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The Essence Music Festival has plenty to celebrate this year and it will be about a lot more than music, said Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications Inc.

The festival, slated to run from July 3rd through the 5th, will include events marking the festival’s 15th anniversary and the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Billed as one of the nation’s largest annual events celebrating black music and culture, this year’s list of headliners will include Beyonce, John Legend, Al Green, Anita Baker, Robin Thicke and dozens of others. There will also be a tribute to Bishop T.D. Jakes, the Dallas pastor who gave an Inauguration Day sermon in Washington.

The format for this year’s festival will be the same as in years past: Ticketed musical performances are slated at night and free empowerment seminars will be held during the day.

“That’s the wonderful thing about Essence,” Ebanks said. “It’s not one particular genre of music. It’s a celebration of the music of our lives, of all the music that we know and love.”

The festival began in 1995 as a one-time celebration of the 25th anniversary of Essence magazine. Over the years, it has hosted performances by Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, LL Cool J, the Isley Brothers, Lionel Richie, Luther Vandross, Mary J. Blige, the O’Jays, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Toni Braxton and Patti LaBelle, among others.

An estimated 200,000 people attended the festival in 2007, the year it returned to New Orleans after being held in Houston in 2006 because the city was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. The festival had one of its biggest turnouts last year with more than 270,000 attendees.

For more information you can visit the festival website, essencemusicfestival.com.

Kenny G is just one of many exciting and internationally renowned names in jazz who will come together when the 2009 Playboy Jazz Festival, now in its 31st year, presents its stellar lineup of talent Saturday and Sunday, June 13th and 14th at the landmark Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California.

The two day event, which annually attracts over 35,000 fans, celebrates the entire spectrum of jazz. This year’s slate of performers will feature an eclectic mix of veteran jazz icons, today’s hottest young stars, world music performers, and Festival favorites.

Back for his 28th year as master of ceremonies is Bill Cosby and the talent-heavy roster of performers includes Kenny G, Patti Austin, The Neville Brothers, Norman Brown, Wayman Tisdale, Eric Darius and many more.

Jazz bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding and soul/funk outfit Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are among the seven acts making their debut appearance at the 2009 Playboy Jazz Festival.

The festival performers were announced during a press conference at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion. Among those performing is Quincy Jones’ new protégé Alfredo Rodriguez who will be making his festival debut. Jones first encountered the 23-year-old Cuban pianist/producer/musical director during a performance at the 2006 Montreux Jazz Festival.

A special tribute to the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis’ landmark, best-selling jazz album “Kind of Blue” is set for Saturday (June 13th). Leading the salute is Jimmy Cobb, who is making his festival debut and is the only surviving member from the original recording.

Tickets are currently available via the Hollywood Bowl website, hollywoodbowl.com.

Producers of the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival have announced the lineup for the 2009 festival. The festival will be held over two weekends; April 24th through the 26th and April 30th through May 3rd.

This time of year it is especially encouraging to see the triumph in stories like that of The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. A festival which was nearly knocked out by Hurricane Katrina set goals to reclaim itself with its 2008 re-birth, it would appear now to be just as strong, if not stronger than the heights the festival had seen prior to Katrina’s destruction.

The revival of the festival was owed in part to an investment in a broad range of national talent as well as the steady return of the region’s own highly talented and supremely gifted musicians and performers.

The coming 2009 version of the festival showcases two weekends jam-packed with huge names, most notably Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, Tony Bennett, The Neville Brothers, Hugh Masekela, Earth Wind & Fire, Etta James with the Roots Band, Esperanza Spalding, Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, The O’Jays and many more.

The event also includes a large number of huge mainstream acts including the Dave Matthews Band, James Taylor, Erykah Badu, Wilco, Sugarland and Bonnie Raitt.

However, the flashiness of the mainstream roster barely resonates in the minds and must-see-lists of those who frequent the Jazz Fest’s renowned trinity of jazz, blues and gospel.

These three entities are without a doubt the definitive backbone of the Jazz Fest and they are the core attraction for people who will travel hundreds of thousands of miles to attend. The big stars with household names will not outshine the home-grown, grass-roots talent that is signature to this one-of-a-kind festival.

In 1970, George Wein, jazz impresario behind the Newport Jazz Festival and the Newport Folk Festival (begun respectively in 1954 and 1959) was hired to design and produce a unique festival for New Orleans. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit organization, was established to oversee the Festival.

From the very beginning, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was envisioned as an important event that would have great cultural significance and popular appeal. The Festival was the culmination of years of discussions and efforts by city leaders who wanted to create an event worthy of the city’s legacy as the birthplace of jazz.

For more information, history, and complete daily schedules of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival visit nojazzfest.com.

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