This year’s Presidents’ Day Weekend Newport Beach Jazz Party promises to be better than ever with two of the most influential musicians ever being honored with special concerts Saturday and Sunday nights. The annual four-day party will be held, Feb. 15 though 18, at the Marriott Newport Beach Hotel. Over 70 musicians will be playing at concerts held mornings, afternoons and evenings. On Saturday night, Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim will be given a tribute. Often called the father …

In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the Monterey Jazz Festival has announced its 2007 lineup, featuring an array of Jazz greats to appear Sept. 21 weekend in Monterey. Young stars, such as trumpeter Terence Blanchard, vocalist Diana Krall (pictured) and pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba will join jazz legends the likes of saxophonists Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman, pianist Dave Brubeck and band leader-composer Gerald Wilson to name just a few. These greats and many other stars will appear …

Orange County’s’s season of jazz events kicks off Labor Day weekend with the 13th annual West Coast Jazz Party. Following this, an ‘07-‘08 lineup featuring the best in jazz commences at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and Cerritos Center. All together in the next several months O.C. will honor the presence of such jazz legends as James Moody, Phil Woods and Ramsey Lewis, as well as displaying younger greats the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Jeff Hamilton, John Clayton and Arturo Sandoval …

Monterey Jazz Festival is taking the occasion of its 50th anniversary this September to release both a book and six CDs, detailing the history and commemorating the artists who have played in Monterey over the years. The book, The Art of Jazz: Monterey Jazz Festival/ 50 Years, written by N. Y. Times authors Keith and Kent Zimmerman, features MJF posters, program covers, photographs, artist listings and includes a decade-by-decade look at the world and the festival as it related to the …

To celebrate the golden anniversary of the Monterey Jazz Festival, the event’s 50th Anniversary Band begins a nationwide tour this month on the West Coast with appearances in Southern California at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, Jan. 17, and UCLA ‘s Royce Hall, Jan. 18. Building on the unprecedented legacy of fifty years of historic jazz presentations, the band was a big hit at last September’s festival. Its 10-week tour will include appearances at 54 venues across the country. Heralded as a …