ABOUT THE 1ST ANNUAL UNDERGROUND BIG APPLE JAZZ FEST 2009

"I am so happy this festival is happening. For the sake of the music, the musicians and the clubs. There couldn't be a better time. 'I got your back.'" ~ Awilda Rivera, WBGO-FM

The notion of this new festival in a nutshell is to announce that the New York City jazz scene still thrives in the small inexpensive neighborhood venues. In these clubs, audience members interact -- with one another and with the musicians -- so there's more community and looseness. You're more comfortable to shout out during a great solo inspiring the musician to greater expression - the give and take that's essential to live jazz. Sets go longer than they're supposed to because nobody's going to stop the rollercoaster in the middle of a great ride. Unscheduled guest musicians stop by and are immediately invited up on stage.

So it's a celebration of these intimate clubs and some wonderful musicians deserving wider recognition; as well as an insider's peek into that world which is completely accessible but rarely accessed by the majority of jazz fans that go to the big festivals. The Underground Big Apple Jazz Fest includes a Jungle Alley speakeasy, a subterranean pool hall, the "Birthplace of Bebop", a Sugar Hill dive, a Harlem living room, several Village basements, a Creole cooking supper club, a Hammond B-3 juke joint, a 1930's era art deco nightclub, and on and on.

The music styles covered include: modern acoustic, vocal divas, vocal non-divas, blues mammas and gospel queens, big band swing, trad jazz, tributes to Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jimmy McGriff, Mamie Smith and Ma Rainey, blues, tap jams, African pop, soul jazz, bebop, jam sessions and on and on.

Some of the heroic musicians performing include: Harold Mabern, Mulgrew Miller, Bill Easley, Ruben Wilson, Melvin Sparks, Marion Cowings, Ari Hoenig, Clare Daly, Ray Schinnery, Marjorie Eliot, Ron Affif, Bill Saxton, Donald Smith, Kim Clarke, Harry Whitaker, Boncella Lewis, Carla Cook, Spike Wilner, Beareather Reddy, Matt Wilson, Mark Sherman, and on and on.

The Underground Big Apple Jazz Festival is being produced by jazz fan, Gordon Polatnick who started www.bigapplejazz.com and Big Apple Jazz Tours twelve years ago; and was the owner of EZ's Woodshed, Harlem's jazz day-club and fellow jazz fan, Beth Zucker, who started the NYC Jazz Meet-Up Group. They are busy behind the scenes, year-round, instigating opportunities for jazz musicians and fans to get together. The festival (June 26 - July 4, 2009) is a win-win-win that highlights and promotes the underground clubs and musicians for free, and offers festival goers great jazz and hundreds of dollars worth of discounts and promotions all week long for the price of a $30 Festival Pass.

In fact, Gordon is offering $30 off his Friday and Saturday night Harlem Juke Joint Tours, and $10 off his Sunday Great Day in Harlem Jazz Tour to Festival Pass Holders.

It is our hope that jazz fans who are missing the George Wein produced jazz festival that usually happens around this time of year, will take the opportunity to buy a festival pass and spend the week going off-the-beaten-path through Harlem and the Village to explore the underground scene. Future underground festivals are being organized throughout the 5 boroughs because in the Big Apple, jazz is everywhere!

For Press Passes:
Dan Kassell, AUTHENTIC MARKETING
Toll Free: (866) 411-JASS (5277)

PEACE.