Monterey Jazz Festival and Monterey Museum of Art Present
Special Concert, Preview of Henri Matisse's "Jazz" Exhibition,
and Display of MJF Images, June 26, 2007

Concert to Feature Internationally-Renowned Jazz Musicians Paul Contos,
Bruce Forman, Vince Lateano and Scott Steed,
with Special Guest Terence Blanchard

Rarely Seen Entire Portfolio of Matisse's "Jazz"
and 50 Years of MJF Posters, Program Covers
and Historic Images on Display June 16 - October 21, 2007

May 15, 2007; Monterey, California; The Monterey Jazz Festival, a leader in jazz education since 1958 and winner of the 2005 and 2006 JazzTimes Readers’ Poll for Best Festival, is pleased to announce a special concert on June 26, 2007 at the Monterey Museum of Art at 8 pm, with special guest MJF Artist-In-Residence, Grammy winning trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard. Produced in partnership with the Museum, the concert will complement the Museum's Henri Matisse: Jazz exhibition of important and rarely seen prints, and a display of historical posters, program covers and images covering the MJF’s 50 years. The June 26 event includes a special private viewing of the exhibition. Proceeds will benefit MJF’s Jazz Education Programs and the Monterey Museum of Art.

The concert features the talents of the musicians who make up the core of MJF’s Traveling Clinicians program, and are internationally known for their stellar performances: Bruce Forman, guitar; Paul Contos, saxophone; Vince Lateano, drums; and Scott Steed, bass. Terence Blanchard will also perform on trumpet, adding his distinctive musical voice to the mix.

Tickets for this event, which includes a cocktail and hors d'oeuvre reception and private exhibit viewing at MMA’s Pacific Street location, are $100. Doors open at 6:30 pm, reception begins at 7 pm and the concert begins at 8 pm. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.montereyart.org or contact the museum at (831) 372-5477 x20.

ABOUT THE CONCERT
Taking place in the Work Gallery alongside the Matisse exhibition at the Monterey Museum of Art, the distinguished musicians will perform jazz standards and repertoire from their own books. Blanchard, Contos and Forman previously played together at the Festival’s Next Generation Festival Kick-Off Concert and Salute to Jazz Education on March 23, 2007 at the Golden State Theatre in downtown Monterey to a packed house. Forman, Lateano, Steed and Contos are among the primary musicians who travel to middle and high schools in Monterey County as participants in the MJF “Traveling Clinicians Program” where they work directly with students to shape their skills as musicians. Collectively, they have toured internationally and have recorded with some of the world’s leading jazz artists, including Grover Washington, Jr., Freddie Hubbard, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Dianne Reeves, Horace Silver and Diane Schuur. 

Joining the clinicians as a guest artist will be trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard, one of the leading artists of his generation. Born in New Orleans in 1962, he replaced Wynton Marsalis in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1983.

Lauded for both his soundtracks and small group work, Blanchard’s accolades include multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for the soundtracks to Mo’ Better Blues, The Heart Speaks, The Promised Land and 25th Hour, as well as instrumental and album Grammy nominations for Wandering Moon, Let’s Get Lost and Flow.

In 2005, Terence won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for his participation on McCoy Tyner’s Illuminations, an award he shared with Tyner, Gary Bartz, Christian McBride and Lewis Nash.

As a soundtrack composer, Blanchard has enjoyed an association with the film director and actor Spike Lee. Starting with 1991’s Jungle Fever, some of Terence’s scores for Lee’s screen and television films include Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Four Little Girls, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, Inside Man and 2006’s four-hour Hurricane Katrina documentary for HBO, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. Blanchard will perform music from that documentary with his group and the Monterey Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra at MJF/50 on September 22 on the Arena stage. He will also perform with his own quintet and with the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation Jazz Orchestra during the 50th weekend in September 2007.

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
The Monterey Museum of Art is proud to unveil one of the most significant works from its own collection. Henri Matisse is widely acknowledged as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. In 1947, while recovering from a prolonged illness and unable to paint, Matisse picked up scissors and vibrantly colored construction papers and created a series of dynamic cut paper collages, which were then transferred to screen prints. In total, about 20 of the brightly-colored images comprise the series, which was sold as a limited edition book of loose prints. Nearly all of the editions are held in museums across the world. A celebration of visual and musical rhythm and color, the Jazz portfoliowill be displayed in its entirety at the Museum’s Pacific Street location.

Jazz bursts with the energy of chance, capturing the freewheeling attitude and sound of the music. In a sense, Matisse was able to hear jazz with his eyes, and looking towards the future, successfully rendered not only the nonfigurative attitude of art and music, he was able to firmly place abstraction into the minds of every viewer to make a connection with the work, uniting both the subject and onlooker.

As the artist wrote to a friend in late 1947, "There are wonderful things in real jazz, the talent for improvisation, the liveliness, the being at one with the audience." Jazz stands as one of the artistic triumphs of the 20th century.

In celebration of the Monterey Jazz Festival’s 50th Anniversary, Henri Matisse: Jazz will be accompanied by an exhibition featuring the fifty years of Monterey Jazz Festival posters, and can be seen at the Monterey Museum of Art from June 16 through October 21, 2007.

Created as singular images to promote the Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival posters of the last 50 years have become legendary for their representation of the time, place and attitude of the era. From the early days when the posters were created as hand pulled lithographs to the contemporary ones produced through the offset process, the collection will feature such artists and designers as Earl Newman, Batista Moon Studios, Ron Grauer, Harry Briggs, and Jerry Takigawa. The posters feature abstract and figurative designs and are noted for their constantly striking and memorable images. Vintage MJF posters are still on the market today as collector items.

The posters have been also memorialized in a book produced in celebration of the Festival’s 50th year, entitled “The Art of Jazz / MJF 50 Years,” which tells the story of the Festival through its graphic imagery and photographic moments, capturing the MJF experience through posters, program covers, and exclusive photographs dating back to 1958. “The Art of Jazz” includes images from each of the Festival’s five decades, a list of artists who have performed at MJF, along with a decade-by-decade look at the world and the Festival.

Henri Matisse: Jazz is sponsored by Carolyn Samson and Darius Sadeghi, Suzanne and Stephen Diamond, the Dunspaugh Dalton Foundation, and First National Bank.

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LISTING INFO:
WHAT: MJF, Matisse, and the Monterey Museum of Art present classic jazz

WHO: Bruce Forman, Paul Contos, Vince Lateano, Scott Steed with special guest Terence Blanchard

WHERE: Monterey Museum of Art, 559 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA 93940

WHEN: Tuesday, June 26, 2007; reception 7 pm, concert 8 pm

HOW MUCH: $100 general public. Call 831-372-5477 for more information and to purchase tickets

For more information, interview opportunities and hi resolution photographs, please contact:

Timothy Orr, Marketing and Public Relations Associate
Monterey Jazz Festival
Direct Line: 510-652-1122 /MJF Phone: 831-373-3366 X252
Email: timorr@montereyjazzfestival.org

or

Susan Grant, Public Relations
Monterey Museum of Art
(831) 372-5477 X12
Email: sgrant@montereyart.org

ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

Terence Blanchard, trumpet
Trumpeter Terence Blanchard is one of the leading artists of his generation. Born in New Orleans in 1962, he began to play the trumpet in elementary school and was mentored by pianist and jazz patriarch, Ellis Marsalis. He attended Rutgers University in New Jersey, toured with vibraphone icon Lionel Hampton and in 1983, he replaced Wynton Marsalis in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. By 1985, Terence and fellow Messenger saxophonist Donald Harrison formed a critically acclaimed project that lasted through the end of the decade.

Blanchard pursued a solo career in 1990, ultimately recording eight albums for the Columbia and Sony Classical labels, including Jazz in Film, Let’s Get Lost and Wandering Moon. In 2003 he signed with the Blue Note label, releasing Bounce and Flow to critical success. Lauded for both his soundtracks and small group work, Blanchard’s accolades include multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Mo’ Better Blues, The Heart Speaks, The Promised Land and The 25th Hour, as well as instrumental and album Grammy nominations for Wandering Moon, Let’s Get Lost and Flow. In 2005, Terence won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for his participation on McCoy Tyner’s Illuminations, an award he shared with Tyner, Gary Bartz, Christian McBride and Lewis Nash. As a soundtrack composer, Blanchard has enjoyed an association with the film director and actor Spike Lee. Starting with 1991’s Jungle Fever, some of Terence’s scores for Lee’s screen and television films include Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Four Little Girls, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, Inside Man and 2006’s four-hour Hurricane Katrina documentary for HBO, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.

Bruce Forman, guitar
Guitarist extraordinaire, composer, author, recording artist, and jazz educator Bruce Forman has performed at most major jazz festivals and clubs around the world and has shared the stage with such jazz luminaries as Stanley Turrentine, Grover Washington, Jr., Freddie Hubbard, Ray Brown, Eddie Jefferson, and Richie Cole. His many recording titles include the critically acclaimed Forman On The Job (Kamei Recordings) which features Joe Henderson, In the Still Of The Night (Kamei), Pardon Me, There Are Times, Full Circle, and Dynamics (Concord Jazz) just to name a few. In addition, Bruce has recorded with the likes of Bobby Hutcherson, Tom Harrell, George Cables, Mark Murphy, Jimmy Knepper, and more. To quote famed guitarist Barney Kessel, “Bruce Forman is one of the great lights of our age on guitar right now.” Labeled a “composer of merit” by Leonard Feather and praised by JazzTimes for his harmonic sophistication and improvisational finesse, Bruce has taught at music workshops and universities across the globe. In addition to his role as guitar clinician for the Monterey Jazz Festival, Bruce founded the Jazz Masters jazz workshops and has scribed an instructional guide, The Jazz Guitarist’s Handbook as well as produced the popular video, Jazz Guitar Soloing.

Vince Lateano, drums
Renowned Bay Area drummer Vince Lateano began his professional career as a jazz drummer in the ninth grade. At the age of eighteen, Vince went on the road with pianist Carmen Cavallaro, and on his return to the Bay Area, Vince established himself in San Francisco playing with the likes of Eddie Duran and Vince Guaraldi. He toured with the Woody Herman Band, a band that included Alan Broadbent and Sal Nistico, returned once again to the Bay Area and eventually joined the Cal Tjader group with whom he played until Cal’s untimely death in 1982. Vince appeared on six recordings with Cal including the Grammy Award winning La Onda Va Bien! and the Grammy nominated Gozame! Pero Ya. Other recording credits include albums with Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Tania Maria, Tom Harrell, Al Cohn, Clare Fischer, Mark Murphy, Eddie Duran, Bill Perkins, Carmen McRae, and Bruce Forman, among others. In addition, Vince has performed with numerous artists including Scott Hamilton, Joe Henderson, Art Farmer, Charlie Byrd, Bill Berry, Benny Carter, John Handy, Chet Baker, Mundell Lowe, and Marlena Shaw.

Paul Contos, saxophone
Paul is a concert performer and woodwind specialist, and has performed with many world renowned jazz artists including Clark Terry, Roy Hargrove, Jon Hendricks, Joe Williams, Dianne Reeves, and others. He has recorded with Dave Leibman, Peter Erskine, John Patitucci, Richie Beirach, Alan Broadbent, Terence Blanchard, Charlie Haden, Don Cherry, John Abercrombie, and Alex Acuna. He is currently is a member of the faculty at California State University, Monterey Bay and saxophone instructor at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He serves as Director of MJF’s High School Honor Band and Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, and is the Clinician Liaison for MJF’s Traveling Clinician Program.

Scott Steed, bass
After a highly successful 16-year career in the San Francisco Bay Area, jazz bassist Scott Steed now calls the Portland area his home. Scott began his career as a young man in Grand Rapids Michigan where he played with his family’s band. At twelve he joined a local big band and at fifteen he had a private lesson with bass legend Milt Hinton, an event which he considers to be a turning point for him in his career. After relocating to the Bay Area, Scott began to perform regularly with the Martha Young Trio and backed such prominent performers as Joe Henderson, Buddy Montgomery, and Richie Cole. He was the bassist for the national tour of the Horace Silver Quintet and also toured with Joe Williams, The Norman Simmons Quartet, Rebecca Paris, and Kitty Margolis, among others. Among the many recordings on which Scott has played include Kitty Margolis Album (Mad Kat Records), Shanna Carlson (Bout Time Records), Friends (KEDABR) featuring Kenny Hadley and Rebecca Paris, and Mark Murphy’s September Ballads (Milestone Records) which was nominated for a Grammy Award. Some of the artists Scott has performed with include Kevin Mahogany, Bobby Hutcherson, Terry Gibbs, Jessica Williams, Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel, Ernie Watts, Stan Getz, Tootie Heath, and Tom Harrell. Most recently, Scott serves as the regular bassist for Grammy Award winning vocalist/pianist Diane Schuur. Since 1990, Scott has been the bass clinician with the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Traveling Clinician Program.