(Updated - Originally released April 22, 2009, 16:31)
 
The North Carolina Central University Jazz Ensemble will perform at the legendary Newport Jazz Festival this weekend in Newport, Rhode Island.  The ensemble of twenty-one students will perform on Saturday, August 8, 2009, as part of “Marsalis Music Presents.”  Saxophonist Branford Marsalis is an artist-in-residence in the Jazz Studies program at NCCU. Both he and his pianist Joey Calderazzo will be performing as well. 

The festival will also feature Chaka Khan, Mos Def & The Watermelon Syndicate, and Tony Bennett.  You may listen live by going to the WNCU 90.7 website.

Established in 1954 by the jazz impresario George Wein, the Newport Jazz Festival is the oldest and most prestigious jazz festival in the United States.  Many jazz greats past and present have performed at the festival including: Count Basie, Jerry Mulligan, Louis Armstrong, Sonny Rollins, and Ella Fitzgerald, among others. Two of the most famous performances in the festival's history are Miles Davis's 1955 solo on "'Round Midnight" and the Duke Ellington Orchestra's lengthy 1956 performance of "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue".
 
Wein was presented an honorary doctorate from NCCU in 2005 and the Ensemble performed a tribute in his honor at that time. Ira Wiggins, director of the NCCU jazz studies program says the invitation to perform at the Newport festival “is indeed and honor and privilege. To say that we are excited about being there is an understatement.” 
 
Look for the NCCU Jazz Ensemble performance at the 30th Annual Detroit Jazz Festival which will be held Labor Day weekend.