Join us for a very exciting evening to celebrate Dizzy Gillespie's 96th birthday with Mike Longo's swinging 17-piece Big Band,"The NY State of the Art Jazz Ensemble" featuring fantastic jazz vocalist Ira Hawkins, with special guests Jazz Legend Annie Ross and Trumpet Master Jimmy Owens, PLUS archival film footage of Dizzy performing in his prime.

Jazz Tuesdays is located at the John Birks Gillespie within the New York City Bahá'í Center at 53 East 11th Street(between University Place & Broadway).  For tickets and information call 212-222-5159.

Pianist/composer/arranger, and Steinway artist, Mike Longo, who has earned many accolades as a jazz pianist and a long time associate of Gillespie, formed the New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble in 1999 to play the Jersey Jazz Festival when they wanted to feature him in a setting of composer/arranger. The program was received so enthusiastically that Mike was prompted by jazz fans and the members of the band to keep it going.

As a result, he began composing new material and arranging it for the band, which was booked back each year at the Jersey Festival, followed by several appearances at New York City's famed Birdland jazz club. Their latest CD, "Oasis," climbed to #7 and remained on the charts for an unprecedented 20 weeks. We are proud to present this fabulous group of musicians, featuring jazz singer Ira Hawkins.

Jazz Singer, Actress, and NEA Jazz Master Annie Ross moved with her aunt,singer Ella Logan, to Los Angeles at the age of three, where she became a juvenile film actress, starting on the "Our Gang" series at five. Asa teenager, she moved to New York to study acting, then back to England, where she became a nightclub and band singer. She returned to the U.S. and gained attention in 1952 for her song "Twisted," a "vocalese" setting of humorous lyrics to what had been a saxophone solo by Wardell Gray. (More than 20 years later, Joni Mitchell made a popular recording of the song.)

In 1958, Ross teamed with Dave Lambert and Jon Hendricks in the vocalese trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, and they toured and recorded successfully, their best-known album being their first,"Sing a Song of Basie," a landmark session produced by Creed Taylor for ABC-Paramount and later reissued, on Creed's own CTI label, in 1993. Ross left the trio in 1962 and settled in England, continuing to sing and work as an actress. She returned again to the U.S. in 1985. In 1993, she had a featured role in the Robert Altman film"Short Cuts."

Trumpeter, Bandleader, Educator and NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Owens, one of the founders of the Jazz Foundation of America/Jazz & Blues Emergency Fund is a fine hard bop soloist. He started on the trumpet when he was ten and later studied with Donald Byrd. Owens has played as a sideman with many major players, including Lionel Hampton, Hank Crawford, Charles Mingus, Herbie Mann, Duke Ellington, Gerry Mulligan, Count Basie, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, and the Dizzy Gillespie Reunion Band. He was one of the founders of the Collective Black Artists.

Admission is 15.00, $10.00 for students.
Tickets will be sold at the door, or call (212) 222-5159 for reservations and information.
For more about acts at "Jazz Tuesdays", check out our website at www.jazzbeat.com

Jazz Tuesdays
in the John Birks Gillespie Auditorium
The New York Baha'i Center
53 East 11th Street
NYC 10003