Legends of Jazz for public television

Multi-award-winning guitar maestros Pat Metheny and Jim Hall join GRAMMY Award-winning composer/pianist Ramsey Lewis on the set of the national weekly series for public television, Legends Of Jazz, for the taping of the episode titled “The Great Guitars.”

Hosted by Lewis, Legends Of Jazz is the first weekly series featuring live jazz performance and conversation to air on network television in over 40 years. Produced in multi-camera HDTV and Dolby Surround 5.1 audio, the full series of 13 half-hour episodes is set to air in April 2006, coinciding with National Jazz Appreciation Month.

Episode highlights include: “The Golden Horns” with Clark Terry, Roy Hargrove and Chris Botti; “The Jazz Singers” with Al Jarreau and Kurt Elling; “The Piano Masters” with Dave Brubeck and Dr. Billy Taylor; “The Great Guitars” with Hall and Metheny; “Contemporary Jazz” with George Duke, Lee Ritenour, and Marcus Miller; “The Altos” with Phil Woods and David Sanborn; and “Latin Jazz” with Eddie Palmieri and Dave Valentin.

Legends Of Jazz, created and produced by Larry Rosen, debuted nationally on June 16 with the hour-long special, “The Jazz Masters, ” showcasing five legendary recipients of the prestigious NEA Jazz Masters Award -- Nancy Wilson, James Moody, Jon Hendricks, Paquito D'Rivera and George Wein -- as well as young jazz vocal sensation Renee Olstead.

A new “Jazz Masters” special will be taped in January 2006 during the IAJE Conference in New York City, and will feature 2006 NEA Jazz Masters Tony Bennett and Chick Corea.

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