FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 10, 2006
Media Contact: Jason Arnold
831/373.3366, cell 510/326.4353
Jason@montereyjazzfestival.org
For hi-res photos, please visit www.montereyjazzfestival.org
MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES VOCALIST KURT ELLING AS 2006 ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED VOCALIST SLATED TO TEACH AT 2ND ANNUAL NEXT GENERATION FESTIVAL, APRIL 21-23 IN DOWNTOWN MONTEREY
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE ALSO SCHEDULED TO APPEAR AT “MONTEREY LIVE” APRIL 20, MJF SUMMER JAZZ CAMP JUNE 19-30, AND THE 49TH ANNUAL MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY VERIZON, SEPTEMBER 15-17, 2006
January 10, 2006; Monterey, California; The Monterey Jazz Festival is kicking off the new year with a bang with the announcement of 2006 Artist-in-Residence, Kurt Elling. The internationally renowned jazz vocalist will visit Monterey throughout the year to teach and inspire some of the world’s greatest emerging jazz talent through the Festival’s acclaimed youth education programs.
Kurt Elling’s residency will commence in full swing April 20 with with a concert at “Monterey Live,” an intimate performance venue located in the heart of Monterey, and will continue April 21-23 at the 2nd Annual Next Generation Festival, a celebration of youth in jazz taking place in the historic and lively hub of downtown Monterey. The Next Generation Festival includes the Monterey Jazz Festival’s 36th Annual National High School Competition for big bands, combos and vocal ensembles, with top musicians competing to win a spot on the stages of the 49th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival presented by Verizon. Returning events include Middle School band performances, a Big Band Composition Competition, and auditions for the international touring all-star ensemble, the MJF Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. New events include a College Big Band Competition and both performances and clinics featuring the Berklee-Monterey Quartet. In a very special appearance, Kurt Elling will present a Vocal Solo Workshop for aspiring jazz singers, musicians and enthusiasts and appear as a competition adjudicator throughout the Festival weekend. Next Generation Festival events, including the Vocal Solo Workshop, will take place in downtown Monterey’s Conference Center and will be open to the public, free of charge.
Kurt Elling will continue his residency in the summer of 2006 at the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Summer Jazz Camp, taking place June 19-30 at Monterey Peninsula College. The MJF Summer Jazz Camp provides Monterey County students a unique, rewarding, and fun opportunity to pursue an intensive and focused study of jazz with many of the finest educators in the field. MJF provides some full scholarships and subsidizes nearly 80% of Camp costs for all eligible students to assure that young jazz musicians can take advantage of this incredible opportunity for summer study.
All of the year’s educational activities will come to fruition with dazzling performances at the 49th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival presented by Verizon September 15-17. Kurt Elling will complete his 2006 residency activities by not only headlining performances and discussions throughout the three-day festival, but also appearing with the MJF Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, a collection of the nation’s best jazz high school students. This performance, traditionally scheduled during the Festival’s Sunday Afternoon Arena/Lyons Stage line-up, is sure to be a highlight for both the young musicians and the discriminating music fans witnessing one of jazz’s brightest stars share the stage with the next generation of jazz virtuosos.
Despite Kurt Elling’s forays teaching jazz, the acclaimed vocalist’s entry into music involved less formal education than real-world experience. While attending the University of Chicago’s divinity school graduate program, Elling began performing in Chicago venues and South Side clubs and quickly gained local prominence. Within three years, Elling was signed to Blue Note Records with the 1995 smash success, “Close Your Eyes.” Since then, he has released five additional albums of self-produced music and received seven Grammy Award nominations. In the category of “Best Male Singer,” Mr. Elling has won the DownBeat and the JazzTimes critics’ polls three years running, the DownBeat readers’ poll, two Jazz Journalists Awards, the 2006 JazzTimes readers’ poll, and the Prix Billie Holiday from the Academie du Jazz in Paris. Widely known for combining vocalese with the spoken word, improvised scatting, and the classic jazz songbook, Kurt Elling is credited with re-energizing the art of jazz singing for new generation. With his appointment as the Monterey Jazz Festival’s 2006 Artist-in-Residence, he is poised to energize yet another generation of future jazz musicians.
With the continued success of the Artist-in-Residence Program, the Monterey Jazz Festival maintains its long-standing commitment to jazz education. The Festival has been a leader in music education since the Festival’s inception in 1958. In recent years, the Monterey Jazz Festival has invested approximately $500,000 annually in its innovative jazz education programs, ranging from a Traveling Clinicians Program, with professional musicians visiting Monterey County schools to teach students how to play jazz, to its international touring student ensembles, which boasts Joshua Redman, Patrice Rushen, Benny Green, Gordon Goodwin and other jazz stars as alumni.
The Monterey Jazz Festival thanks long-time partners Tower Records and See’s Candies for enthusiastically supporting the Next Generation Festival. Yamaha Instruments continues its long-standing support of the Festival’s Jazz Education Programs, donating instruments essential to the event’s success. The D’Addario Foundation for the Performing Arts (with support from J. D’Addario & Company, Inc. and Evans Drumheads) supports the Next Generation Festival with a generous contribution and provides a range of their products as gifts for participants. JazzTimes Magazine another returning partner for the Next Generation Festival, offering participants copies of their publication.
The Next Generation Festival is also supported by Next Generation Festival Charter Donor Circle members Al & Dee Adolph, Carsbia Anderson, Myron E. Etienne, Jr., Frank & Kathleen Geisler, Granite Construction Company, Inc., Renee Mayne, Ken & Mary Wright, and Danny Scher.
For more information or high-resolution photos, please contact:
Jason Arnold
831/373.3366, cell 510/326.4353
Jason@montereyjazzfestival.org
For hi-res photos, please visit www.montereyjazzfestival.org