Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour Comes to Boulder Theater Today

Monterey Jazz Festival, world-renowned for its artistic excellence, sophisticated informality, and longstanding mission to create and support year-round jazz education and performance programs in local, regional, national, and international venues, continues this commitment in 2013 with its third North American Tour, featuring critically-acclaimed, GRAMMY-winning jazz artists.

Z2 Entertainment presents Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour at the Boulder Theater today, April 24th, 2013. Tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday, December 14th, 2012 at 10:00 am for $25 general admission seated, $32 reserved & $40 gold circle.

The Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour 55th Anniversary Celebration, featuring vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, bassist and musical director Christian McBride, pianist Benny Green, drummer Lewis Nash, saxophonist Chris Potter, and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, will perform 45 shows beginning on January 10, 2013 in Santa Cruz, Calif., and will make stops in 40 cities in 23 States across the United States, Canada, and Washington D.C. through April 28.

Highlights of the nine-week tour will include a six-night run at the Blue Note in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; the Epcor Center in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; the Chicago Symphony Center in Chicago; and Benaroya Hall in Seattle.

Members of the 55th Anniversary on Tour Band have deep relationships with Monterey Jazz Festival and have a commitment to the cultivation of jazz audiences worldwide. Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater made her first appearance at the Monterey Jazz in Festival in 1973 with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra; bassist Christian McBridehas appeared at the Festival eight times since 1994, including acting as the Festival's Artist-In-Residence in 2008; pianist Benny Green made the first of his eight performances at the Festival (as a 15-year-old in 1978) as the pianist in the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra; drummer Lewis Nash has appeared at the Festival twice since 2001; saxophonist Chris Potter made the first of his eight Festival appearances in 1997 and was a featured member of Dave Holland's "Monterey Quartet," which performed and recorded at the Monterey Jazz Festival's 50th Anniversary in 2007; and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, a two-time member of the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, has made four appearances at the Festival since the 1990s, including acting as Monterey's Artist-In-Residence in 2012.

"Our 55th Anniversary Celebration is shaping up to be our best tour yet," said Tim Jackson, artistic director of Monterey Jazz Festival. "The band's debut at the 2012 Monterey Jazz Festival was an overwhelming success and the chemistry between the artists is amazing. The music swings with ferocity and fun!"

"The band's two sets at the 55th Monterey Jazz Festival this past September were the highlights of the event," said Danny Melnick, president of Absolutely Live Entertainment and producer of the 2013 tour. "They performed stunning versions of classic tunes by Horace Silver, Bobby Hutcherson, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday and even the Isley Brothers, in addition to original compositions. The audience loved the performances and I am sure the tour concerts will be stellar."

The longest continuously-running jazz festival in the world, the Monterey Jazz Festival has presented nearly every major jazz star-from Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong to Esperanza Spalding and Trombone Shorty-since it was founded in 1958.

All-Star bands at Monterey have been a long-standing tradition at the Monterey Jazz Festival since 1966. In recent years, the Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary All-Stars (featuring Terence Blanchard, James Moody, Benny Green, Nnenna Freelon,Derrick Hodge, and Kendrick Scott) performed a ten-week tour of the United States, performing for 44,000 fans in 52 cities in 22 states in 2008. A recording by the group,Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival on Monterey Jazz Festival Records, won Terence Blanchard a GRAMMY.

In 2010, the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour group played for over 26,000 fans on a six-week, 34-date tour through 17 states, and featured NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron on piano; violinist Regina Carter; guitarist Russell Malone; vocalist Kurt Elling; bassistKiyoshi Kitagawa; and drummer Johnathan Blake.

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