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Thursday, September 06, 2007

Celebration of VOA jazz & Willis Conover planned


The Voice of America (VOA) and the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival (DEJF) are hosting a free concert in memory of VOA jazz host Willis Conover and in observance of the 50th anniversary of Dizzy Gillespie’s first State Department-sponsored trip.

Date: Monday, September 17, 2007
Time: 7:30 PM
Performers:
Paquito D’Rivera, Musical Director - Alto Saxophone, Clarinet (Cuba)
Milcho Leviev - Piano (Bulgaria)
George Mraz - Bass (Czech Republic)
Valery Ponomarev - Trumpet (Russia)
Horacio Hernandez - Drums (Cuba)
Place:
VOA Headquarters, Wilbur J. Cohen Building Auditorium, 330 Independence Avenue, SW, C Street entrance
(1 blk. From Federal Center Southwest Metro stop)
Security Screening will be in effect. (Photo ID required)

Reservations:
Limited Seating - Free and open to the public
Reservations required by 13 September 13 to (202) 203-4962 or via e-mail at publicaffairs@voa.gov .
Called by Reader’s Digest “the world’s favorite American,” Willis Conover hosted VOA’s premiere jazz broadcast for over 40 years and was a legend around the world for his command of America’s art form and for his interviews with Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Count Basie and virtually the entire pantheon of jazz artists from the 1950s through the 1990s. He influenced a generation of musicians around the world, including Cuban-born jazz great Paquito D’Rivera. D’Rivera will lead a quintet made up of another Cuban-born musician and three players from former Soviet Bloc countries.

For further information, please contact VOA’s Office of Public Affairs at (202) 203-4959 or Jana La Sorte, DEJF, at: (347) 742-9595 (mobile). www.dejazzfest.org
(Source: VOA/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)