HOUSTON,
TX. (Houston International Jazz Festival) - The
Houston International
Jazz Festival kicks-off its 15th year with three days of exceptional
musical entertainment at Bayou Place and the Verizon Wireless Theater.
The event begins its international focus with Asian Night on August 5th
featuring Hiroshima. On August 6th, a titillating night of Latin Jazz
serves as the second international component with Tito Puente, Jr. and
local sensation Norma Zenteno and her band. To close-out the Festival
on August 7th, an evening of exhilarating Smooth Jazz is the highlight.
"Guitars & Saxes" rolls into
Houston on the heels of Mindi Abair,
Jeff Golub,
Warren Hill and
Wayman Tisdale to create an atmosphere of
highly charged jazz entertainment. These headliners along with the
Summer Jazz Workshop and any number of local and national bands will
culminate 15 years of excellence as one of the finest festivals of its
kind anywhere.
The Summer Jazz Workshop serves as the primary
beneficiary of the
Houston International Jazz Festival, a 5-week
intensive youth-oriented educational music program that focuses upon
the music business and jazz fundamentals in a structured classroom
setting. Under the auspices of Jazz Education, Inc., a non-profit
organization, the program has other implications for participating
students. At the end of the workshop, participating students also
perform in the festival. They are just one of the featured acts during
the three-days of activities.
The Asian Jazz portion of the
Houston International Jazz Festival is in its first year. In previous
years, Latin Jazz Night has been the international highlight of the
Festival. Celia Cruz, La India, Arturo Sandoval and
Poncho Sanchez have
been featured artists just to name a few.
Although the
Houston International Jazz Festival is in its 15th year, Asian Jazz has
now become another component. Two years ago in 2003, Latin Night was
introduced as a major international highlight of the Festival. This
Festival is funded in part by grants from the
Texas Commission on the
Arts and the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County, Time
Warner Cable, ABC-13 KTRK-TV, The
Houston Chronicle, Clear Channel
Entertainment, KTSU 90.9 FM, Kroger, Univision, KHJZ 95.7 FM and The
Hilton Americas, the official hotel.
All proceeds from the Houston
International Jazz Festival benefit Jazz Education, Inc. Additional
information is available upon request.
