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| The Martha's Vineyard Festival The Martha's Vineyard Festival, set for Sunday, August 12, at 7:00 p.m. in Ocean Park, Oak Bluffs, features the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra conducted by Keith Lockhart with very special performances by vocalist Natalie Cole, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, among other special guests. “We're thrilled to again have the opportunity to present world class performers in one of the country's most beautiful settings,” said Chris Shields, Festival Network's CEO. “We've utilized our collective expertise in developing festivals, such as this with our friends on the Vineyard, that year-round and seasonal folks are sure to enjoy.” Wein, Chairman of Festival Productions, a division of The Festival Network, added, “To produce this festival in New England at the same time as our flagship event, the Newport Jazz Festival, is both professionally very exciting and personally, quite emotional. This new festival is testament to the vision, creativity and strength of our Company and industry that have been my life. I am confident that the Vineyard Fest is an event we will celebrate for years to come.” Martha's Vineyard holds historical significance in Wein's life. As a young jazz pianist in the 1950s, he frequently visited the area when he was courting Joyce Alexander, whose family had a home on Oak Bluffs. As a Caucasian jazz musician in love with an African-American woman, the relationship was the talk of the island. The couple endured the scrutiny, married in 1959 and shared a fairy-tale life filled with art and music, including founding the jazz and folk festivals in Newport and producing hundreds of festivals around the globe. Dorothy West based the plot of her book The Wedding (which later became a movie produced by Oprah Winfrey), on the Weins' Oak Bluffs courtship and marriage. About the Artists: Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra first performed a summer program of light music in a cafe-style setting on July 11, 1885. The event evolved from a Promenade Concert to the Pops during the 1900 season to the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1935 for the ensemble's debut recording sessions under Arthur Fiedler. Today, under the leadership of Keith Lockhart, the Orchestra annually entertains more than 1,000,000 people at Symphony Hall, the Charles River Esplanade and on tour at venues in New England and across the country. During the 2007 season, his 13th as Boston Pops Conductor, Lockhart will surpass the milestone of his 1,000th Boston Pops concert. Both Natalie Cole and Branford Marsalis have been guest artists with the Boston Pops, which has presented special guests Kathleen Battle, Tony Bennett, George Benson, Big & Rich, Mariah Carey, Oscar Peterson, John Pizzarelli, The Pointer Sisters, Bonnie Raitt, Don McLean, the Mark Morris Dance Group, Aaron Neville, Jessye Norman, James Taylor and numerous others. Eight-time Grammy Award winner Natalie Cole was born the second of five children on February 6, 1950, to the legendary singer Nat “King” Cole and his wife Maria, a former singer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. She made her singing debut at the age of six on her Dad's Christmas album. After his death, 15-year-old Natalie moved to Massachusetts with her family where she went on to graduate from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in child psychology. Her albums include Inseparable, We're the Best of Friends, Ask a Woman Who Knows and her 20th studio album, Leavin'. A talented actress as well as a vocalist, Natalie has appeared in Lily in Winter, De-Lovely, Lightning in a Bottle and the hit TV series Law & Order Special Victims Unit and Grey's Anatomy. She recently hosted the all-star concert We Love Ella: A Tribute to the First Lady of Song for the PBS Great Performance Series. Branford Marsalis, the 45 year-old Grammy award winning saxophonist, has continued to exercise and expand his skills as a performer, a composer and head of his Marsalis Music record label. Though he is best known for his jazz recordings, Marsalis has made time in his busy schedule for classical recitals that have found him featured with symphonies in a host of American and European cities. The New Orleans native was born into one of the city's most distinguished musical families, which includes brothers Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason, and the family patriarch, pianist/music educator Ellis Marsalis. In 1984, Branford released his first album for Columbia Records, which began his thriving jazz career as a solo artist. Branford's latest CD with his quartet is Braggtown, which draws inspiration from a 17th Century English composer, an Indian Warrior and a Japanese horror film. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |