Jazz at Lincoln Center
33 West 60th St., 11th floor
New York, NY 10023
www.jazzatlincolncenter.org

January 24, 2005

For More Information, Please Contact:
DON LUCOFF, DL Media  (610) 667-0501, dondlmedia@covad.net
JANA LASORTE, Janlyn PR  (973) 762-7954, jana@janlynpr.com
SCOTT H. THOMPSON, Jazz at Lincoln Center (212) 258-9807, sthompson@jalc.org

LISTING INFORMATION:
Venue: Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center
Event: Stefon Harris and Blackout, January 25-30, 2005
Address: Frederick P. Rose Hall - Broadway at 60th Street, 5th Floor
Artist Sets: 7:30 & 9:30pm every day / Also 11pm Friday & Saturday
After Hours Sets: 11pm Tuesday-Thursday / 12:30am Friday-Saturday
Monday: Monday, January 24: Upstarts!
Manhattan School of Music Concert Band and Ali Jackson Trio
Doors Open: 6pm for 7:30pm set / 9pm for 9:30pm set
Admission: $30 music charge for artist sets / $10 After Hours sets
Student Prices: Sun, Tues, Wed 9:30pm set $15 with valid student ID / After Hours $5 with valid student ID / Upstarts! $10 for students with valid ID
Minimum: $10 tables / $5 bar all shows
Reservations: (212) 258 9595 or www.jalc.org

(New York, NY) January 24, 2005 - Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola -- located in The House of Swing, Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall – proudly presents one of the most outstanding vibraphonists and composers on the scene today, Stefon Harris. The forward-thinking musician has become one of the leaders in the exploration of the outer limits of expression in jazz. For six nights at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Harris and his band will be performing music from his riveting new Blue Note recording, Evolution.

Tuesday, January 25 through Sunday, January 30:
Stefon Harris and Blackout
Stefon Harris (vibes/marimba), Casey Benjamin (alto saxophone), Marc Cary (piano/keyboards), Darryl Hall (bass), Terreon Gully (drums)

Two full artist sets at 7:30pm & 9:30pm. Additional set on Friday & Saturday at 11pm.

Stefon Harris doesn’t so much push the envelope, as expand the expressive parameters of the jazz experience. The Grammy-nominated vibraphonist, along with his new group, Blackout, will provide six evenings of relentlessly contemporary jazz explorations that reflect a fresh and forward-looking musical imagination. Stefon and his band will be performing music from his latest recording on Blue Note Records, Evolution. In recent years Harris has established himself as the most important and most creative vibraphonist of his generation. He's proven himself to be a master of the instrument as well as a talented composer and bandleader. He recorded two critically acclaimed Blue Note albums in a small-group setting, A Cloud of Red Dust (1998) and Black Action Figure (1999), and co-led a quartet with pianist Jacky Terrasson on the superb 2001 recording Kindred (both Black Action Figure and Kindred earned Grammy nominations). The logical next step in the maturation of the future jazz giant was to write and arrange for a large ensemble. Harris took that leap of jazz faith with an 11-movement suite he composed and arranged as a commissioned work for the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, New York. The March 3, 2001 premiere was met with such praise that less than a month later Harris assembled a 12-piece ensemble in the studio to document the piece for Blue Note — The Grand Unification Theory, a sweeping 70-minute epic of bright swing, indelible groove, dreamy balladry as well as pockets of music tinged with Latin, African and Classical influences. A native of Albany, New York and a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music (with both B.S. and M.A. degrees), Harris has reaped plenty of plaudits in his career, including a glowing critique by Los Angeles Times critic Don Heckman, who wrote, "If any single young artist is going to be a major star in the next few years, it's Harris." In addition to his work as a solo artist, Harris has recorded and performed as a sideman with a range of musicians, including Joe Henderson, Cassandra Wilson, Steve Coleman and Charlie Hunter. Harris is currently Artist in Residence at San Francisco Performances. The experience writing for a large ensemble inspired Harris to compose more. He's written another suite, The Gardner Meditations, which was the creative result of a residency at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. That's on deck for a future CD.

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, January 17 UPSTARTS!:
7:30 & 9:30pm: Manhattan School of Music Concert Band, Ali Jackson Trio and Friends – Jammin’ With Jackson

Ali Jackson on "Jammin' With Jackson": "Every week we feature world-renowned rhythm section artists. We encourage the most dedicated and hungry young musicians to participate in the most traditional educational forum in jazz (the jam session). The goal of this program is to encourage, promote and inspire young talent. Giving people from all walks of life the opportunity to experience the making of great jazz performers and artists." This program represents musicians in the making. Ali Jackson bridges the gap between the young eager musician and the seasoned jazz all-star. With no hidden agendas all participants can feel free to express their art form with no reservation or intimidation. The session is open to all jazz artists ( which can include dancers, poets, and others). Jackson added, "Our current success rate makes me confident that we are bringin' and swingin' the music to the grass roots."

AFTER HOURS SETS
Tuesday-Saturday, January 25-29 After Hours:
After Hours: Ron Affif Trio

Tuesday-Thursday set starts at 11pm; Friday & Saturday set starts at 12:30am.

Much in demand, New York City-based guitarist Ron Affif is the nephew of guitarist Ron Anthony (who played with George Shearing and Frank Sinatra), Affif received his first guitar lesson from his uncle when he was 12. After high school, he moved to Los Angeles in 1984, playing with Dick Berk, Dave Pike, Pete Christlieb, and Jack Sheldon, and recording a quartet date for the R.A. Records label in 1987. Two years later, he moved to New York and has since worked mostly as a leader. Affif, an excellent bop-based guitarist whose style was influenced by Joe Pass and George Benson (both of whom in turn enjoyed his playing), has recorded several impressive albums for Pablo.

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

Tuesday, February 1 through Sunday, February 6: Brazilian Carnaval Universal with Cyro Baptista & Friends
Two full artist sets at 7:30pm & 9:30pm.

Additional set on Friday & Saturday at 11pm.

Accomplished musician Cyro Baptista plays the complete range of percussion instruments from his native Brazil, as well as many other world instruments. Based out of New York, he has performed and recorded with Paquito D'Rivera, John Zorn, Laurie Anderson, Herbie Mann, Caetano Veloso, Cassandra Wilson, Holly Cole and others. Mr. Baptista’s varied resume speaks of the strength of his musicianship, equally at home in pop, world and jazz. Cyro Baptista’s band members include Max Pollak (tap, percussion, vocals), Viva DeConcini (guitar, percussion, vocals), Zé Mauricio (percussion, vocals), Chikako Iwahori (tap, percussion, vocals), Tim Keiper (drums, percussion), Brian Marsella (keyboard, percussion), with special guests Anat Cohen (clarinet, saxophone), Rob Curto (accordion), Pedro Ramos (cavaquinho), Romero Lubambo (guitar), Nicholas Young (tap, percussion) and Colombian harpist Edmar Castaneda. More guests to be announced. Guests will come in different nights, not all at the same show.

AFTER HOURS SETS
Tuesday-Saturday, January 25-29 After Hours: Ron Affif Trio

Monday, February 7 UPSTARTS!:
Juilliard Jazz Ensemble

You never know who's going to show up at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola.

**************

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.