[members-announce] Tickets on sale for Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, Oct. 4-7

[JazzPittsfield at aol.com]

Pittsfield CityJazz  Festival Tickets on Sale  at Online Box Office and  
Local Venues; Oct. 4-7 Event Includes Concerts,  Documentary Films  
PITTSFIELD,  Massachusetts, Sept. 17, 2007 – Tickets are now on sale for the 
third  annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, which takes place throughout the 
city on  Columbus Day weekend, Oct. 4-7. Tickets may be purchased online at 
_www.PittsfieldCityJazz.org_ (http://www.pittsfieldcityjazz.org/) , as well as 
several local outlets. These include  the Pittsfield  Visitors  Center, 109  
South Street (Colonial Theatre Annex, 413-443-9186,  ext. 321); and the Adams 
Visitors Center, 3 Hoosac Street, Adams, both of which  accept cash, check, 
Master Card, Visa, Discover. The following  Pittsfield venues will also be  selling 
tickets during their normal operating hours (cash and check only):  
    *   Berkshire  Music  School, 30  Wendell Ave.;  
    *   Lichtenstein  Center for the Performing Arts,  28 Renne Ave.;   
    *   Wood Brothers,  Allendale Shopping  Center, 
    *   Miller Supply, 205 West  St.,  
    *   Berkshire Fine  Handcrafts, 431 North  Street, and  
    *   Taconic  High School,  96 Valentine  Rd.
The Pittsfield CityJazz Festival includes something for everybody: a  night 
of music featuring groups headed by women; a Latin Jazz Dance Party; a  special 
Jazz orchestra comprising  Pittsfield high school students;  documentary Jazz 
films; and the return of two remarkable performers from last  year’s event. 
Once again dozens of local restaurants will be featuring  regionally-based 
artists in free performances before (and in some cases after)  the concerts. 
Percussion master Winard Harper, who appeared last year with Billy  Taylor, 
will open the festival on Oct. 4 with his own sextet, at Masonic Hall.  Harper 
will also be featured with the Williams College Jazz Ensemble, one of the  
premier collegiate bands in New England, performing  material adapted for big 
band by Andy Jaffe, director of the Ensemble. Harper’s  appearance is presented 
in conjunction with the Women of Color Giving Circle.  Adults $25 (students 
with I.D., $10 at the door). 
Friday, Oct. 5 will feature a Latin Jazz Dance Party, with the big band  of 
Alex Torres and his Latin Jazz Kings, at the  Crowne  Plaza hotel. Torres will 
also conduct  a percussion clinic and master class at 5:30pm (no admission 
charge for the clinic). $10 general  admission, a special price thanks to an 
anonymous underwriter. 
On Saturday afternoon, Oct. 6, two documentary Jazz films will be  screened 
at the Berkshire  Museum’s Little Cinema. The double  feature will include the 
northeast debut of “Electric Heart,” chronicling the  short life but 
remarkable career of trumpeter Don Ellis, and “Music Inn,”  documenting the legendary 
Jazz resort in the Berkshire  Hills of western  Massachusetts. Tickets for 
this  event at the Berkshire  Museum only,  39 South Street,  Pittsfield. 
Tickets are $7 ($5 for  Berkshire  Museum members). 
The Women In Jazz evening on Oct. 6 will include perennial poll-winner  
Claire Daly and her quartet; Seattle  émigré and current mid-Hudson stalwart 
pianist Peggy Stern and her quartet; and  guest soloist alto saxophonist Grace 
Kelly, who made a surprise appearance at  least year’s Festival, jamming with NEA 
Jazz Master Phil Woods. “Women In Jazz”  is being presented in collaboration 
with the Breast Cancer Awareness initiative,  with the underwriting support of 
the Legacy Banks Foundation. It will take place  at St. Stephen’s Church. 
Tickets are $25 (Students: $10 at the door). 
On Sunday, Oct. 7, the festival wraps up with a specially commissioned  work 
featuring  pianist John Medeski  and an all-star Jazz orchestra comprising 
students from  Pittsfield high schools, under the  direction of Bill Chapman. It 
will take place at  Taconic High  School. Tickets are $10 ($5 for  students). 
In addition, several restaurants and bars will be feature live Jazz  before 
(and in some cases after) the headline performances. And, the Festival  will 
again be bringing Jazz into the schools. 
The event is an activity of Cultural Pittsfield, the mayor’s office of  
cultural development, and is co-sponsored by the  Berkshire  Music  School. Among 
the underwriters for  this year’s events are: 
    *   The Legacy Banks Foundation; 
    *   Nickelodeon, which is sponsoring the youth Jazz  orchestra with 
special guest composer and piano soloist John Medeski;   
    *   Time Warner Cable; 
    *   The Red Lion Inn; 
    *   Greylock Federal Credit Union and KB Toys  (education sponsors), and  
    *   Lenox Softworks. 
Further ticket information is available at 413-443-9186, ext.  321. 
# # # 
Press Contact: Ed Bride, 413-442-7718 [JazzPittsfield at AOL.com] 




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