Thursday, November 7

DC Jazz Festival Announces Honorary Chairs Rodney E. Slater, DeMaurice Smith and Katharine Weymouth

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May 11, 2010: Washington, D.C. – The DC Jazz Festival (DCJF), formerly the

Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, today announced the honorary chairs who will be

hosting its sixth annual festival from June 1- 13.

 

The honorary chairs include the Honorable Rodney E. Slater, former Secretary of

Transportation, and a partner at Patton Boggs LLP; DeMaurice Smith, Executive

Director of the NFL Players Association; and Katharine Weymouth, Chief

Executive Officer of The Washington Post Media Group and publisher of The

Washington Post.

 

Slater is a native of Arkansas and an avid jazz enthusiast. He was the first African

American Director of the Federal Highway Administration before he was

appointed Secretary of Transportation in 1997 during the Clinton era. As a

partner at Patton Boggs, Slater currently heads the firm’s transportation practice

and works on projects related to transportation infrastructure.

 

Prior to his appointment as Executive Director of the NFL Players Association,

Smith was the chair of Patton Boggs’ Government Investigations and White-Collar

Practice Group. In 2007, Smith was hailed as one of the “The Top Fifteen Black

White-Collar Criminal Defense Attorneys” by the Corporate Crime Reporter

newspaper. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1989.

Granddaughter of the late Washington Post Company Chairman, Katharine

Graham, Weymouth was named CEO of the Washington Post Media Group and

publisher of its namesake newspaper, The Washington Post, in 2008. A graduate

of Harvard College and Stanford Law School, prior to joining The Washington

Post, she practiced law at Williams & Connolly.

 

The honorary chairs will jointly host the DC Jazz Festival Opening Gala, cosponsored

by the Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C. on June 9. The evening at

the Mandarin Oriental’s Garden Terrace will feature special performances by the

Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, Roy Hargrove, Roberta Gambarini, and DCJF co-Artistic

Director Paquito D’Rivera.

 

Highlights of the 2010 DC Jazz Festival include an All-Star tribute to NEA Jazz

Master James Moody at the Lincoln Theatre, with the Dizzy Gillespie™ All-Stars

Kenny Barron, Regina Carter, and special guests on June 10; Jazz Under the

Stars at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre featuring Colombian harp sensation

Edmar Castaneda and the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band on June 11; Jazz at

The Lisner Auditorium (George Washington University) — a free matinee concert

featuring Brazilian trumpeter Claudio Roditi, and the Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz

Band, and a ticketed evening concert with vocalist Dianne Reeves, and the Roy

Hargrove Big Band, with Special Guest Roberta Gambarini on June 12; and an

NEA American Masterpieces-commissioned World Premiere concert, Paquito

D’Rivera and the Jelly Roll Morton Latin Tinge, at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace

Theater on June 13,

 

Additionally, the DCJF will present two free days of activities at Jazz ‘n Families Fun Day at the

Phillips Collection on June 5 and 6; free student concerts and master classes; and the return of

the popular Jazz in the ‘Hoods and Brunchin’ in the ‘Hoods, June 1-13, with programs at more

than 25 restaurants, clubs, hotels and art galleries across the city.

 

Additional resources:

 

Full DCJF performance schedule

(http://www.dcjazzfest.org/content.cfm/schedule_and_special_events)

 

DCJF sponsor list (http://www.dcjazzfest.org/content.cfm/sponsors)

DCJF All Access Weekend Package:

www.marriott.com/specials/mesOffer.mi?marrOfferId=481371&displayLink-true

 

2010 DC Jazz Festival: “KEY” Events

June 1: Jazz on the Potomac: Kennedy Center Millennium Stage with Trinidian

trumpeter Etienne Charles (Free)

 

June 2: Jazz on the Potomac: Kennedy Center Millennium Stage with the

Berklee World Jazz Nonet (Free)

 

June 1-13: Jazz in the ‘Hoods: Over 80 shows in 30+ clubs, restaurants, and hotels

June 3: Jazz at the Smithsonian American Art Museum: featuring saxophonist

Marshall Keys (Free)

 

June 3: Phillips After Five: featuring pianist Janelle Gill at thePhillips

Collection

 

June 4: Jazz in the Garden: (National Gallery of Art) featuring the Berklee World

Jazz Nonet (Free)

 

June 5-6: Jazz ‘n Families Fun Days: co-presented with and at The Phillips

Collection featuring George V. Johnson, Janelle Gill, Victor Provost, the

DC Jazz Collaborative, Noble Jolley, Brad Linde, and others. (Free)

 

June 8: Rising Star concert at the 6th and I Historic Synagogue, “A Tribute to

Oscar Peterson” featuring pianist Marian Petrescu with Special Guest,

guitarist Andreas Öberg

June 9: Rising Star concert at the WDC Jewish Community Center featuring

saxophonist Uri Gurvich

 

June 10: NEA Jazz Masters Live Concert at The Lincoln Theatre: An All-Star

tribute to NEA Jazz Master James Moody featuring NEA Jazz Masters

Kenny Barron and Paquito D’Rivera with Roy Hargrove, Roberta

Gambarini, Regina Carter and other guest artists.

 

June 11: Jazz at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre: featuring jazz harpist Edmar

Castaneda and the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band.

 

June 12: Jazz at the Lisner Auditorium (George Washington University): The

Claudio Roditi Quartet and the Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Band

(matinee/Free); and Dianne Reeves, and the Roy Hargrove Big Band

with special guest Roberta Gambarini (evening).

 

June 13 Kennedy Center Terrace Theater Paquito D’Rivera and The Jelly Roll

Morton Latin Tinge Project with Akua Dixon and Quartette Indigo,

Michael Philip Mossman, Music Director, a commissioned National

Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces concert.

 

June 5-9: DCJF Master Classes/Student Concerts:

Enriching educational Programs at the THEARC Performing Arts Center in Anacostia, the

Sitar Arts Center in Adams Morgan, and the Atlas Performing Arts Center on the H Street

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About Author

Kim Betton is the founder and editorial director of SmoothJazzTimes.com. The award winning television anchor/reporter and producer has worked in markets across the U.S. including NBC4 & USA Sky Radio in Washington, DC, WBKW-TV Buffalo, New York, FOX 13 News Memphis and KARK4 / FOX 16 News in Little Rock. Kim has a true love for good music! She is also a vocalist for smooth jazz and Broadway show tunes. Her love for music and the arts inspired her to launch this magazine. If you have a story idea email her at kim@smoothjazztimes.com. Thanks for checking us out! Enjoy!

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