Trio of American music legends at Paetec Jazz Festival

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The first edition of the Paetec Jazz Festival Baltimore will present a trio of American music legends - the incomparable king of the blues, BB King (see photo) and special guests Etta James and The Roots Band and Al Green. They will perform live in concert, Saturday August 11, 2007 at Pier Six Concert Pavilion in Baltimore, MD. It's not often that three major legends such as these giants appear on the same bill on the same date,” said John Nugent, Artistic Director and Co-producer of Paetec Jazz Festival. “The music fans of Baltimore are in for a great thrill. The music speaks for itself - these artists' popularity, their storied history, so much instantly recognizable music. Having produced more than 1000 shows, I'm confident this one will go down in history as an extremely memorable concert. Marc Iacona (Executive Director and Co-producer) and I are ecstatic about being able to bring it to Baltimore for our first Paetec Jazz Festival.”

Paetec Jazz Festival Baltimore will be held in multiple indoor venues and outdoor stages set against the impressive backdrop of Baltimore's Inner Harbor and downtown area. A diverse program of more than 40 concerts will embrace all genres of creative improvised music and feature Grammy-winning headliners as well as some of the world's finest emerging artists. Venues confirmed to date include Pier Six and Power Plant Live! The complete artist lineup, schedule, and ticket sale information will be announced in May.

B.B. King's (Riley B. King) reign as King of the Blues has been as long as that of any monarch on earth. Born in 1925 on a plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi, for more than half a century, he has defined the blues for a worldwide audience. Since he started recording in the 1940s, he has released over fifty albums, many of them classics. He has developed one of the world's most identifiable guitar styles, and has mixed traditional blues, jazz, swing, mainstream pop and jump into a unique sound.

At 81, B.B. continues to tour extensively. Classics such as “Payin' The Cost To Be The Boss,” “The Thrill Is Gone,” How Blue Can You Get,” “Everyday I Have The Blues,” and “Why I Sing The Blues” are staples. The Grammy Award-winner has had two #1 R&B hits, 1951's “Three O'Clock Blues,” and 1952's “You Don't Know Me,” and four #2 R&B hits, 1953's “Please Love Me,” 1954's “You Upset Me Baby,” 1960's “Sweet Sixteen, Part I,” and 1966's “Don't Answer The Door, Part I.” B.B.'s most popular crossover hit, 1970's “The Thrill Is Gone,” went to #15 pop.

Etta James has recorded dozens of albums during a distinguished career that spans five decades. The three-time Grammy award winner, NARAS Lifetime Achievement, Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer awardee and W.C. Handy Blues Foundation honoree, also has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 1993, Etta received her first Grammy in 1995 for her Private Music debut album, Mystery Lady: The Songs Of Billie Holiday. In 2003, she was honored with another Grammy for “Let's Roll” as well as receiving a NARAS Lifetime Achievement award by the Recording Academy's National Trustees, in recognition of her outstanding creative contributions that same year. In 2005, Etta won her third Grammy in the Traditional Blues Album category for Blues to the Bone.

The Reverend Al Green is known the world over for his extraordinary voice, his unmistakable sound and his legendary hits. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer started singing at age nine with his brothers in the gospel quartet, the Greene Brothers, in their hometown of Forest City, Arkansas. They toured Southern gospel circuits, and then began performing around Michigan when the family relocated to Grand Rapids. At 16, Green formed, Al Greene and the Creations, with high school friends, and they released a single, “Back Up Train,” in 1967 (under the new name Al Greene and the Soul Mates) that went to #5 on the national R&B chart.

In the early 1970s Green carved his place in music history with a run of celebrated hits that made him not just an R&B star but a pop icon. Since 1976 Green has concentrated on gospel music and since 1979 has led his Baptist congregation, the Full Gospel Tabernacle, in Memphis, Tenn.

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