16th Annual Jazz Aspen Snowmass

Presented by Calamos Investments

The 16th edition of the Jazz Aspen Snowmass June festival, presented by Calamos Investments – at Rio Grande Park, Aspen, Jun 22 - 25, 2006 Tickets On Sale Mar 27th to Public – will present a phenomenal lineup that ranges from rising young stars to greatly esteemed veterans, and features one of the outstanding musical couples in contemporary music, appearing in the same festival for the first time ever: (on Friday) Diana Krall (and her Quartet) and (on Saturday) Elvis Costello (and the Imposters, with special guest Allen Toussaint). Three-time Grammy winner Delbert McClinton will open for Mr. Costello.

The Jazz Aspen Snowmass organization is pleased to announce that Chicago-based Calamos Investments has joined the festival’s distinguished list of corporate supporters through a multi-year agreement as the festival’s new Title Sponsor.

Calamos Investments is a diversified money manager offering investment strategies for institutions and individuals via separately managed accounts and mutual funds, and offers a risk-managed approach to capital appreciation and income-producing strategies.

Inside a lovely white tent encircled by the Rocky Mountains, the festival will open on Thu, Jun 22nd with a special program called New Voices, headlined by the Jamie Cullum Trio. Once described as “Elton John meets Harry Connick,” Cullum is a native of England and the modern definition of a solidly jazz oriented player (piano and vocals) who has struck a popular nerve; his debut album, Twentysomething, sold two million copies. Opening for him will be Lizz Wright, an emerging star with an astounding voice who presents a style that fuses jazz, soul, folk, blues, and gospel.

Her latest album, Dreaming Wide Awake, brings together songs associated with Neil Young, Fats Waller, the Beatles, Madonna, and Herb Alpert – brilliantly.

Friday brings one of the very few American dates of the year for multiple Grammy winner Diana Krall, the premiere singer/ pianist in jazz today. (There will be no opening act on Friday). Her most recent triumph is her Christmas Songs album, which was released last year to critical acclaim and was the top-selling holiday album of 2005. But that merely follows a career that, since her recording debut in 1993, has seen nine albums distinctly rooted in the jazz piano/vocal tradition go on to remarkable crossover success. Before Christmas Songs, her 2004 album, The Girl in the Other Room, was her first release to focus on her own songwriting, and includes six tunes co-written with her husband, Elvis Costello.

Elvis Costello, not entirely coincidentally, will take the stage Saturday night with his band the Imposters as part of a tour with New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint that celebrates the music and heritage of the Crescent City. Ever since he burst onto the American scene in 1977 as a so-called New Wave rocker with tunes like Allison and Red Shoes, Costello has proven an incredibly gifted songwriter and vocalist who transcends musical categories. His latest album, My Flame Burns Blue, features old and new songs in a big-band orchestra setting, recorded live at the North Sea Jazz Festival. His previous album, Piano Jazz, captured his session with the legendary jazz pianist Marian McPartland on her show of that name; Elvis and jazz have been comfortable for a very long time. His next release, The River in Reverse (out in May), is his response to Hurricane Katrina, and is believed to be the first album recorded in New Orleans since the devastation. Opening for Costello will be Delbert McClinton, whose career has run from coaching John Lennon on the subtleties of harmonica playing in 1962 (the result was Love Me Do ) to writing songs for greats like Emmylou Harris (his Two More Bottles of Wine went #1) to his duet with Bonnie Raitt, Good Man, Good Woman, which won a Grammy in 1991. He fuses blues, rhythm and blues, and country honky-tonk into an inimitable style.

Opening on Sunday will be the master of funk, alto saxophonist Maceo Parker. His career began with 15 years as a featured sideman with the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, where he was a central figure in one of the seminal bands in modern American music. Associations with George Clinton and Prince have followed, but his solo career over the past 15 years has seen his slogan, “2% jazz, 98% funky stuff,” make him a favorite of audiences across the country. Sunday’s closing headline artist will be a major act TBA shortly.

A widely diverse series of performances of JAS After Dark produced in association with Aspen’s Belly–Up nightclub will feature Afro-Cuban, funk, blues, boogaloo bands and more, complemented by free afternoon concerts in Aspen’s downtown Cooper Mall adjacent to Wagner Park.

Tickets went on sale to JAS members on Mon, Mar 20th, by phone at (866) 527-8499. JAS Club memberships start at $50 and include a 20% discount on all festival tickets and merchandise. Memberships are still available and can be purchased at (866) 527-8499.

Tickets will go on sale to the public on Mon, March 27th by walk-in at the Wheeler Opera House, by telephone at (866) 527-8499, or on-line at <www.jazzaspen.org> For information on patron tickets, please contact the JAS office at (970) 920-4996.

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