CONTACT:              
Brandy Wood, WBGO
(973) 624-8880, x 268
bwood@wbgo.org

Essie Lash, Heart of Brooklyn
(718) 638-7700, x12
elash@heartofbrooklyn.org

www.heartofbrooklyn.org/jazz

Jazz: Brooklyn's Beat Brings
World-Class Jazz to the Heart of Brooklyn

Brooklyn, NY – April 30, 2010 -- This June, Heart of Brooklyn and WBGO 88.3 FM present the return of Jazz: Brooklyn’s Beat! The month-long celebration features jazz performances at six of Brooklyn’s most cherished cultural institutions, with something for jazz lovers of all ages. All events are family-friendly and free, or free with admission.

Started in 2007, Jazz: Brooklyn’s Beat is a unique collaboration between eight esteemed non-profits working together to bring jazz musicians, singers and artists from around the globe to Brooklyn, which is home to 16% of WBGO’s listeners. The series celebrates Brooklyn’s diversity through both indoor and outdoor concerts, dances, interviews and more. Jazz Brooklyn’s Beat presents performances in some of the borough’s most vibrant venues: Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect Park and Prospect Park Zoo.

From Samba with the Sea Lions at Prospect Park Zoo to a Rhythm Revue Family Dance Party with DJ Felix Hernandez at Grand Army Plaza, Jazz: Brooklyn’s Beat entertains thousands of Brooklyn residents and visitors with some of the most prominent jazz artists of the day. Additional performers include alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, gypsy jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel, and pianist and composer Helen Sung, as well as a conversation with jazz photographer Hank O’Neal.

Festival schedule:

Saturday, June 5 – 12pm
Samba with the Sea Lions, Prospect Park Zoo
Free with Admission

Thursday, June 10 – 7pm
Conversations in Jazz: Hank O’Neal, Brooklyn Public Library’s Dweck Center
Free

Saturday, June 12 – 1:30 & 2:30pm
Stephane Wrembel – The Django Experiment (Part of BBG’s Centennial Bee-Day Celebration), Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Free

Saturday, June 19 – 1 & 2pm
Helen Sung Group with Guest Vocalist Carolyn Leonhart, Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Free with Admission

Saturday, June 26 – 4pm
Rhythm Revue with Felix Hernandez, Prospect Park’s Grand Army Plaza
Free

Sunday, June 27 – 3pm
Sunday Jazz Session, Jaleel Shaw Quartet, Brooklyn Museum
Free with Admission

For more information, visit www.heartofbrooklyn.org/jazz or www.wbgo.org/brooklyn, or follow @heartofbklyn on Twitter.

Jazz: Brooklyn’s Beat is presented by TD Bank. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the Heart of Brooklyn member institutions.

Photo by Julie Larsen Maher, WCS

WBGO/Jazz88 is a publicly supported, cultural institution that champions jazz, an American art form, and presents news to a worldwide audience through radio, other technologies and events. Based in Newark, New Jersey, WBGO reaches 400,000 weekly listeners on air at 88.3FM in the Newark/New York City metropolitan area, plus many more globally through mobile devices and online at www.wbgo.org. WBGO produces nationally syndicated programs such as JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater , and is NPR’s primary station-based jazz producer. WBGO is supported by 17,000 donors, is a recipient of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts’ Certificate of Excellence and Major Impacts Arts Organization awards, and has received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s My Source Impact Communication Grant. Esquire.com recently called WBGO “the best jazz station on planet Earth.”

Heart of Brooklyn (HOB) is a partnership of the leading cultural institutions located near Grand Army Plaza in central Brooklyn. Founded in 2001 by Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Children's Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect Park Alliance, and Prospect Park Zoo, this partnership is dedicated to promoting its unique cultural campus as a "must-see" destination to a diverse audience in Brooklyn and beyond. Heart of Brooklyn encourages tourism and learning by making its world-class collections and historic treasures more visible and accessible. As an integral part of Brooklyn's renaissance, Heart of Brooklyn is committed to strengthening the future of its neighborhoods. Learn more at www.heartofbrooklyn.org.

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