Tanglewood Jazz Festival

The Tanglewood Jazz Festival and the Boston Symphony Orchestra have announced their lineup for the annual Labor Day Weekend festivities that take place at the orchestra's summer home in the Berkshire hills of Lenox, MA. The Festival will be held from Friday, September 2nd through Sunday, September 4th, 2005.

On Friday, September 2nd at 8 p.m. at the Seiji Ozawa Hall, the jazz vocalist Diane Schuur will be performing with the Caribbean Jazz Project. They will be performing songs from their new CD, "Schuur Fire." They will be joined by Toots Thielemans, Kenny Werner, Oscar Castro-Neves, and Airto. Thielemans plays harmonica and guitar, as well as whistling. He has been performing since World War II.

On Saturday, September 3rd at 12 noon at the Theatre, the Legends Trio will be performing. This performance will feature Skitch Henderson, Jay Leonhart, and Bucky Pizzarelli. Henderson is a pianist and composer; Leonhart a bassist; and Pizzarelli a guitarist.

On Saturday, September 3rd at 3 p.m. at the Seiji Ozawa Hall, Marian McPartland will be taping for National Public Radio's "Piano Jazz." The special guest is Madeleine Peyroux. McPartland has been coming to the Festival for many years. This year, her show will be celebrating its 27th season on NPR. Peyroux is a vocalist that debuted in 1996. At that time, her recording was considered by Time magazine to be "the most exciting, involving vocal performance by a new singer."

On Saturday, September 3rd at 8 p.m. at the Koussevitzky Music Shed, Tony Bennett will be performing with the Count Basie Orchestra conducted by Bill Hughes. This performance is the headliner for this year's festivities. This performance marks a rare reunion of Bennett and Basie. They will be celebrating their 1959 recording "Basie & Bennett." Bennett has had his albums go platinum and gold. He has sold over 50 million records all over the world. He has also won 12 Grammy Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

On Sunday, September 4th at 2 p.m. at the Seiji Ozawa Hall, the saxophonist Sonny Rollins will be featured. This will be his first performance here since 2001. Rollins made his first recording in 1949 and has been going strong ever since.

On Sunday, September 4th at 8 p.m. at the Seiji Ozawa Hall, the Yellowjackets will perform as well as Chris Botti. The Yellowjackets will be performing material from their most recent release, which is called "Altered States." The band is comprised of the musical talents of Russell Ferrante on the keyboard, Bob Mintzer on the saxophone, Jimmy Haslip on the bass, and Marcus Baylor on the drums. Botti is a gifted composer and instrumentalist, especially on the trumpet. Recently, Botti went on tour with Sting (2004) and was voted one of "2004's 50 Most Beautiful People" by People Magazine.