DEL E. WEBB CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS - WICKENBURG, AZ music * dance * theater * education

Blue Note Tour

Release Date: Jan 14, 2009 Author: Cathy Weiss

WICKENBURG, AZ -

For the past 70 years, Blue Note Records has defined jazz with its distinctive styles of bebop and hard bop.

The label produced and recorded with nearly every major jazz performer -- Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter and more -- to create the genres most extensive and celebrated catalog. This once-in-a-lifetime national tour revisits the sounds, songs and styles that continue to make Blue Note Records a leader in jazz.

The all-star band, assembled with BNRs hottest contemporary musicians, features Bill Charlap (piano/band leader), Peter Bernstein (guitar), Ravi Coltrane (saxophone), Lewis Nash (drums), Nicholas Payton (trumpet), Peter Washington (bass) and Steve Wilson (saxophone).

“This is not a jam session or a concert where the musicians take very long solos and perform "unstructured" music. This program is melodic, groovy, swinging and hip. The band performs beautiful ballads and upbeat exciting tunes. The audience in Seattle gave them multiple standing ovations and was wild for the group. It was so thrilling to see,” said Danny Melnick, the president of Absolutely Live Entertainment, the producer of the Blue Note Records 70th Anniversary tour.

“I might be a little biased, but this is a "must see" event. I even go as far to say that it might be Wickenburgs top concert of the year -- at least thats what the presenter in Seattle said after last weeks triumphant opening night performance,” Melnick added.

The Webb Center is convinced. So certain that jazz lovers will enjoy this show and think its one of the best they’ve seen, the Center is offering a money back guarantee to the jazz lovers in the audience, IF they can honestly say they didn’t enjoy The Blue Note 7 show.

Melnick added, “If you are considering attending this concert but are not entirely sure its "your thing," please do yourself a favor and go for it! I promise you will not be sorry you spent an evening with this fabulous band. Come celebrate creativity, freedom, expression and life! You dig?”

Blue Note Records commemorated the labels 70th anniversary with the release of “Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records,” an eight-song collection of classic Blue Note repertoire re-envisioned by The Blue Note 7. Charlap, who co-produced the album, said, “We chose to record compositions that would honor the label and its key players, whittling it down to eight of our favorites from Blue Notes wide-ranging and extensive catalog."

"The Blue Note 7 is a true collaboration, an all-star band comprised of the next generation of major players, all leaders in their own right," said Bruce Lundvall, president of Blue Note Records, who is also celebrating 25 years since he relaunched the label in 1984 after a hiatus. "They are also the A-list of accomplished arrangers and composers, steeped in the Blue Note tradition, re-imagining this time-honored repertoire in a fresh way."

Arrangements of songs from the Blue Note library will be created for The Blue Note 7 tour appearance at the Webb Center. The tour continues with concerts at universities and concert halls in 50 cities across North America, culminating in a six-night run in mid-April at Birdland in New York.

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