FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2007 Weekend of Jazz Program Presents Stanley Clarke

Beavercreek, OH – Beavercreek Music Parents Assn.’s 7th annual Weekend of Jazz (WOJ) “Where the Future of Jazz Meets the Legends of Jazz!” will be held at Beavercreek HS March 1-3, 2007. WOJ is pleased to announce this year’s festival headliners.

Jazz/fusion pioneer Stanley Clarke and the Stanley Clarke Band will perform Friday, March 2nd at 8:00 pm. Clarke is credited with moving the traditional bass role from that of timekeeper to soloist to band headliner. Clarke plays acoustic and electric bass with equal virtuosity. His genius as performer, innovator and composer is recognized on the silver screen with his scores for Boyz N the Hood, What’s Love Got to Do With It (The Tina Turner Story), Passenger 57, Higher Learning, Romeo Must Die, and his Emmy nominated score for Pee Wee’s Playhouse. The 2006 recipient of Bass Player Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Clarke’s short list of collaborators includes Chick Corea, George Duke, Jeff Beck, Keith Richards, Jean Luc Ponty, Paul McCartney, Quincy Jones, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock and Aretha Franklin.

On Saturday, March 3rd, at 8:00 p.m., Rob Parton’s JAZZTECH Big Band returns to the stage at Beavercreek’s Alumni Auditorium. Rob Parton’s JAZZTECH Big Band was the first professional band to be featured at WOJ and we are glad to be part of his 2007 Rust Belt Tour. A collection of the finest jazz musicians in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune has called the JAZZTECH big band ‘one of the best big bands in the country’. A solo Rob Parton has been an Artist-in-Residence for several years at the Miami Valley Jazz Camp and has performed with the Dayton Jazz Orchestra. But we seldom have the privilege and pleasure of seeing him here with his world-class big band, JAZZTECH.

As always, the WOJ program features performances by jazz bands from high schools all over Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. On March 1st, the Beavercreek schools’ jazz bands kick off the festival, performing in an open clinic at 7:00 PM. This performance is free and open to the public. All day Saturday, March 2nd, Beavercreek High School will be humming with continuous big band jazz performances by very talented young musicians from the tri-state area high schools. Admission to all the daytime events is free.

Tickets for both the Friday and Saturday evening performances are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors, and $15 for students and may be purchased on-line at the WOJ web site, www.WeekendOfJazz.org , or by calling (937) 558-2175. Limited time discounts are available for family pack purchases. For more information about the WOJ, check the festival’s website at www.WeekendOfJazz.org.

The Weekend of Jazz is supported in part by grants from the Ohio Arts Council and Greene County Community Foundation, as well as generous donations from members of the Beavercreek community.

Contact: Margaret W. Haney, WOJ Publicity Coordinator
1192 Fudge Dr.
Beavercreek, Ohio 45434
Phone: (937) 427-4637 (h) (937) 479-7627
E-mail: Publicity@WeekendofJazz.org

Dan Archibald, WOJ 2007 Event Director
2532 Kewanna Lane
Beavercreek, Ohio 45434
Daytime phone: 937-219-5537; Evening phone: 937-320-1421
Email: Director@WeekendOfJazz.org