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Christian McBride Appointed Artistic Director of Newport Jazz Festival

3/10/2016

Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc.™ Appoints
Bassist Christian McBride
As Artistic Director of
Newport Jazz Festival®

Christian McBride performing at the 2015 Newport Jazz Festival (Photo credit: LaNita Adams)

George Wein & Christian McBride backstage at the 2009 Newport Jazz Festival (Photo credit: Michael Weintrob)

NEW YORK, NY, March 10, 2016 – For the first time in its 62-year history, the world-renowned Newport Jazz Festival® will have a musician other than pianist/producer George Wein as its artistic director. Multiple Grammy-winning bassist Christian McBride has been named artistic director to work alongside, and eventually succeed, Wein as the festival’s music curator, it was announced today by Wein, chairman of Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc.™ and producer of the Newport Jazz Festival since its inception in 1954, and Jay Sweet, the Foundation’s executive producer.

Rounding out the production dream team is Danny Melnick, 25-year veteran of Wein’s organization, who will move up to producer from associate producer.

ALFI Records Re-Issues Darryn Farrugia's "Seeds"

3/9/2016

Darryn Farrugia’s “Seeds” Available Now
on ALFI Records

NEW YORK, NY, March 9, 2016 – Joining ALFI Record’s recent crop of CDs is “Seeds” from Melbourne-based drummer/composer Darryn Farrugia. The eight-song re-issue of mostly Farrugia originals is available now.

Farrugia learned his craft as a child by playing along to pop records by Tom Jones, Neil Diamond and Elvis Presley. As a teenager, he discovered jazz and found his true musical calling. This led to studies at the Victorian College of the Arts at Melbourne University, followed by additional studies in the United States. His wide ranging list of credits include recording sessions for movie soundtracks, advertising jingles and gigs with some of the world’s best known stars such as B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Eartha Kitt, Jackson Browne, Petula Clark, Hugh Jackman and Olivia Newton John. He was the drummer for Australia’s comedic TV show “Hey, Hey It’s Saturday” and has written instructional books exploring various groove styles of drumming called, “Groove Perspectives.”

On “Seeds,” Farrugia wrote all of the album’s eight songs, with the exception of “Just Another Rumor,” which was composed by Colin Hopkins. The drummer, who also performs on keyboards on this release, brings together a Who’s Who of Australian session players to join him in this masterpiece of fusion. His cohorts in sound are: Luke Howard (piano), Colin Hopkins (piano), Craig Newman (bass guitar), Alex Pertout (percussion), Ben Robertson (bass), Jonathan Zion (bass), Leonard Grigoryan (guitar), Glenn Cannon (guitar) and Gavin Pearce (bass). Special guests include Mike Stern (guitar), label mates Phil Turcio (piano) and Joe Chindamo (piano), with additional assistance from Ross Cockle (mix engineer), Ethan Cooke and Patrick Bettison (harmonica). The late saxophonist Bob Berg also joined the band on two tracks.

Norah Jones Set To Perform At Both Newport Folk Festival And Newport Jazz Festival

3/2/2016

NORAH JONES SET TO PERFORM AT BOTH
NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL AND
NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL THIS JULY

Nine-time Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter Norah Jones will perform the rare feat of appearing at both the Newport Folk Festival and Newport Jazz Festival on consecutive weekends this July. Demonstrating her versatility and wide appeal, Norah will make her first-ever solo appearance at the Folk Festival on Saturday, July 23 having previously performed at the 2014 festival with her band Puss n Boots and as a special guest with the legendary singer Mavis Staples. The following weekend Norah will make her first-ever appearance at the Jazz Festival on Saturday, July 30.

Christian McBride Appointed Artistic Director of Newport Jazz Festival

Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc.™ AppointsBassist Christian McBrideAs Artistic Director of Newport Jazz Festival®

ALFI Records Re-Issues Darryn Farrugia's "Seeds"

Darryn Farrugia’s “Seeds” Available Now​on ALFI Records

Norah Jones Set To Perform At Both Newport Folk Festival And Newport Jazz Festival

NORAH JONES SET TO PERFORM AT BOTHNEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL AND ​NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL THIS JULY

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Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc.™ Appoints
Bassist Christian McBride
As Artistic Director of
Newport Jazz Festival®

Darryn Farrugia’s “Seeds” Available Now
on ALFI Records

NORAH JONES SET TO PERFORM AT BOTH
NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL AND
NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL THIS JULY