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| George Wein Directs Concert in Boston and Performs in New York by McClairPR  The summer festival season may be winding down, but world-renowned jazz impresario George Wein still has plenty of music on his plate. He is directing A Celebration of Jazz and Joyce: A Concert to Establish the Joyce Alexander Wein Scholarship Fund, at an all-star benefit at Boston Symphony Hall (300 Massachusetts Avenue) on Friday, September 28, and he celebrates his 82nd birthday in performances with his Newport Jazz Festival All-Stars at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola at Frederick P. Rose Hall October 2 - 7.The September 28 benefit for a scholarship fund at Berklee College of Music is part of the Beantown Jazz Festival and features Herbie Hancock, Roy Haynes, Branford Marsalis, Jon Faddis, Joe Lovano, Lizz Wright, Geri Allen, Regina Carter, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin, Kenny Werner, Howard Alden, Jimmy Cobb and Ray Drummond. Produced for the second year by Berklee College of Music, the festival will bring Grammy-winning, internationally renowned superstars and cornerstones of the Boston jazz scene together on a number of stages in free and ticketed offerings from September 27 - 29. Then, catch George Wein & the Newport All-Stars when he celebrates his 82nd birthday (October 3) performing the music he loves at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola Tuesday, October 2 - Sunday, October 7. Joining pianist Wein will be Howard Alden (guitar), Randy Brecker (trumpet), Lew Tabackin (saxophone), Kenny Washington (drums) and Peter Washington (bass). "It's exciting for me to produce this concert for a scholarship fund in the name of my wife, Joyce Alexander Wein", says the producer and pianist. "I look forward to seeing many old friends in Boston, where, of course, I started my life in jazz at Storyville at Copley Square. I'm also excited to return to club life to perform with this great band. We sold out Feinstein's in March 2006, and we hope we can do the same at Dizzy's." Wein is on the way to having his wish come true; the 7:30 p.m. set on Tuesday, October 2, is already sold out. George Wein is considered to be as much a legend as his festivals. In addition to operating his company, Festival Productions, which he merged with Shoreline Media earlier this year to become The Festival Network, LLC, Wein is the person responsible for the Newport Jazz Festival - an event that started the "festival era." He has as much creative fuel as he did when he started that festival more than 50 years ago and advanced the concept of live music. He pioneered the concept of sponsor association with music events. The Schlitz Salute to Jazz and the Kool Jazz Festival preceded any other sponsor identity with entertainment events, giving the sponsor the title presentation that guaranteed mention of the sponsor's name in publicity and promotion. His company went on to produce titled events for JVC, Mellon Bank, Verizon, Essence, Ben & Jerry's, Dunkin' Donuts and others. Wein published his autobiography, Myself Among Others: A Life in Music (Da Capo Press), which chronicles his life in jazz and was recognized by the Jazz Journalists Association as 2004's best book about jazz. In addition to his life in jazz, he has a long history of involvement with philanthropy and the arts, including the establishment of the Joyce and George Wein Chair of African American Studies at Boston University, the Alexander Family Endowed Scholarship Fund at Simmons College as well as this year's Joyce Alexander Wein Scholarship Fund at Berklee College. A three-month exhibition (November 18, 2005 - January 22, 2006), Syncopated Rhythms: 20th-Century African American Art from the George and Joyce Wein Collection, was commissioned by the Boston University Art Gallery, showcasing Wein's collection of works created by Charles Alston, Romare Bearden, John Biggers, Elizabeth Catlett, Miles Davis, Beauford Delaney, Joseph Delaney, Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar and Augusta Savage and others. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |