For immediate release:

Live Broadcast on KKJZ 88.1 FM (“Kjazz”)
To Coincide with
Jazz Appreciation Month

WHAT: Radio Broadcast of the Luckman Jazz Orchestra – James Newton, Conductor
WHEN: Thursday, April 22, 2004, 8:00 p.m.
WHERE: KKJZ 88.1 FM from the Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State L.A.
INFO: (323) 343-6600 / www.luckmanfineartscomplex.org

LOS ANGELES – The Luckman Jazz Orchestra, conducted by James Newton, will be broadcast live on KKJZ 88.1 FM, Thursday, April 22, at 8:00 p.m., from the Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State L.A. The radio program will air during the KKJZ Thursday evening time slot hosted by Sam Fields, in conjunction with a celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month during April.

KKJZ radio and worldwide web listeners (www.jazzandblues.org) will hear “Alzouma,” an original composition for jazz orchestra by James Newton that was inspired by his last trip to Africa; a new arrangement by Lanny Hartley of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s masterful ballad “Luiza”; and selections from the LJO’s critically acclaimed repertoire of Ellington, Strayhorn, Mingus, and Shorter.

According to Newton, conductor and music director of the orchestra, “The three years that the Luckman Jazz Orchestra has been in existence have been very fruitful and extremely rewarding. This broadcast will give us the opportunity to introduce a new audience to the range and depth of the orchestra’s stylistic approaches.”

Following the radio presentation on April 22, the LJO will continue its commemoration of Jazz Appreciation Month with a concert, entitled “Reflections of a Journey,” on Saturday, April 24 at 8:00 p.m. in the Luckman Theatre. As part of the Luckman’s regularly scheduled 2003-04 season, the Saturday night performance will feature highlights from the past and a glimpse into future explorations the LJO will undertake next season.

About the Luckman Jazz Orchestra
The Luckman Jazz Orchestra, conducted by James Newton, is a professional performing ensemble of the Harriet & Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex, California State University, Los Angeles. Founded by Clifford Harper, Executive Director of the Luckman Complex, the orchestra features some of the top jazz musicians in Los Angeles. The LJO is both a cutting-edge and repertory jazz orchestra, committed to honoring the legacy of jazz while reaching for new vistas that push its musical expression onto a higher path. Los Angeles Times jazz critic Don Heckman has described it as “one of the country’s finest musical organizations.”

“When I became executive director of the Luckman,” recalls Harper, “James Newton was the first person I talked to about establishing a jazz orchestra attached to the Complex. It took six years to make that happen, to create a home for a premier jazz orchestra that could perform as many times a year as possible.”

Newton, an award-winning flutist, composer, educator, and conductor, is musical director and conductor of the Luckman Jazz Orchestra, and a Professor of Music at California State University, Los Angeles. Following its critically acclaimed debut in February 2001, the orchestra has continued to take risks and reach new heights with concerts at the Luckman, guest performances at other venues, and the recording of its first CD in June 2003. Since its inception, the Luckman Jazz Orchestra has received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Express Company, the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, and California State University, Los Angeles.

LJO Schedule
On the horizon for the orchestra are appearances at the Travel Industry Association of America’s (TIA) International Pow Wow, which will take place April 24-28 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and concerts in Berlin and Bordeaux this summer through the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department’s International Cultural Exchange Program. Previously, the Luckman Jazz Orchestra performed the Sacred Music of Duke Ellington at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and voices from the Faithful Central Bible Church Heritage Chorale, on March 7 and 9, 2004.

April is Jazz Appreciation Month
Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) celebrates jazz as both a historical and living American art form. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History launched the annual program in April 2002. Celebrations are planned throughout the nation. Visit www.smithsonianjazz.org for information.

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