Headliners, Themes Announced for 2006 Syracuse Jazz Fest

Syracuse, NY - Syracuse Jazz Fest founder and artistic director Frank Malfitano has announced the names of the headline artists that will be featured at this year's 24th annual jazz festival, June 23-25, at Onondaga Community College. According to Malfitano, the 2006 Syracuse Jazz Fest will thematically take a different approach this year, with dedicated theme nights saluting three American cities famous for their impact on the International and American music scene, and featured headliners who have become synonymous with the regional sounds and styles of those cities.

On Friday, June 23rd, the festival's opening night kicks off with a Salute to Detroit co-headlined by David Fathead Newman's Tribute To Ray Charles (featuring Howard Johnson and Detroit's Marcus Belgrave) and The Funk Brothers, the legendary Hitsville studio musicians who've comprised the musical backbone of Motown's golden era and defined what later became known as “The Motown Sound."

On Saturday, June 24th, the Syracuse festival salutes the Sounds of New Orleans with Zydeco king CJ Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band and the distinctive vocals of Marcia Ball and Dr. John and the Lower 911 as the evening's co-headliners.

Closing things out on Sunday, June 25th, the festival will present the signature stylized Jazz, Funk and Soul sounds of former Aretha Franklin and King Curtis band-mates, The Soul Survivors, featuring the legendary Cornell Dupree and Les McCann (joined by Buddy Williams, Jerry Jemott and Ronnie Cuber) in a Jazz Fest closing night salute to the Sounds of Memphis.

“By creating dedicated theme nights at the 2006 festival that celebrate and salute three of America's most renowned musical hubs, we were able to put together a diverse musical lineup that doubles as a history lesson in American popular culture. While it's educational in nature and content, the festival also features a lot of entertainment, fun and great food," said Malfitano. “And, to inject more fun and enhance the atmosphere even further, there will be a host of new food vendors on hand featuring specialty foods and dishes associated with these famous cities. Festival goers can look forward to an expanded food court that will feature Tex-Mex, Cajun Cooking, Ribs, Bar-B-Que and a whole lot of other wonderful regional dishes and delicacies associated with Detroit, Memphis and The Big Easy."

Friday's audiences will be transported to the glory days of Motown with The Funk Brothers, a group of Detroit musicians who were the house band at Motown Records from 1959 to 1972. Until the release of Standing in the Shadows of Motown, the 2002 documentary film which catapulted them to overnight prominence, the members of the band were generally unknown for their crucial contributions to Motown, despite having played the background music in nearly every Motown hit by the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Jackson 5, and Martha & The Vandellas. The Funk Brothers are the virtuosos of Detroit jazz and R&B who put the fire and soul into the Motown sou! nd. Their studio involvement with these recordings makes them the biggest hitmakers in music history, with more #1 songs than The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley and The Rolling Stones combined.

Kicking off the Friday night program at 6 pm will be upcoming Michigan-based Hammond B3 organ trio organissimo followed by David Fathead Newman's Tribute to Ray Charles. The Grammy Award-winning Funk Brothers close out the night's performances.

Saturday's Salute to the Sounds of New Orleans will headline with Dr. John and the Lower 911 taking the stage at 9 pm. Dr. John proudly stands alongside Louis Armstrong and Fats Domino as one of New Orleans' all-time distinctive voices. Not only is his dry, gravelly cackle one of the most infectious sounds in jazz and popular music, he's also universally celebrated as the living embodiment of the rich musical heritage exclusive to New Orleans. His unique musical approach and striking physical appearance encompass local African, American Indian, and Creole influences mixed in with quite a number of other equally exotic tributaries.

Taking the stage earlier at 6 pm will be zydeco king C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band, followed by boogie woogie pianist and vocalist Marcia Ball. At the conclusion of Dr. John's evening-ending performance, festival crowds will be treated to a dazzling free fireworks display.

The headlining act closing out the festival on Sunday will be The Soul Survivors, featuring guitarist extraordinaire Cornell Dupree and master jazz keyboardist and vocalist Les McCann. When they take the stage at 7:30 pm, they bring with them more than a century of collected musical experience as a 'supergroup' formed from some of the most respected veterans of soul, jazz and R&B. The Soul Survivors features the combined artistry of pianist/singer Les McCann, guitarist Cornell Dupree, drummer Buddy Williams, saxophonist Ronnie Cuber and the great Jerry Jemott on bass. McCann rose to fame in the soul-jazz boom of the early 1960s, and scored a classic hit with Gene McDaniels' “Compared to What" before recording the classic live album Swiss Movement at the Montreux Jazz Festival with sax great Eddie Harris. Soul lovers everywhere also know Dupree as one of the greats, with more than 2,500 recording sessions to his credit with everyone from funk godfather James Brown to jazz composer Carla Bley and legendary funk, soul jazz outfits, Stuff, and The Gadd Gang. His rsum includes 10 years as a member of Aretha Franklin's and King Curtis' touring bands.

Sunday's Sounds of Memphis program begins at 3 pm with swing vocalist Catherine Russell, followed by the James Cotton Blues Band and concludes with The Soul Survivors.

During the three days of music, local musicians and scholastic performers will also be featured prominently throughout festival weekend on the festival's second stage. Several of Central NY's premier high school jazz ensembles will also appear on the festival's main stage.

Admission to all of the events is free.