May 11, 2010: Washington, D.C. – The DC Jazz Festival (DCJF), formerly the
Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, today announced the honorary chairs who will be
hosting its sixth annual festival from June 1- 13.
The honorary chairs include the Honorable Rodney E. Slater, former Secretary of
Transportation, and a partner at Patton Boggs LLP; DeMaurice Smith, Executive
Director of the NFL Players Association; and Katharine Weymouth, Chief
Executive Officer of The Washington Post Media Group and publisher of The
Washington Post.
Slater is a native of Arkansas and an avid jazz enthusiast. He was the first African
American Director of the Federal Highway Administration before he was
appointed Secretary of Transportation in 1997 during the Clinton era. As a
partner at Patton Boggs, Slater currently heads the firm’s transportation practice
and works on projects related to transportation infrastructure.
Prior to his appointment as Executive Director of the NFL Players Association,
Smith was the chair of Patton Boggs’ Government Investigations and White-Collar
Practice Group. In 2007, Smith was hailed as one of the “The Top Fifteen Black
White-Collar Criminal Defense Attorneys” by the Corporate Crime Reporter
newspaper. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1989.
Granddaughter of the late Washington Post Company Chairman, Katharine
Graham, Weymouth was named CEO of the Washington Post Media Group and
publisher of its namesake newspaper, The Washington Post, in 2008. A graduate
of Harvard College and Stanford Law School, prior to joining The Washington
Post, she practiced law at Williams & Connolly.
The honorary chairs will jointly host the DC Jazz Festival Opening Gala, cosponsored
by the Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C. on June 9. The evening at
the Mandarin Oriental’s Garden Terrace will feature special performances by the
Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, Roy Hargrove, Roberta Gambarini, and DCJF co-Artistic
Director Paquito D’Rivera.
Highlights of the 2010 DC Jazz Festival include an All-Star tribute to NEA Jazz
Master James Moody at the Lincoln Theatre, with the Dizzy Gillespie™ All-Stars
Kenny Barron, Regina Carter, and special guests on June 10; Jazz Under the
Stars at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre featuring Colombian harp sensation
Edmar Castaneda and the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band on June 11; Jazz at
The Lisner Auditorium (George Washington University) — a free matinee concert
featuring Brazilian trumpeter Claudio Roditi, and the Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz
Band, and a ticketed evening concert with vocalist Dianne Reeves, and the Roy
Hargrove Big Band, with Special Guest Roberta Gambarini on June 12; and an
NEA American Masterpieces-commissioned World Premiere concert, Paquito
D’Rivera and the Jelly Roll Morton Latin Tinge, at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace
Theater on June 13,
Additionally, the DCJF will present two free days of activities at Jazz ‘n Families Fun Day at the
Phillips Collection on June 5 and 6; free student concerts and master classes; and the return of
the popular Jazz in the ‘Hoods and Brunchin’ in the ‘Hoods, June 1-13, with programs at more
than 25 restaurants, clubs, hotels and art galleries across the city.
Additional resources:
Full DCJF performance schedule
(http://www.dcjazzfest.org/content.cfm/schedule_and_special_events)
DCJF sponsor list (http://www.dcjazzfest.org/content.cfm/sponsors)
DCJF All Access Weekend Package:
www.marriott.com/specials/mesOffer.mi?marrOfferId=481371&displayLink-true
2010 DC Jazz Festival: “KEY” Events
June 1: Jazz on the Potomac: Kennedy Center Millennium Stage with Trinidian
trumpeter Etienne Charles (Free)
June 2: Jazz on the Potomac: Kennedy Center Millennium Stage with the
Berklee World Jazz Nonet (Free)
June 1-13: Jazz in the ‘Hoods: Over 80 shows in 30+ clubs, restaurants, and hotels
June 3: Jazz at the Smithsonian American Art Museum: featuring saxophonist
Marshall Keys (Free)
June 3: Phillips After Five: featuring pianist Janelle Gill at thePhillips
Collection
June 4: Jazz in the Garden: (National Gallery of Art) featuring the Berklee World
Jazz Nonet (Free)
June 5-6: Jazz ‘n Families Fun Days: co-presented with and at The Phillips
Collection featuring George V. Johnson, Janelle Gill, Victor Provost, the
DC Jazz Collaborative, Noble Jolley, Brad Linde, and others. (Free)
June 8: Rising Star concert at the 6th and I Historic Synagogue, “A Tribute to
Oscar Peterson” featuring pianist Marian Petrescu with Special Guest,
guitarist Andreas Öberg”
June 9: Rising Star concert at the WDC Jewish Community Center featuring
saxophonist Uri Gurvich
June 10: NEA Jazz Masters Live Concert at The Lincoln Theatre: An All-Star
tribute to NEA Jazz Master James Moody featuring NEA Jazz Masters
Kenny Barron and Paquito D’Rivera with Roy Hargrove, Roberta
Gambarini, Regina Carter and other guest artists.
June 11: Jazz at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre: featuring jazz harpist Edmar
Castaneda and the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band.
June 12: Jazz at the Lisner Auditorium (George Washington University): The
Claudio Roditi Quartet and the Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Band
(matinee/Free); and Dianne Reeves, and the Roy Hargrove Big Band
with special guest Roberta Gambarini (evening).
June 13 Kennedy Center Terrace Theater Paquito D’Rivera and The Jelly Roll
Morton Latin Tinge Project with Akua Dixon and Quartette Indigo,
Michael Philip Mossman, Music Director, a commissioned National
Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces concert.
June 5-9: DCJF Master Classes/Student Concerts:
Enriching educational Programs at the THEARC Performing Arts Center in Anacostia, the
Sitar Arts Center in Adams Morgan, and the Atlas Performing Arts Center on the H Street
