Jazz Legend Tribute Features At National Jazz Festival

MEDIA RELEASE: Tuesday 29 March 2011

Jazz Legend Tribute Features At National Jazz Festival In Tauranga at Easter

A special tribute to jazz legend Russell Garcia will be a highlight at the National Jazz Festival’s TV3 Jazz Village this year.

Award-winning New York jazz vocalist Shaynee Rainbolt will join the Russ Garcia Four Trombone Band for this very special performance: Charmed Life: Russell Garcia 95th Birthday Celebration on Sunday 24 April at the TV3 Jazz Village.

“This is going to be one of those very special performances which will bring the Sunday programme to a memorable end,” says National Jazz Festival director Arne Herrmann. “The legendary Russell Garcia sharing the stage with his most recent collaborator, Shaynee Rainbolt – unforgettable!”

The line-up for the TV3 Jazz Village and the Downtown Tauranga Carnival has just been announced with more than 45 New Zealand and international bands playing at the two events across three days.

The Downtown Tauranga Carnival takes place in the central city on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 April with four stages showcasing a diverse assortment of jazz and including the World of JAZZ at Aspen Reserve. The TV3 Jazz Village takes place at the Historic Village on Sunday 24 and Monday 25 April and features more than 25 bands on four stages as well as strolling bands, food, art stalls and activities for children.

“The Downtown Tauranga Carnival and the TV3 Jazz Village are fun events for the wider community, bringing jazz music to everyone,” Mr Herrmann says.

The TV3 Jazz Village has become a firm favourite at the National Jazz Festival and Mr Herrmann says it just keeps getting better and this year, the Russ Garcia concert makes it extra special.

Internationally renowned composer, conductor and arranger, Russell Garcia, is a legend who has written and arranged for some of the greatest stars in the jazz world including Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Anita O’Day and Mel Torme.

He began playing the cornet at five and started composing music. At 11-years-old the Oakland Symphony Orchestra performed his arrangement of Stardust and by the time he was in high school he was working five nights a week playing music and earning more than his father.

“I’ve been able to read music since I was little. I don’t know how. If I take up a sheet of manuscript paper and a pen, there’s a whole orchestra playing in my head.”He went on to conduct the West Hollywood Symphony Orchestra, worked with Henry Mancini on The Glenn Miller Story, Charlie Chaplin for Limelight; and arranged/conducted the music for the album Porgy and Bess for Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.

In 1966 he and his wife left the United States to sail the Pacific Ocean carrying the message of peace and in 1969 they arrived in New Zealand, fell in love with the country and have stayed.

Also lining up at the village is Frank Gibson Hardbopmobile, TinTom Mik, Phil Broadhurst, Mauao Pac, Soul2C, the Tauranga Big Band, Kokomo and Tom Radwell and Storehouse. A special Women in Jazz Series features Colleen Davis, Marion Arts, Edwina Thorne, Julie Mason, Carol Storey and Alana Milson, while anyone can bring their instrument along and join in on the Hot House Jamming Stage.

Tickets for the TV3 Jazz Village are $15 adults and free for children under 14 and TECT card-holders. Tickets can be pre-booked and there will be two entrances into the village from 17th Avenue.

The Downtown Tauranga Carnival runs from noon to 5pm on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 April with four stages – Classic Hits Stage at The Strand, Strand 2, Red Square and a special WOrld of JAZZ (WOJAZZ) stage. The four stages host a diverse range of jazz artists including De Sotos, Mike Garner Trio, the Royal New Zealand Air Force quintet, Grant Winterburn, Leon Wharekura and Black Sand Diva.

The WOJAZZ Stage features Zho Zho, World Population, Carolina Moon’s Mother Tongue Project, Manteca and Tait Kora.

The Downtown Tauranga Carnival and TV3 Jazz Village are just two of the highlights of the 49th National Jazz Festival held in Tauranga over Easter from 21-25 April and as one of the oldest jazz festivals in the world, the National Jazz Festival is an iconic event on the music calendar in New Zealand.

A new daily guide to the 49th National Jazz Festival, including the programmes for the Downtown Tauranga Carnival and TV3 Jazz Village, is now available. The full programme line up for the 49th National Jazz Festival is available at wwwjazz.org.nz

Book tickets at Ticket Direct by phoning 0800 4TICKET (484 253) or at www.ticketdirect.co.nz

ENDS

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