Blue Note Jazz Club Celebrates 30th Anniversary With Inaugural Blue Note Jazz Festival in New York City

Chris Botti, Dave Brubeck, Chaka
Kahn, Bobby McFerrin, The Roots and Many More to Perform in June at this
Year’s Largest New York Jazz Festival

NEW YORK, April 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — In honor of its 30th anniversary, the Blue Note Jazz Club is opening its doors throughout New York City
during the month of June for the inaugural Blue Note Jazz Festival.
 More than 80 shows featuring many artists who have performed at the
Blue Note for years will take the city by storm at this year’s largest New York jazz festival. More than 60,000 tickets are available. Ticket information and a complete schedule of events are available on the official festival website, www.BlueNoteJazzFestival.com.

The festival will feature a diverse group of high-profile artists including Dave Brubeck, Chris Botti, Nancy Wilson, Bobby McFerrin, Brian Wilson, The Roots, Chaka Kahn, Roberta Flack, El Gran Combo, Jon Hendricks, Kathleen Battle, McCoy Tyner, Youssou N’Dour, Bill Frisell, Meshell Ndegeocello, Madeleine Peyroux
and many more. In addition to presenting a special series of shows at
the Blue Note, the club has scheduled shows at the Beacon Theatre, Town
Hall, BB King Blues Club & Grill, Highline Ballroom, Terminal 5,
Joe’s Pub, Mercury Lounge, Rose Hall at Lincoln Center, Le Poisson Rouge, The Lehman Center for Performing Arts, and the Katonah Museum of Art.

“Thirty years ago, I never could have dreamed that the Blue Note would become what it is today,” owner and operator Danny Bensusan
said of his famed jazz club. “It wasn’t easy to convince the artists to
play here at first. We had help from some of the musicians who believed
in what we were trying to do – Ray Brown
and Dizzy Gillespie, in particular – and as we started bringing in
bigger names, the reputation of the club grew. Once they played the Blue
Note, they always wanted to come back, because there is an intimacy
here between the audience and the musician that is appealing to
everyone.”

“To celebrate our 30th year, we’re presenting musicians all over New York
who have played the Blue Note since the beginning, as well as new ones
who we hope will continue to come back for many years,” Mr. Bensusan
said of the festival. The Blue Note shows in particular will feature
many of the club’s long-time artists, like Jon Hendricks, who will be celebrating his 90th birthday, Lee Konitz, who performed at the Blue Note within the first few weeks of the club’s opening, and Dave Brubeck among others.

While the Blue
Note Jazz Festival celebrates the club’s accomplishments and legendary
artists, Mr. Bensusan believes the Blue Note’s future success will come
from exposing new artists, captivating new audiences and investing in
jazz education. In light of this, the Blue Note Jazz Festival will
include a series at the Mercury Lounge devoted to young up-and-coming
artists in a variety of genres, as well as the new Spontaneous
Construction Series at the Blue Note presented by Search & Restore,
which pairs young, experimental artists together for the first time.
Additionally, the Blue Note Jazz Festival will sponsor educational
programs for the non-profit organization JazzReach and its “ELLINGTON!”
program at the Highline Ballroom which will host hundreds of New York
City Public School students each day over a period of three afternoons.

For Mr.
Bensusan, the Blue Note Jazz Festival is a reflection of where the Blue
Note has been, but most importantly, an indication of what lies ahead.
“I’m proud that after 30 years, the Blue Note has become an important
institution in New York and that with
the Blue Note Jazz Festival, we are continuing to expand and work toward
making the Blue Note as good as it can be.”

About Blue Note

Since its inception in 1981, the Blue Note has become a cultural institution in New York
and one of the premier jazz clubs in the world. Jazz is undoubtedly
America’s music, and while the Blue Note strives to celebrate the
music’s great history, the club is a place where progression and
innovation – the foundation of jazz – are encouraged and practiced on a
nightly basis. After 30 years of success, the Blue Note continues to
carry the torch for jazz proudly.

Located at 131 W. 3rd St. between 6th Ave and McDougal St., in the heart of Greenwich Village, the Blue Note offers music every night at 8pm and 10:30pm. On Friday and Saturday nights at 12:30am,
Blue Note hosts the Spontaneous Construction Series and the Late Night
Groove Series, respectively. The Blue Note Brunch is held every Sunday
with sets at 12:30pm and 2:30pm.

Blue Note Jazz Club