BLUES GUITAR LEGEND BUDDY GUY LAUNCHES

THE 2009-2010 JAZZ ROOTS SEASON, BRINGING HIS

FAMOUS WAILING ELECTRIC GUITAR SOUND TO A PROGRAM FEATURING SPECIAL GUEST DR. JOHN AND HIS BAND THE LOWER 911

Friday, November 6, 2009

Tickets: $25 to $125

John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall

MIAMI, FL October 19, 2009 – The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, with acclaimed jazz producer and entrepreneur Larry Rosen, present the inaugural concert of the 2009-2010 JAZZ ROOTS season – THE BLUES featuring multi-Grammy Award-winning blues guitar icon BUDDY GUY AND DR. JOHN & THE LOWER 911 on Friday, November 6, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. in the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall.

Renowned for his theatrical guitar showmanship and unvarnished blues style, BUDDY GUY, an inductee into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame, is considered the greatest living exponent of Chicago electric blues. His unique, wailing guitar sound has influenced virtually every major blues and rock guitarist from Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton. New Orleans singer/songwriter and pianist Dr. John and his band The Lower 911 open the concert performing their patented version of blues, gospel, funk and jazz. In addition to his unique fusion style, Dr. John is universally recognized for his original blues interpretations of traditional forms of jazz and American classic songs, as well as his elaborate stage shows.

“Buddy Guy is one of the titans of the blues, straddling traditional and modern forms, as well as musical generations, and Dr. John is universally celebrated as the living embodiment of the rich musical heritage exclusive to New Orleans,” said M. John Richard, president and CEO of the Adrienne Arsht Center. “We are thrilled to present the talents of these legendary American artists to the South Florida community.”

“We are especially proud to offer 150 Miami-Dade County Public School youth the once-in-a-lifetime experience to interact with these acclaimed musicians,” continued Richard. As a part of the JAZZ ROOTS education program, the students will have the opportunity to attend the sound check and concert as well as learn more about the blues and how this truly American musical genre has influenced jazz, rock, R&B, rap and popular music.

“Thematically, our JAZZ ROOTS series is based on the drums that came from Africa and their influence on all the popular music of the Americas. THE BLUES, our season opener, starts at the core of jazz,” said series co-producer Larry Rosen. “Both Buddy Guy and Dr. John come from a long heritage of Louisiana blues artists. As Buddy Guy said when I recently interviewed him for our JAZZ ROOTS radio show on WLRN-FM, ‘The blues can be sad, or the blues can be happy, but it always represents how folks are feelin’.”

JAZZ ROOTS’ in-depth educational partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools brings more than 900 music students to the Center each season for a unique behind-the-scenes experience, including a pre-concert sound check and a Q&A session with featured artists followed by a workshop with a local jazz expert that will highlight the music, the artistic process and the practical skills needed for a career in the arts. In addition, the Center has developed a curriculum which will be distributed to 800 music, English and social studies teachers throughout the MDCPS school system, potentially serving 24,000 children.

In its debut last season, the JAZZ ROOTS series was a major success, selling out all six performances and drawing more than 10,000 jazz lovers to the Arsht Center. The electrifying 2009-2010 series will once again showcase an all-star lineup of artists in a variety of programs exploring the spectrum of jazz: AN EVENING WITH DAVE GRUSIN featuring Patti Austin, Jon Secada, Gary Burton, Sammy Figueroa, Arturo Sandoval, Nestor Torres, and the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music Mancini Institute Orchestra (December 4); VOCALESE - Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices and Jon Hendricks (January 15); JAZZ and SOUL - Al Jarreau and Ramsey Lewis (February 26); A TRIBUTE TO FRANK SINATRA - Michael Feinstein, John Pizzarelli and The Frost School of Music Mancini Institute Big Band (March 19); PIANO LATINO - Eddie Palmieri, Michel Camilo, and introducing Alfredo Rodriguez (April 16).