Media Contact:
Emily Fredrickson
efredrickson@thenojo.com
(727) 741-2563
NEW ORLEANS - November 6, 2014 - Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) will premiere Jazz tributes to Led Zeppelin, Queen and Nirvana with opening act The Breton Sound and special guest Haley Reinhart live in concert at House of Blues New Orleans (225 Decatur Street) on November 13, 2014, at 7:00p.m. Under the artistic direction of Mayfield, the 18-piece big band plans to push the boundaries of Jazz, while engaging new audiences and taking Mayfield and NOJO's die-hard fans on a new journey.
This concert will be NOJO's only local performance this season, as the organization's fall is busy touring nationally and preparing to open its first building project, The New Orleans Jazz Market. Tickets are only $20.00 and are available at www.houseofblues.com. Sponsors include the Louisiana Lottery Corporation and the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living (TFL) as part of Smoke Free NOLA Week. Media partners for the concert include WKBU Bayou 95.7 (Entercom), WWNO 89.9 FM, and WTUL New Orleans 91.5 FM (Tulane University).
"The concept of combining Jazz and Rock is not a new development," Mayfield explains. "Miles Davis had an influence on the creation of Jazz fusion with his 1968 album Miles in the Sky; he had Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter playing the electronic piano and bass guitar. Taking this approach opens up the dialogue about Jazz."
These new, themed big band arrangements are being created through the New Orleans Jazz Institute (NOJI), NOJO's education-based partnership with the University of New Orleans (UNO). This will be the 10th season that NOJI has commissioned UNO Jazz Studies professors to create new, themed Jazz music through a program called "NOJI Masters Series." The music is created by Steve Masakowski, the Coca-Cola Endowed Chair and Director of Jazz Studies; and NOJO members Victor Atkins, the Graduate Coordinator of the Department of Music, and Edward Petersen, Associate Chair of the Department of Music and Coordinator of Jazz Studies. The professors hosted free previews of the tributes with smaller bands at Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse in the Royal Sonesta Hotel New Orleans (300 Bourbon Street) on Tuesday nights in October.
About NOJO
NOJO creates Jazz to enhance life, transform place and elevate spirit through the tenets of truth, love and beauty. Founded in 2002 by trumpeter, composer, arranger and bandleader Irvin Mayfield, NOJO's goal is to strengthen the business of Jazz through performances, tours, recordings, education, and media platforms. For more information, please visit www.thenojo.com.
NOJO's first building project, The New Orleans Jazz Market, will open in Spring 2015 as a performing arts venue and Jazz community center in Central City New Orleans. The Jazz Market will feature music education experiences for all ages, a New Orleans Jazz Archive, tributes to current and past Jazz Masters, and performances by Mayfield, NOJO and other renowned musicians. Partners for and supporters of the project include Goldman Sachs' Urban Investment Group, The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, The Prudential Insurance Company of America, Chevron North America, IberiaBank, the Goldring Family Foundation, Peoples Health, the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation, and the Keller Family Foundation.
11/16/14: Berkeley, CA | UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall
11/18/14: Davis, CA | Mondavi Center for the Arts, Jackson Hall
11/21/14: Lancaster, CA | Lancaster Performing Arts Center, Main Stage
11/22/14: Northridge, CA | Valley Performing Arts Center, Great Hall
11/23/14: San Diego, CA | San Diego Symphony, Copley Symphony Hall
About NOJI
Through a unique education partnership with the University of New Orleans (UNO), NOJO operates the New Orleans Jazz Institute (NOJI). NOJI links UNO's strengths in Jazz education with NOJO's professional and performance expertise and promotes creative excellence and best practices in Jazz composition, performance, scholarship, importation, exportation and education. NOJI hosts a medley of Jazz education and advancement initiatives, including year-round youth education programs through the Irvin Mayfield School of Music, biannual Jazz commissions entitled NOJI Masters Series, a regional high school Jazz band festival, and both classes and lectures about New Orleans culture.
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