New York, New York) December 6, 2004 - Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola — located in The House of Swing, Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall – will feature pianist, composer and arranger Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and his New Cuban Quartet including Felipe Lamoglia on saxophones, Armando Gola on bass and Ignacio Berroa on drums. The Quartet will be performing music from Rubalcaba's latest CD on Blue Note, Paseo, and revisiting and expanding concepts that the pianist used with his earlier Cuban quartets.

Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola offers spectacular views and serves a jazz inspired menu seven days a week through the collaboration between Great Performances and Spoonbread culinary creators. Reservations can be made at 212-258-9595 or via the Jazz at Lincoln Center web site http://www.jalc.org.

Monday, December 6: UPSTARTS! STUDENT SHOWCASE
7:30PM: Manhattan School of Music Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria
9:30PM: Jam session led by Bobby Sanabria and Ache! until 11:30pm

"The program as a whole, as Wynton has designed, is a great idea. Personal growth through competition… all those talented people on the bandstand, they show each other what they've got… but with lots of love." – Victor Goines, Juilliard Jazz – Artistic Director, on UPSTARTS!

Tuesday, December 7 through Sunday,
December 12: Gonzalo Rubalcaba and the New Cuban Quartet
Two full shows at 7:30PM & 9:30PM. Please note there will not be an 11pm show by Gonzalo Rubalcaba and the New Cuban Quartet on Friday, December 10 and Saturday, December 11. However, there will be an AFTER HOURS set at 11pm from with the Ron Affif Trio featuring Jeff "Tain" Watts and Essiet Okon Essiet.

Gonzalo Rubalcaba (piano), Felipe Lamoglia (saxophones), Armando Gola (bass), Ignacio Berroa (drums).

It's been three years since Havana-born pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba dazzled the jazz world with his patented blend of technical virtuosity and contemplative interpretations of traditional Cuban themes and imaginative originals on his 2001 Blue Note CD Supernova. Artists at the peak of their popularity usually don't risk remaining out of the limelight for so long, but Rubalcaba is no ordinary jazz musician, and the inspired performances on Paseo, his latest as a leader for Blue Note, prove that the wait has been well worth it.

Paseo reprises the quartet format the pianist has used to great advantage on such recordings as Rapsodia and Antiguo (both on Blue Note), but one he hasn't used much in recent years. Paseo presents what he calls his "New Cuban Quartet" and reinterprets some self-penned works that originally debuted on earlier recordings.

"I had that need to begin a new period with the Cuban quartet," the 41-year old musician states. "I felt nostalgic for what I did with my quartet in past years, but it's not only about emotion, it's also about professionalism. I had a feeling that some of the pieces I did in the past still sound very contemporary in connection with what we're doing right now. I think it's a good idea to visit again the concepts that I did with my earlier Cuban quartets. About half of the record is what I did earlier in my career, but the result, I believe, is totally new."

Gonzalo's connection to Dizzy goes back to when the pianist was playing with Grupo Proyecto in Havana during one of the trumpeter's visits to the island. "He was a major inspiration for me and I was deeply honored to have been asked to serve as one of the honorary pallbearers at his funeral in 1993."

****NEXT WEEK AT DIZZY'S CLUB Coca-Cola****

The Marcus Roberts Trio
Two full shows at 7:30PM & 9:30PM. Additional set on Friday & Saturday at 11:00PM

Marcus Roberts (piano), Roland Guerin (bass), Jason Marsalis (drums)

The Marcus Roberts Trio was founded in 1993 in order to carry on and expand the language of the great jazz trios, including those of Nat "King" Cole, Oscar Peterson, Errol Garner, and Ahmad Jamal. Roberts first met drummer Jason Marsalis during his own days in the Wynton Marsalis Septet in the mid-to-late 1980s. Jason was just 10 years old at that time. Roberts had the goal of creating a whole new style of jazz trio playing and after trying a series of drummers and bassists over a two-year period, Roberts in late 1994 asked Marsalis, then only 17 years, to join his band. A few months later Roland Guerin played with Roberts for the first time and from the beginning, he made the trio sound complete. The philosophy and style of Marcus Roberts Trio was born and continues to steadily evolve.

The groups' most recent recording, New Orleans Meets Harlem, was completed in March of 2004 and will be released in the coming year. A special pre-release version is available now. The recording features Roberts' new arrangements of works by five pianists—Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk (plus a great Marcus Roberts' original entitled "Searching for the Blues").

Thoughts on playing at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola: I am very excited about performing at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola. This club will be a great place for musicians to congregate, hear each other, and share varied artistic perspectives. I think that the club will also attract jazz audiences with broad musical tastes. The interplay between the artist and the audience has always played a major role in the development of jazz music so I really look forward to that exchange during our week here at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola.

We look forward to playing a lot of different music during our time here. During the first set each night, we will focus on how ragtime, New Orleans music, and the music of Harlem all influenced one other. So, we'll play some Joplin, Morton, Ellington and works from a number of other important artists from that time. During the second set each night, we will play a wide range of music, some original compositions, some jazz standards, and a number of new Monk and Coltrane arrangements that we've been working on. We have been playing together as a trio for nearly 10 years now so we have a lot of music to choose from. But we are always working on new arrangements and new music. So we will be exploring a lot of that in the later set each night.

Dizzy Gillespie is one of the best known and most loved jazz artists. His name is practically synonymous with jazz itself so it's appropriate that this club should bear his name. Dizzy is one of the masters who helped to create, codify, and teach the bebop style of improvisation, and his legendary status is well deserved. In addition to expanding the range and function of the trumpet in modern jazz, he also served as a mentor for many of the young bebop musicians who would become major forces later on, including Ray Brown and Oscar Pettiford. Even John Coltrane played for a time in Dizzy's big band. Dizzy's love for Latin music helped to bring the sound of that music into jazz. His legacy will endure for years to come. - Marcus Roberts

More on The Marcus Roberts Trio: Marcus Roberts has won numerous awards and competitions throughout his career. During the first fifteen years of his professional life he completed over thirty recordings, with more than a dozen of them as a leader. All of his recordings, whether solo piano, with trio, big band, or symphony orchestra have been critically acclaimed.

The Marcus Roberts Trio is unlike any trio in the world due to three unique musical personalities that combine into a singular concept and voice. During his years at Florida State University, Roberts studied classical piano but his first love has always been jazz. His 1996 recording, Portraits in Blue, was the first to showcase the art of jazz improvisation within a traditional classical setting and he continues to pursue new ways to combine the sounds of jazz and classical music. Roland Guerin is one of the few bassists alive today who has mastered, and indeed extended, the slap bass technique. His playing enriches the playing of Roberts and Marsalis. Drummer Jason Marsalis has also been instrumental to the development of the style of the trio. His unique ability to freely manipulate rhythms, tempos and colors while providing supportive accompaniment, gives his band mates the freedom and motivation to test the limits of their creativity.

AFTER HOURS SETS Tuesday-Saturday, December 14-18 After Hours: Eric Lewis Duo. Tuesday-Thursday set starts at 11PM; Friday & Saturday set starts after last artist set.

Monday, December 13: UPSTARTS! STUDENT SHOWCASE

7:30 PM: Juilliard Jazz Ensemble
9:30 PM: Ali Jackson Trio

A Dizzy Atmosphere
Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola was the happening scene once again this past week as the stars turned out to see organist Joey DeFrancesco. His Goodfella musical rival Joe Pesci sat in and sang on two songs while funny man Robin Williams noticing the egg-like lighting fixture on the table made that unforgettable line from Mork and Mindy, "Fly and be free!" He later took a tour of the adjacent Allen Room and said, "Yea Marsalis." Papa John DeFrancesco and Cedar Walton made the closing night as well.

Earlier in the week during Joey D's run, Late Show band leader Paul Shaffer made the trek up Broadway to the House of Swing.

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Jazz at Lincoln Center is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to jazz. With the world-renowned Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and a comprehensive array of guest artists, Jazz at Lincoln Center advances a unique vision for the continued development of the art of jazz by producing a year-round schedule of performance, education, and broadcast events for audiences of all ages. These productions include concerts, national and international tours, residencies, weekly national radio and television programs, recordings, publications, an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, a band director academy, a jazz appreciation curriculum for children, advanced training through the Julliard Institute for Jazz Studies, music publishing, children's concerts, lectures, adult education courses, film programs, and student and educator workshops. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, President & CEO Hughlyn F. Fierce, Executive Director Derek E. Gordon, Chairman of the Board Lisa Schiff and Jazz at Lincoln Center Board and staff, Jazz at Lincoln Center will produce hundreds of events during its 2004-05 season. This is the inaugural season in Jazz at Lincoln Center's new home — Frederick P. Rose Hall — the first-ever performance, education, and broadcast facility devoted to jazz.  

For more information on Jazz at Lincoln Center, please visit www.jalc.org.