Cool autumn days, and hot jazz evenings!

Don't miss the second annual
Pittsfield CityJazz Festival
October 12-15, 2006

generously sponsored by

Tickets are now on sale for the following headliner appearances, all at the beautifully restored and acoustically superb Colonial Theatre, located at 111 South Street in downtown Pittsfield. Tickets may be purchased at www.TheColonialTheatre.org or by calling 413-997-4444 between noon and 5pm, Monday through Friday.

The legendary Dr. Billy Taylor & his Trio, plus Metta Quintet!
Friday, October 13, 8pm, $20-$45

Click here for the website of NEA jazz master Dr. Billy Taylor

Click here for the website of the Metta Quintet

An evening with the extraordinary T.S. Monk Sextet
Saturday, October 14, 8pm, $20-$45

Click here for the website of the inimitable jazz drummer and composer T.S. Monk

Internationally acclaimed saxophonist Phil Woods and the
incredible U.S. Jazz Ambassadors Big Band
Sunday, October 15, 2pm, $5-$10

Click here for the website of perennial award-winner Phil Woods!

And don't miss the live local jazz performances happening in restaurants and pubs all over Pittsfield. Click here for a full list!

The second annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival includes something for everybody! Jazz Masters, up-and-coming artists, big bands, and a major educational component. Supported by lead sponsor the Legacy Banks Foundation and other regional businesses, the Festival inaugurates the jazz program at the newly-restored (and spectacular!) Colonial Theatre, with headline concerts by Dr. Billy Taylor, the T.S. Monk Sextet, Phil Woods, the Jazz Ambassadors big band, and the educational program JazzReach. Besides the nationally-known performers, the festival includes a week-long jazz-in-the-schools program; a free recital by Jazz savant Tony DeBlois; and the appearance of regional artists in restaurants and other Pittsfield venues all weekend. JazzReach will also conduct two workshops for area high schools on Friday afternoon, Oct. 13.

FREE Events at the second annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival!

Thursday evening, Oct. 12, 7pm

Free piano recital by jazz savant Tony DeBlois
subject of the book, Some Kind of Genius

at the Berkshire Music School, located at 31 Wendell Avenue in downtown Pittsfield. Reservations highly recommended: call 413-

Website - Tony Deblois

Music Inn Symposium, photography exhibit & screening
Saturday afternoon, Oct. 14, 2pm
Berkshire Museum, 39 South Street, downtown Pittsfield
includes FREE museum admission, 2pm-5pm

Panel discussion and film screening about the jazz era of the Berkshires’ legendry Music Inn

Moderated by Seth Rogovoy, editor of Berkshire Living Magazine

Panel includes Benjamin Barber, son of the owners of Music Inn; Dr. Billy Taylor; historian and writer Dr. Jeremy Yudkin; and film producer and jazz drummer George Schuller.In conjunction with that panel, the Berkshire Museum will be hosting a week-long photo exhibit and an excerpt will be shown from the documentary film on Music Inn, which is nearing release.

FESTIVAL PRESS RELEASE:

PITTSFIELD, Massachusetts, August, 2006 – The second annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival today announced the lineup for the Oct. 12-15 event, and it includes something for everybody: Jazz Masters, up-and-coming artists, big bands, and a major educational component. Supported by lead sponsor the Legacy Banks Foundation and other regional businesses, the Festival will initiate the jazz program at the newly-restored Colonial Theatre, and will include Dr. Billy Taylor, the T.S. Monk Sextet, Phil Woods, the Jazz Ambassadors big band, and the educational program JazzReach.

Besides the nationally-known performers, the festival includes a week-long jazz-in-the-schools program; a free recital by Jazz savant Tony DeBlois; and the appearance of regional artists in restaurants and other Pittsfield venues all weekend. JazzReach will also conduct two workshops for area high schools on Friday afternoon, Oct. 13.

“Arts and culture play a critical role in fueling the economic engine of Berkshire County, to which the Pittsfield Jazz Festival has already become a major contributor,” said Legacy Banks chairman and CEO J. Williar Dunlaevy. “The Legacy Banks Foundation is proud to serve as the lead sponsor of this multiple-day event that attracts thousands of visitors to Pittsfield, significantly impacting the economic development of our community.”

"The incredible lineup that the CityJazz Festival has put together will truly put this event on the map as a premier cultural attraction for the fall in the Berkshires," said Mayor James M. Ruberto. "It's truly remarkable how much this event has grown in such a short time. And it will be especially exciting to hear some of the world's finest jazz music fill the newly restored Colonial Theatre - a true acoustical marvel."

The festival gets under way on Thursday evening, Oct. 12, with a piano recital/concert by Jazz savant Tony DeBlois, a blind, autistic phenomenon who plays 21 instruments and who knows some 8,000 songs. The latest CD of this 31-year-old performer was released last year along with his autobiography of the same name, “Some Kind of Genius.” DeBlois’ concert will be free of charge, and will take place at the Berkshire Music School.

All other concerts will take place at The Colonial Theatre. The Billy Taylor Trio will be featured on Friday, Oct. 13; the NEA Jazz Master is making a rare appearance, as a way of acknowledging the historic venue’s return to public use. The Metta Quintet, the performance arm of JazzReach, will open the proceedings that night.

On Saturday afternoon, Oct. 14, there will be a panel discussion about the jazz era of Music Inn, the Berkshires music resort of the 1950s-60s. Moderated by Seth Rogovoy, editor of Berkshire Living Magazine, the panel will include Benjamin Barber, son of the owners of Music Inn; Billy Taylor; historian and writer Jeremy Yudkin; film producer and Jazz drummer George Schuller, and others to be announced.

In conjunction with that panel, the Berkshire Museum will be hosting a week-long photo exhibit and an excerpt will be shown from the documentary film on Music Inn, which is nearing release.

The Saturday evening performance will feature the legendary T.S. Monk Sextet. The drummer will also conduct a lecture/demonstration and open sound check on Saturday afternoon, following the Music Inn panel.

On Sunday afternoon, Oct. 15, the U.S. Army Jazz Ambassadors big band will appear, with guest soloist the alto saxophonist Phil Woods. One of the mainstays of the bebop era, Woods has recently released two big-band recordings, one of which was with the Jazz Ambassadors.

The festival also announced an association with the Steven Spring Foundation, which is organizing a fundraising effort to benefit the Hurricane Katrina relief effort in New Orleans. The foundation is a non-for-profit organization that collects donated instruments and offers them for free to the people who desperately need to be able to play them. There will be two dropoff points in Pittsfield, the Berkshire Music School, 30 Wendell Ave., and the city’s Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 28 Rennie Ave. [Information about the Foundation is available at http://www.stevenspringfoundation.org].

Other major underwriters include the TD BankNorth Foundation; others will be announced as they come on board. Other information and directions are available at www.CulturalPittsfield.com, or by contacting JazzPittsfield@AOL.com. Tickets, ranging from $20 to $45 for the Friday and Saturday concerts and $5 to $10 for the Sunday matinee, may be purchased at www.TheColonialTheatre.org.

Contact: Ed Bride, 413-442-7718 JazzPittsfield@AOL.com