[members-announce] JazzBoston Launch

[Dawn Singh]

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE             OCTOBER 16, 2006

CONTACT:
Dawn Singh
Dawn Singh Publicity
857-544-0739
dawn at dawnsinghpublicity.com




JazzBoston Launched–New Website Goes Live
Jazz Week in Boston Announced for April 2007


     Oct. 16, 2006-- JazzBoston Inc. today announced its official launch 
as a non-profit organization and the debut of its website, 
www.jazzboston.org.

     The 501(c)(3)  organization, with representation from every corner 
of Boston’s diverse jazz community, will also bring a major new event 
to the city next year: Jazz Week, a celebration of jazz in all styles, 
which will be held in venues throughout the city from April 21 to April 
29, 2007. The event is scheduled to coincide with the Smithsonian’s 
Jazz Appreciation Month and culminate on Duke Ellington’s birthday.

     Jazz Week is one of several initiatives planned by JazzBoston to 
further its mission of supporting the long-term growth of the entire 
Boston jazz scene.  Starting with a vibrant scene —  live jazz was 
presented in hundreds of locations in metropolitan Boston last year — 
JazzBoston aims to build and serve audiences for jazz music, expand 
performance opportunities for jazz musicians, and raise Boston’s 
profile as a jazz city.

     The city’s leading schools, artists, venues, media, and cultural 
organizations, and the City of Boston are all represented on 
JazzBoston’s Board of Directors and Advisory Council.

     The organization’s distinguished Artistic Advisors include Danilo 
Pérez, Joe Lovano, Walter Beasley, Carol Sloane, Donal Fox, Terri Lyne 
Carrington, and Charlie Kohlhase.

     “What’s different about JazzBoston,” says Executive Director 
Pauline Bilsky, “is that everything we do is based on collaborations 
and partnerships. We believe that connecting members of the jazz 
community who don’t normally work together enhances everyone’s ability 
to achieve the goals we share.”

     “We’re united by a common purpose,” she adds. “We want to spread 
the word about Boston’s thriving jazz scene and keep it growing. We 
think the tagline on JazzBoston’s logo says it all: The future of jazz 
is here and now.”

     JazzBoston is focusing on four key initiatives at its launch:

     • JazzBoston.org, the website, the gateway to all things jazz in 
and around Boston, all in one plac.  In addition to a comprehensive 
events calendar, the site offers free downloads, links to musicians, 
venues, radio, news, blogs, jazz-related businesses and services, and a 
wealth of educational resources.  All services to fans and musicians 
are provided without charge.

     •   Jazz Week, a network of live jazz events of all kinds all over 
Boston from April 21 to 29.  Stay tuned for more details later this 
year.

     •  The JazzBoston Family Initiative – Jazz for All Ages, a series 
of programs serving, entertaining, and educating audiences from 
children to seniors.  Programs are being developed in collaboration 
with artists, schools, community organizations, and neighborhood 
groups.

     • Public School Partnerships, a long-term program to enhance the 
jazz curriculum in Boston’s public school program.  It is being 
launched in the 2006-2007 school year with the Boston Arts Academy, the 
city’s first and only full-inclusion public high school.

  All JazzBoston’s leadership and operating positions are staffed on a 
pro bono basis.

     To support the organization’s mostly free and low-cost programs as 
well as the free services for musicians and fans provided by its 
website, a membership drive is underway. Reflecting the inclusive, 
grassroots nature of the organization, memberships start as low as $20 
and entitle those who join to discounts at many Boston-area clubs.  
Details are available in the “Join Us” section of www.jazzboston.org.

     The idea for JazzBoston took root over a year ago among a small 
core of members of the city’s jazz community, and grew to include an 
expanding group of local stakeholders in the art, education, and 
business of jazz.

     “We’re building on a rich history here — Chick Corea, Tony 
Williams, Sonny Stitt, Serge Chaloff, Johnny Hodges and Roy Haynes are 
all local exports,” says Board member Fred Taylor, Entertainment 
Director of Scullers Jazz Club and Artistic Director of the Tanglewood 
Jazz Festival, who formerly ran the fabled Jazz Workshop and Paul’s 
Mall.  “Besides great, influential musicians and famous venues, Boston 
has been at the cutting edge of jazz education for more than five 
decades. Many of the biggest names in the jazz world have taught or 
studied at the Berklee College of Music and the New England 
Conservatory.”

     For updates on Jazz Week and other JazzBoston initiatives and 
additional information about the organization, visit www.jazzboston.org 
or contact Dawn Singh, Dawn Singh Publicity, 286 Beacon Street #4, 
Boston, MA 02116, 857-544-0739, dawn at dawnsinghpublicity.com.

###

JazzBoston: Who We Are


JazzBoston is led and advised by an ever-expanding group of people who 
represent the depth and breadth of the city’s entire jazz scene.


Board of Directors

Pauline Bilsky, Executive Director — former trustee, New York 
Foundation for the Arts; corporate communications consultant

Don Carlson — Managing Director, Taconic Institute Inc.

Allan Chase — Chair of Contemporary Improvisation, former Dean of 
Faculty, New England Conservatory.

Donal Fox — composer/pianist

José Massó — host, Con Salsa, WBUR-FM.

Larry Simpson, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Berklee 
College of Music

Marianne Solivan — singer; co-founder, Boston Jazz Collective; faculty 
member, Berklee Outreach and Community Music Center of Boston

Fred Taylor — President, HT Productions; Entertainment Director, 
Scullers

Jack Wright – Director of Public Relations, Bank of America Celebrity 
Series

Bob Young — writer


Artistic Advisors

Walter Beasley
Terri Lyne Carrington
Donal Fox
Charlie Kohlhase
Joe Lovano
Danilo Pérez
Carol Sloane


Advisory Council

Alex Alvear, Center for Latino Arts
Michelle Baxter, Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism & Special Events
Bob Blumenthal, music writer    
Fred Bouchard, Berklee College of Music, Downbeat Magazine
Ann Braithwaite, Braithwaite & Katz Communications
Leonard Brown, Northeastern University
Tom Everett, Harvard University, Harvard Jazz Bands
Jon Garelick, Boston Phoenix
Russ Gershon, Accurate Records, Either/Orchestra
Ron Gill, New England Jazz Alliance

Mark Harvey, MIT, trumpeter, composer, Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, minister
Ed Hazell, Boston Creative Music Alliance
Ed Henderson, Boston Jazz Society
Greg Herbst, Regattabar
Eric Hofbauer, guitarist, Emerson College, Creative Nation Records
Fenton Hollander, Water Music, Real Deal Jazz Club and Café
Matthias Lupri, vibraphonist
Will McMillan, singer, songwriter, Boston Association of Cabaret Artists
Scott Menhinick, Improvised Communications
Gary Mitchell, Ryles Jazz Club
Frank Poindexter, Wally’s Café
Rob Rose, Berklee College of Music
Mehmet Sanlikol, pianist, composer, Dunya
Dayla Arabella Santurri, Scullers Jazz Club, American Women in Radio & 
Television
Ken Schaphorst, NEC, composer, Jazz Composers’ Alliance
Steve Schwartz, WGBH Radio
Darryl Settles, Bob’s Southern Bistro, D’Ventures Unlimited Foundation, 
BeanTown Jazz Festival
Dawn Singh, Dawn Singh Publicity
Stan Strickland, singer, saxophonist, flutist, actor
Jeff Turton, WFNX-FM