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Here’s the follow-up to this morning’s post about the new jazz festival being launched in Baltimore by John Nugent and Marc Iacona, producers of the RIJF:

PAETEC Jazz Festival to Premiere in Baltimore August 9-11, 2007
Baltimore-born Entrepreneur to Bring the Music Home!

Rochester, NY-January 31, 2007-Get ready Baltimore! The nation’s newest major jazz festival, PAETEC Jazz is coming your way, promising to heat up the music scene this summer for three music-packed days August 9-11.

Festival officials announced the new event at a news conference this morning at Baltimore’s City Hall hosted by newly elected Mayor Sheila Dixon.

“Considering the enduring history that jazz has in Baltimore, this is indeed a great day for the City,” said Mayor Sheila Dixon. “I’m proud to partner with the PAETEC Jazz Festival’s producers, John Nugent and Marc Iacona, and commend Arunas Chesonis of PAETEC, Inc. for helping showcase Baltimore through this great new event. We’re inviting jazz lovers from around the globe to experience a musical encounter unlike anything that’s ever happened in Baltimore. From Billie Holliday to Cab Calloway, jazz has set the musical tone for Baltimore for decades and the PAETEC Jazz Festival gives us yet another opportunity to highlight the offerings of our world class city.”

PAETEC Jazz Festival Baltimore, will be held in multiple indoor venues and outdoor stages set against the impressive backdrop of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and downtown area. A diverse program of more than 40 concerts will embrace all genres of creative improvised music and feature Grammy-winning headliners as well as some of the world’s finest emerging artists. Venues confirmed to date include Pier 6 and Power Plant Live! The complete artist lineup, schedule, and ticket sale information will be announced in May.

PAETEC Jazz Festival Baltimore was conceived by PAETEC Communications, Inc., Chairman and CEO Arunas A. Chesonis, the Baltimore-born entrepreneur whose telecommunications and information technology company has achieved remarkable growth since it was founded in 1998. PAETEC is headquartered in Rochester, NY, and has offices from coast to coast including in Baltimore and nearby Washington DC.

To produce PAETEC Jazz Festival Baltimore, Chesonis, 44, has tapped the rising star festival producer team of John Nugent and Marc Iacona, who have carefully nurtured two growing and highly successful festivals. The Rochester International Jazz Festival, now in its sixth year and attracting record audiences topping 80,000 in 2006, and the Stockholm Jazz Festival, now entering its 24th year, drawing more than 50,000 music fans, have brought significant positive recognition and economic impact to the host communities.

“Baltimore has always been an important market for PAETEC as well as being the home of one of the most beautiful waterfronts in the nation,” said Chesonis. “We’re honored to be a part of what should become an anticipated cultural event in Baltimore, and I personally look forward to hearing some amazing music while enjoying what this city has to offer.”

“We are very excited to bring PAETEC Jazz to the great city of Baltimore,” said Marc Iacona, Co-producer and Executive Director. “John and I are extremely impressed with Arunas’s vision and leadership in helping establish this important new event. Baltimore is a thriving urban center, alive with activity, and will be a spectacular setting for our diverse festival lineup. We look forward to delivering a top level event that will also have a positive economic impact on the region.”

Artistic Director John Nugent said, “Having produced festivals in different parts of the world, my focus and my joy is in putting together talent - creating a musical painting that meshes new musical ideas from emerging artists with music that is familiar and loved. That is what helps build a festival atmosphere that is electrifying. We have been fortunate to create that in Rochester and Stockholm, and now look forward to accomplishing the same high-level quality event for Baltimore. There is so much talent and so many broad creative styles of creative improvised music to choose from. When our new festival canvas comes together in Baltimore, it will be special.”

Sponsor Opportunities

A variety of sponsorship opportunities are available. For information visit www.paetecjazz.com or contact Marc Iacona at marc@paetecjazz.com.

News Alerts

Sign up to receive the latest PAETEC Jazz Baltimore news at www.paetecjazz.com.

About PAETEC Communications

PAETEC Communications, Inc., is an innovative supplier of communications solutions to medium and large businesses and institutions. With the belief that every customer has unique needs, PAETEC offers personalized solutions that include a comprehensive suite of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services delivered over its Private-IP MPLS network. With more than 1,100,000 access line equivalents in service, PAETEC serves more than 15,000 core business customers across the U.S. by offering a full line of telecommunications and Internet services, enterprise communications management software, security solutions, and managed services. The company was the recipient of the 2005 American Business Ethics Award for a mid-size company, presented by the Society of Financial Services Professionals. PAETEC is headquartered in Fairport, N.Y.

About the Producers

PAETEC Jazz Festival Baltimore is Sponsored by PAETEC Communications Inc and produced by John Nugent, Artistic Director, and Marc Iacona, Executive Director, principals in RIJF, LLC, based in Rochester, NY. The team also produces the critically acclaimed and growing Rochester International Jazz Festival, which will feature more than 600 musicians and more than 120 concerts during the nine day event June 8-16, 2007.

Nugent also produces The Stockholm Jazz Festival, which this year celebrates its 24th year July 17-21. As a performer, Nugent, a noted tenor sax player, has traveled the world with many jazz artists including Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney, Clark Terry, The Woody Herman Orchestra and The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.

Iacona, a business and community leader, avid trumpeter and philanthropic supporter of the arts, is also President of Simcona Electronics Corporation, a leading electronics distributor based in Rochester New York with offices serving the eastern US, Canada and Asia.

This morning, my inbox contained this message from the producers of the Rochester International Jazz Festival:

Media Advisory

For release January 31, 2007

Rochester International Jazz Festival Producers and Baltimore Mayor to Announce Major New Jazz Festival at Press Conference in Baltimore Wednesday

Rochester Companies to Play Key Role

WHAT

Announcement of a Jazz Festival in the Inner Harbor and areas of downtown Baltimore
in August 2007.

WHEN

Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - 9:30 A.M.

Mayor Sheila Dixon will unveil the Festival’s official name and logo, introduce the
event’s two producers and corporate sponsor. The festival’s producers, as well as the CEO of the corporate presenting partner, will be available following the press conference for interviews.

WHERE

Mayor’s Executive Conference Room - 2nd Floor of Baltimore’s City Hall, 100 N. Holliday Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202

WHO

• Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon
• John Nugent and Marc Iacona, Co-producers and Partners in the Rochester-based
  company, RIJF, LLC

• Rochester-based Corporate Presenting Partner

As you may already know, John Nugent produces the Stockholm Jazz Festival in Sweden. Now it looks like he’s adding another U.S. festival to his growing production company. That’s exciting news for jazz fans, and exciting news for Baltimore.

I wrote yesterday about the benefits for Rochester of the jazz festival. It looks like Baltimore has already realized the potential of a major cultural event. I’m glad to see their mayor out in front. I was also glad to see Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy at the RIJF press conference last year. Our mantra should be: Remember Montreal!

The Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester’s daily paper, weighed in this week in support of using the arts as a growth engine for Rochester:

A mix of activities: Jazz Festival’s growth should inspire Music Fest surge

(January 30, 2007) — As part of a larger plan to create a dynamic city, Rochester officials must provide entertainment on a large scale.

So news that the city is headed in that direction with the annual Rochester International Jazz Festival is encouraging.

With just $35,000 last year, the event managed to attract 80,000 people. Imagine what could be done with the $250,000 the city has asked for.

The idea is to expand the festival beyond the East End and hold events in other areas of the city such as High Falls and Corn Hill, creating a more appealing event.

This would be money well- spent. But the focus on the jazz festival creates a question. What about Music Fest?

The event was a product of the Johnson administration, and has primarily highlighted R&B and hip-hop acts. The event has seen some changes over the years — a reduction in the number of days it is held and a change of venue last year to Frontier Field. Charles Reaves, commissioner of recreation and youth services, said keeping the Music Fest going for years to come remains a priority of the city.

He said sponsorship for the event hasn’t grown to the level the city would like to see, but an audience is there.

Broadening the Music Fest to include other genres of music could be a smart way of appealing to more people and keeping the event fresh, though Reaves said variety can be achieved within the R&B and hip-hop genres by offering a mix of new, old and local acts.

He said it’s striking the right mix, as the jazz festival has done, will help to build the Music Fest’s appeal.

Officials will meet soon to determine the details of this year’s event, and the City Council will vote on whether to approve additional funding for the jazz festival. Nurturing both events should be on the top of the city’s to-do list.

That’s a song I’ve been singing for years. You’ll find that opinion and a lot more about the Rochester International Jazz Festival by looking through the RIJF category here at jasoncrane.org.

More genius from Tom The Dancing Bug.

Tenor saxophonist Harry Allen was born in Washington, D.C. in 1966, but he grew up in California and Rhode Island. His father was a drummer who played jazz records for Allen before kindergarten, and that early exposure set the course for his professional life. Unlike many saxophonists of his generation, Allen chose not to emulate John Coltrane’s sound, choosing a mellower path. The result? Decades of touring the world and recording albums. His latest album is called Hey, Look Me Over (Arbors, 2006). I talked with Harry Allen in December 2006, following Allen’s two-night stand with the Bob Sneider quartet at the Strathallan Hotel here in Rochester, NY.

You can read the full interview at All About Jazz.

If you think that photo is cool, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Check out photographer Li Wei’s Web site.

Don Braden went to Harvard in 1981 to become a computer programmer and emerged as a new voice on the saxophone. For two decades he’s been making a name for himself in the modern jazz world, and he’s compiled an impressive resume, working with established masters like trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, vocalist Betty Carter, drummers Roy Haynes and Tony Williams; then-emerging-talents like trumpter Wynton Marsalis and the Harper Brothers; and as a leader and composer in his own right.

Braden’s new album, Workin’ (HighNote, 2006) is a showcase not only for his playing skills, but also for his talents as an audio engineer. Visit All About Jazz to read my interview with Don Braden.