THE ADRIENNE ARSHT CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS OF
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY AND LARRY ROSEN PROUDLY PRESENT
JAZZ ROOTS: AN EVENING WITH DAVE GRUSIN
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS PATTI AUSTIN, JON SECADA, MONICA MANCINI, GARY BURTON, ARTURO SANDOVAL, NESTOR TORRES, AND SAMMY FIGUEROA, IN A RARE LIVE PEFORMANCE OF THE MULTI-GRAMMY AND ACADEMY AWARD WINNER’S JAZZ INTERPRETATION OF LEONARD BERNSTEIN’S WEST SIDE STORY AND A SELECTION OF GRUSIN’S HOLLYWOOD FILM SCORES
Grusin and friends will perform such memorable songs as “Maria,” “Tonight,” “Jet Song,” and “America,” as well as highlights from the music from acclaimed major motion pictures, The Fabulous Baker Boys, On Golden Pond, Havana, and The Milagro Beanfield War
Friday, December 4, 2009
Tickets $25 to $125
John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall
MIAMI, FL November 3, 2009 – The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, with acclaimed producer Larry Rosen, proudly presents JAZZ ROOTS: AN EVENING WITH DAVE GRUSIN, an extraordinary music event celebrating multi-Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer/arranger and pianist Dave Grusin on Friday, December 4 in the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall. The concert will showcase a rare live performance of Grusin’s contemporary jazz score for Leonard Bernstein’s Broadway hit, West Side Story, as well as highlight the composer’s most memorable and moving film scores. Dave Grusin will be joined by an all-star lineup of instrumental and vocal artists from the worlds of jazz and Latin music, and the University of Miami Frost School of Music Mancini Institute Orchestra.
Arranged f
or an extended big band and orchestra, Grusin’s West Side Story brings new life to Bernstein’s timeless masterpiece. Beloved songs to be performed include: “Maria,” with Latin vocal star Jon Secada; “Tonight,” sung by Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Patti Austin; “Jet Song,” and the classically arranged version of “I Feel Pretty,” with Grammy Award- winning flutist Nestor Torres; “Somewhere,” featuring Jon Secada and Patti Austin; “One Hand, One Heart” and “Cool,” with master vibraphonist Gary Burton; and trumpet virtuoso Arturo Sandoval performing the Prelude with big band. The work culminates with the sounds on the final offering, “America,” featuring Gary Burton, Nestor Torres, and Latin percussion star Sammy Figueroa.
“My idea for this rendition of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story was born of an old respect for his unique approach to what we have come to know as Broadway show music,” said Dave Grusin. “It is amazing that 50 years means nothing when dealing with something that is timeless in this way. It was hip in 1957…and it is hip now.”
The program will also showcase highlights of Grusin’s best known cinematic themes, including his Oscar-winning original score from The Milagro Beanfield War, On Golden Pond, as well as Dave Grusin and Patti Austin in “Makin’ Whoopee” from The Fabulous Baker Boys; a piano solo by Dave Grusin on “Memphis Stomp” from The Firm; and Arturo Sandoval as featured soloist in “Cuba Libre,” evoking the lush music from Havana.
“Dave Grusin is an American classic,” said Larry Rosen, co-presenter of the JAZZ ROOTS series. “After working with Dave as partners in the music business for more than 50 years producing albums, live events, and numerous videos, I felt that it would be exciting for our Jazz Roots audience to experience the musicality of this incredible artist,” Rosen continued. “Bringing together GRAMMY-winning guest artists, virtuoso instrumentalists and the Mancini Institute Orchestra on one stage, this concert will be a night to be remembered.”
AN EVENING WITH DAVE GRUSIN is the second installment of the six-concert JAZZ ROOTS series, and promises to be a night to remember for South Florida jazz aficionados.
JAZZ ROOTS also features an in-depth educational partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools which will bring more than 900 music students to the Center for a unique behind-the-scenes experience, including a pre-concert sound check and a Q&A session with featured artists followed by a workshop with a local jazz expert that will highlight the music, the artistic process and the practical skills needed for a career in the arts. In addition, the Center has developed a curriculum which will be distributed to 800 music, English and social studies teachers throughout the MDCPS school system, potentially serving 24,000 children.
Dave Grusin’s illustrious career has been distinguished by a mastery over a diverse range of musical styles, and his original compositions have set the tone for a jazz orientation that is strong on electronic elements complementing acoustic ones, placing him at the forefront of the jazz fusion movement. An acclaimed composer/arranger and pianist, his numerous accolades, include multiple Grammy Awards and an Academy Award. He has composed the music for countless films, including the Oscar-winning Milagro Beanfield War, as well as On Golden Pond, Heaven Can Wait, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Havana, and the solo piano score to The Firm. While heralded as one of the top ten film composers of his generation and one of the most prolific composers of the twentieth century, Grusin is equally renowned as a jazz artist and founder of the prestige independent record company GRP. Together with noted producer and entrepreneur Larry Rosen, he developed the label into one of the top contemporary jazz companies, becoming Billboard’s # 1 jazz label for five years in a row. With a focus on artistic freedom, GRP was a pioneer in both digital recording and compact disc technology; later in the late 1990s, Grusin and Rosen co-founded N2K as the first music company to digitally distribute music over the internet.
The eminent producer/director, the late Sydney Pollack, with whom Grusin has collaborated on nine films, has summed up his career succinctly with the words, “he can do anything, and he has done everything.”
The JAZZ ROOTS series is presented in partnership with Bank of America.
WPBT Channel 2, WDNA 88.9 FM Serious Jazz, WLRN 91.3 FM, Capsule Media and Daniel Azoulay Gallery have generously agreed to be media sponsors of JAZZ ROOTS.
TICKETS:
Tickets for JAZZ ROOTS: AN EVENING WITH DAVE GRUSIN range from $25 to $125 and can be purchased through the Adrienne Arsht Center box office at 305.949.6722 or online at www.arshtcenter.org.
CALENDAR LISTING
Adrienne Arsht Center and Larry Rosen present
JAZZ ROOTS: AN EVENING WITH DAVE GRUSIN
Dave Grusin – composer, arranger, virtuoso pianist, recording artist and multiple Grammy and Academy Award winner – has created some of the most memorable and moving film scores of all time.
In “An Evening with Dave Grusin,” Grusin and special guests, including Award-winning jazz vocalists Patti Austin and Monica Mancini, master vibraphonist Gary Burton, star percussionist Sammy Figueroa, Latin vocal star Jon Secada, Latin Grammy-winning flutist Nestor Torres, and Grammy Award-winning trumpet virtuoso Arturo Sandoval, as well as the University of Miami Frost School of Music Mancini Institute Orchestra will bring life to these well-loved soundtracks. The concert will also feature a rare live performance of Grusin’s classic contemporary jazz score for Leonard Bernstein’s Broadway hit, West Side Story.
Friday, December 4, 2009 @ 8 p.m.
$25-$125
John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County
1300 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33132
For tickets, visit www.arshtcenter.org or call 305.949.6722
Visit www.arshtcenter.org for up-to-date information for details and schedules. See highlights and video for the JAZZ ROOTS series at www.jazzroots.net.
JAZZ ROOTS series subscriptions, which include tickets to the remaining five performances, are also available with seating priority given to renewed subscriptions and Adrienne Arsht Center members.
Support for the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County’s Jazz Roots education program is generously provided by the Arison Arts Foundation; with the additional support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor, and the Board of County Commissioners. The Jazz Roots education program is also funded in part by the Children’s Trust. The Trust is a dedicated source of revenue established by voter referendum to improve the lives of children and families in Miami-Dade County.
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is made possible by the public support of the Miami-Dade County Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, and Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council. Education & Outreach is funded in part by The Children’s Trust. The Adrienne Arsht Center also receives generous support from private contributions to the Adrienne Arsht Center Foundation, Inc., through its Visionary Society membership program and its Encore Circle major gifts program; City of Miami Omni Community Redevelopment Agency; American Express Company; Arison Arts Foundation; Dade Community Foundation; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council; the National Endowment for the Arts, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
About the Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County
The Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is Miami-Dade County’s largest ever public/private-sector partnership, comprised of an $150 million private capital campaign conducted by the Performing Arts Center Foundation and public funding drawn primarily from the County’s Convention Development Tax revenues, as well as the City of Miami Omni Redevelopment District Community Redevelopment Agency. Greatly enhancing the artistic and educational opportunities in South Florida, the Adrienne Arsht Center will have significant and long-term economic benefits for the city and the region.
The Adrienne Arsht Center, designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, includes the 2,400-seat Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House, the 2,200-seat John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall, a 200-seat black box Carnival Studio Theater, the Peacock Education Center, a restored Carnival Art Deco Tower, and the Parker and Vann Thomson Plaza for the Arts, which unites the Center buildings across Biscayne Boulevard, providing a magnificent setting for outdoor entertainment and informal gatherings. The key members of the design team include theater planning and design consultant Joshua Dachs of Fisher Dachs Associates, Inc. and acoustician Russell Johnson of ARTEC, Inc., both of whom worked on the project since its inception.
The Adrienne Arsht Center is a Miami venue not only for its three resident companies (Florida Grand Opera, Miami City Ballet, and New World Symphony), but also for many smaller South Florida arts organizations that will perform in its theaters on a regular basis, as well as for the finest popular and classical performances from around the world. With state-of-the-art performance facilities in Miami for the first time, the Adrienne Arsht Center offers South Florida audiences the best and most diverse theater, music, and dance—with a dedication to entertain, challenge, and educate all segments of the community. For more information, visit www.arshtcenter.org.
About Larry Rosen
Larry Rosen, producer and creator of the JAZZ ROOTS series at the Adrienne Arsht Center is an entrepreneur, visionary, musician, and producer. Mr. Rosen is chairman of Larry Rosen Productions, Inc.; co-founder and co-chairman of LRSmedia, LLC; co-founder, past chairman and CEO of N2K, Inc. (NASDAQ); and co-founder, past president and CEO of GRP Records, Inc. Mr. Rosen is the creator and producer of the PBS TV series LEGENDS OF JAZZ, and is the creator and producer of the eight-part TV mini-series titled “RECORDING: The History of Recorded Music.” Mr. Rosen is the co-founder and past CEO of GRP Records Inc. where he produced or executive-produced over 350 albums. GRP is one of the industry’s top jazz record labels, whose all-star roster of artists and recordings were nominated for over eight GRAMMY awards. Mr. Rosen co-founded N2K, Inc. which was the first major online company to sell music digitally, earning him Ernst & Young’s prestigious “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in New Media & Entertainment.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Suzette Espinosa Fuentes Daisy Cabrera
786.468.2221 786.468.2228
sespinosa@arshtcenter.org dcabrera@arshtcenter.org