News release For immediate distribution Manu Chao, Wynton Marsalis, Cesaria Evora, Seu Jorge, Roy Haynes, , Mark Murphy, , , The Spaghetti Western Orchestra and Tortoise among the guest performers at the 28th edition of the Festival International de de Montréal Tickets go on sale this Saturday, March 24, at noon Montreal, Tuesday, March 20, 2007 – The organizers of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal are as eager to hear the first notes launch the 28th edition of this popular summer event as the countless faithful who throng to the Festival each year. Further to last December’s initial sale of tickets to the first 10 concerts in its 2007 program, presented by General Motors of Canada in collaboration with Alcan, today the Festival is announcing 14 other prestigious concerts that will energize Montreal stages this summer. This second round of tickets for the concerts of the 28th Festival International de Jazz de Montréal will go on sale this Saturday, March 24, at noon. Some of the world’s biggest-name musicians coming to Montreal The Spaghetti Western Orchestra A stunning tribute to the great The Cinquième Salle at PDA Ennio Morricone From Wednesday, June 27, to Monday, July 2, 7:30 p.m. For the first time in North America, the five musicians of The Spaghetti Western Orchestra will bring spaghetti westerns back to life, and through much more than a “simple” musical rendition! With some 100 different musical instruments, the group’s multi-instrumentalists literally and ingeniously reconstruct the scenes from the Italian westerns that marked the film industry worldwide, recreating, in addition to the music itself, the least sounds and sound effects from the immortal scenes of Once Upon a Time in the West, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, etc. In an evocative setting embellished by film projections, the show, which is both comical and dramatic, stands as a veritable tribute to the greatest film-score composer, Ennio Morricone, who was recently honoured and at long-last singled out for an Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award at the Oscars. Original, unique…and completely crazy! A first-ever, grand North American première! Wynton Marsalis presents Congo Square, featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis & Yacub Addy and Odadaa! New Orleans… Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at PDA to the rhythms of Africa! Thursday, June 28, 8:00 p.m. (opening concert) (Pleins feux General Motors series) Written by the famous American trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and Ghanaian drum master Yacub Addy, this superb composition combines the talents of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Ghanaian percussion group Odadaa! The perfect marriage between jazz and African rhythms! Congo Square was named after the unique location of the same name in New Orleans, which was the only place in North America where African slaves were allowed to gather and play their own music during the 18th and 19th centuries. The work therefore draws its inspiration from these traditions and this chapter in the history of jazz. Roy Haynes Quartet Spectrum de Montréal A legendary Saturday, June 30, 10:00 p.m. percussion giant! (Jazz Beat TD Canada Trust series) With a career spanning over 60 years, drummer Roy Haynes has influenced and shaped jazz with his highly personal style and invariably contagious laughter. This royal percussion giant, who has played with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Sarah Vaughan, will once again be setting the stage and performance hall on fire! Now 81 years old, this stage legend has also become a legend on paper, with his induction into DownBeat magazine’s “Hall of Fame” in 2004. Manu Chao at Parc Jean-Drapeau (in collaboration with Groupe Spectacles Gillett) A fiesta like no other! Île Sainte-Hélène Sunday, July 1, 5:00 p.m. It’s been six years since we last saw the clandestino Manu Chao! Yet the walls of the Metropolis are still shaking, and the summer 2001 crowd along with them! Exceptionally, the Festival will relocate to Parc Jean-Drapeau, which this former polyglot singer of the band Mano Negra will fill with his unique blend of Latin, rock, reggae and rhythms. After producing the extremely beautiful Dimanche à Bamako album for Malian duo Amadou & Mariam, this most Hispanic of Frenchmen is preparing to treat Montrealers to another equally memorable Sunday! Be ready, because the heat will be on! Proximo estación Jean-Drapeau (Île Sainte-Hélène). Didier Lockwood, Billy Cobham, and Sylvain Luc: String Quartet Théâtre Maisonneuve at PDA Summit meeting between Monday, July 2, 6:00 p.m. Europe and America! (Grands Concerts TD Canada Trust series) , music demanding both mastery and technique, found its reference drummer and an exceptional leader in Billy Cobham in the 1970s, a rare find for this instrument. And what more could be said of Didier Lockwood than that he was part of all the great French jazz adventures of the past 30 years, both with very refined music and in the powerful groups to which he lent the sounds of his magical violin (remember UZEB!?). Joining them are the renowned Victor Bailey, ex-member of Weather Report, who marked the world of the bass, and top-notch guitarist Sylvain Luc. Cesaria Evora and Seu Jorge (double-feature program) Bewitchment with a Portuguese touch Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at PDA Monday, July 2, 8:00 p.m. (Pleins feux General Motors series) Cesaria Evora and Seu Jorge are back again in a captivating double-feature program with a Portuguese touch. The famous Cape Verdean singer will again tread barefoot on Montreal soil, this time presenting her new show based on her most recent album, Rogamar. As for the multi-talented Brazilian singer and guitarist who warmed the floorboards of the Spectrum like no other last summer and who is regarded as one of the leading names in Brazilian music and cinema, it will come as no surprise, after seeing him on stage, to learn that Seu Jorge is about to join the ranks of the world’s best- known performers. Spectrum de Montréal A Festival première! Wednesday, July 4, 6:00 p.m. (Couleurs SAQ series) He had his first paying gig at age 11 and was the youngest player ever to make the Rolling Stones’ “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” list! His prowess shines through his blues, rock and jazz renderings and his , as evidenced in the group’s latest album, the vibrant Songlines, inspired by Australian Aboriginal culture. In addition to leading the band that bears his name, Derek Trucks is the guitarist for and . Especially well- known for its live performances, The Derek Trucks Band also stars Todd Smallie (bass), (drums and percussion), (keyboards), (vocals) and Count M'Butu ( and percussion). Mark Murphy Club Soda Legendary jazz singer! Wednesday, July 4, 7:00 p.m. (Voix du monde Bell series) In 1953, his talent greatly impressed Sammy Davis, Jr., who discovered him by chance at a New York jam session. A few years later, it was Ella Fitzgerald’s turn, when she declared Mark Murphy to be nothing less than her equal! It is also said that Mark Murphy is to jazz what Bobby Fischer was to chess… After a prolific five-decade career, numerous Grammy nominations and a repertoire ranging from Broadway to Coldplay, he is still considered one of the greatest living jazz vocalists. An inspired jazz crooner with clear tone and ever-inventive phrasing, who can scat and swing sublimely, he has just come out with his most recent album, Love Is What Stays, on the Decca label. A Festival première! Double-feature concert: Tortoise and Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) & Steve Reid An electro-charged evening! Métropolis Wednesday, July 4, 8:30 p.m. (Rythmes Hyatt Regency Montréal series) This duo sometimes sounds like a duel: the drums, strongly inspired by the African rhythms of Steve Reid, who hails from a jazz background, and the electronic samplings of former-Fridge member Kieran “Four Tet” Hebden face off, exchange repartee and blend together, creating music that is at times abstract, at times hypnotic, but always unique. This electronic- jazz forms a perfectly natural bridge to the music of the modern and original group Tortoise, one of the driving forces behind the “post-rock” movement. A very simplistic name for the genre considering that the group happily takes on jazz, dub, , and electronic, to name a few. In short, a group that defies simple categorization, and whose instrumental music has infused a true breath of fresh air into the independent American music scene. Tickets for 24 concerts on sale Tickets for these 14 new concerts featured in the 2007 program of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal will go on sale as of this Saturday, March 24, at noon. Tickets may be purchased at the following locations: • concerts staged at the Spectrum de Montréal, the Métropolis, the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde and Club Soda: Ticketpro Telephone purchases: 514 908-9090 (outside Montreal, toll-free: 1 866 908-9090) – ticketpro.ca as well as in the halls where the concerts will be staged: Spectrum de Montréal (318 Sainte-Catherine Street West) Information: 514 861-5851 – spectrumdemontreal.ca Métropolis (59 Sainte-Catherine Street East) Information: 514 844-3500 – montrealmetropolis.ca Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (84 Sainte-Catherine Street West) Information: 514 866-8668 - tnm.qc.ca Club Soda (1225 Saint-Laurent Boulevard) Information: 514 286-1010 - clubsoda.ca • concerts staged at Place des Arts: Place des Arts (175 Sainte-Catherine Street West) Telephone purchases: 514 842-2112 (outside Montreal, toll-free: 1 866 842-2112) – PDA.qc.ca Admission Telephone purchases: 514 790-1245 (outside Montreal, toll-free: 1 800 361-4595) – admission.com • concert staged at Parc Jean-Drapeau: Admission Telephone purchases: 514 790-1245 (outside Montreal, toll-free: 1 800 361-4595) – admission.com Remember that tickets for the 10 concerts in the 28th program of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal announced in December 2006 are currently on sale at the locations indicated above. Online descriptions are available at montrealjazzfest.com: Trio Beyond with Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield and Larry Goldings/Dave Holland Quintet/Holly Cole/Wayne Shorter Quartet with the Imani Winds: Terra Incognita/Pink Martini/An Evening with Joshua Redman/Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette/The Bill Frisell Trio featuring Joey Baron & Tony Scherr/An Evening with Branford Marsalis/George Thorogood & The Destroyers; Buddy Guy and his musicians. The complete indoor concert program for the 28th edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal will be announced on May 2, while the program for the free, outdoor concerts and activities will be made public on June 5. To find out everything about the Festival, subscribe to the Spectra Newsletter and receive all information about the Festival premières. The 28th edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal will run from June 28 to July 8, 2007. For more information, call the Bell Info-Jazz Line at 514 871-1881 or toll-free at 1 888 515-0515, or visit the website at montrealjazzfest.com. - 30 - Source: Festival International de Jazz de Montréal – 514 523-3378 Media Information: Marie-Eve Boisvert, Media Relations Director – 514 523-3378, ext. 5666; [email protected] Greg Kitzler, Press Attaché – 514 523-3378, ext. 5622; [email protected] Download photos and press kits at the following address: ftp:\\ftp.montrealjazzfest.com username: fijmcommclient password: fijmcomm2007 Public Information: Bell Info-Jazz Line – 514 871-1881 or toll-free 1 888 515-0515; montrealjazzfest.com