The Amelia Island Jazz Festival takes place in Fernandina Beach, Florida, on October 3 – 10, 2010. This festival consists of a series of events celebrating this diverse all-American art form, with headliner, multiple Grammy award-winning pianist, Ramsey Lewis.

Les deMerle

The creative director, Les deMerle, has put in place a program consisting of world-class artists in a wide variety of jazz styles. At the Amelia Island Jazz Festival you can enjoy a wide variety of jazz from Dixieland, Smooth Jazz, Bebop, Big Band, Blues, Latin and to new, state-of-the-art styles. The festival takes place at the First Baptist Church auditorium, at the beautiful St. Peter’s Church Courtyard and at a selction of charming venues around Fernandina Beach.

Featuring:

The Ramsey Lewis Trio – Grammy Award winning pianist
Steve March Tormé – Explosive Jazz Vocalist

Les DeMerle Big Band – World-renowned Drummer – Exciting Big Band
Bonnie Eisele – Vocalist extraordinaire
Impacto Latino – Hot 10-piece Salsa Band
Bobby Pickwood Quintet – Chet Baker Tribute – Trumpet & Vocals
Michael Levine & Miami Vibe – Smooth Jazz Pianist
Nathan Skinner – Vibraphone Sensation, 2010 AIJF Scholarship Winner
18-Piece US Navy Band – Classic Band at its best
Midnight Blue Band – Bebop, Blues & Beyond
Spare Rib Six – N’awlins-style Dixieland Band

… and many more!

Friday, October 1, 2010 – 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Free Community Concert “Sounds on Centre”

Sunday, October 3, 2010 – 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Free Concert at Amelia Park “Jazz In The Park”

Tuesday, October 5, 2010 – 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
“Jazz at the Movies” (Tickets $15)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010 – 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
“Red, White & Blues” Blues Concert and Wine Tasting (Tickets $30)

Thursday, October 7, 2010 – 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM
“Latin Jazz” Concert & Dance (Tickets $25)

Friday, October 8, 2010 – 8:00 PM
“Tormé Sings Tormé” Steve March Tormé in Concert
(Tickets $40 – $75)

Saturday, October 9, 2010 – 8:00 PM
“An Evening With Ramsey Lewis”
(Tickets $40 – $75)

Sunday, October 10, 2010 – 12pm – 2pm and 2pm – 4pm
“Dixieland Jazz Brunch”
(Tickets $45)

For more information, visit www.ameliaislandjazzfestival.com.

The 2010 Festival Featured Artists include:

Ramsey Lewis Trio
Grammy Award-winning pianist
Steve March Tormé
Mel Tormé Tribute Show

Les DeMerle Big Band
World-renowned Drummer
Exciting Big Band

Impacto Latino
Hot 10-Piece Salsa Band

Nathan Skinner
Vibraphone Sensation,
2010 AIJF Scholarship Winner

Bonnie Eisele
Vocalist Extraordinaire

Michael Levine
& Miami Vibe
Smooth Jazz Pianist

18-Piece US Navy Band
Classic Big Band at its best

Bobby Pickwood Quintet
Tribute To Chet Baker

Midnight Blue Band
Bebop, Blues & Beyond

Spare Rib Six
N’awlins-style Dixieland Band

On October 29th, 2010, Darius Rucker is coming to St. Augustine, Florida for a concert at the Amphitheatre.

Rucker will release his second country album:
Charleston, SC 1966

Darius become popular as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Hootie & the Blowfish. In 2008, Rucker began a solo career in country music. But now Darius is coming to St. Augustine for his own concert.

Get your tickets now!

Crosby, Stills and Nash (CSN) – the group consisting of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash is coming to Jacksonville this fall. The group might even be more famous as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) when Neil Young becomes one of the members. The  group is known  for their vocal harmonies and influence on music over many years. All four members have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.  Don’t miss this opportunity to see CSN perform live in Jacksonville, Florida on September 25, 2010.

Buy tickets for Crosby, Stills & Nash now!

The City of Jacksonville is once again presenting Starry Nights which was well-known as one of Jacksonville’s most popular outdoor events for more than a decade, combining the wonderful sounds of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and an exciting variety of top entertainers. This event creates a festive downtown atmosphere in Metropolitan Park with the beautiful St. Johns River serving as the perfect backdrop.

Here are some of the concert dates and performers.

April 10 – Styx

Styx transformed from a suburban Chicago basement in the early 1970s to the virtual arena rock prototypes by the late 1970s and early 1980s, due to a fondness for big rockers and soaring power ballads.  Styx’s mainstream success began with “Lady.”  Most of their subsequent releases throughout the late 1970s earned at least platinum certification and spawned such hit singles and classic rock radio standards as “Come Sail Away,” “Renegade,” “Blue Collar Man,” and “Fooling Yourself.”

April 24 – Idina Menzel

Featuring Broadway powerhouse Idina Menzel, the Tony award-winning “Elphaba” from the international blockbuster “Wicked.”  With a diverse repertoire of classic pop, musical theater favorites (including hits from “Wicked” and “Rent”) as well as songs from her album “I Stand,” Idina Menzel demonstrates why she is one of the great vocal performers of our time.  Catch her this spring on the FOX television series “Glee!”

April 24th – Conductor Matthew Kraemer
Recognized for his “musical sensitivity” and “energized sense of interpretation”, conductor Matthew Kraemer begins his tenure as associate conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in September 2009.  In this role he will appear on each of the orchestra’s major series, including subscription weeks, Pops, and Family concerts.  He will play a vital role in the BPO’s award winning education and community engagement programs, in addition to assisting Music Director JoAnn Falletta during her Kleinhans Hall weeks, recording sessions and on tour.  The 2009-2010 season will also mark his third and final year as associate conductor of the Virginia Symphony.  Upcoming season highlights include an all Mozart program and The Music Man with the BPO, Strauss’ Don Juan and Stravinsky’s Firebird with the VSO, and performances with Philippe Quint, Ben Folds, and Chris Botti.  He will also debut with the Jacksonville Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony orchestras in the spring of 2010.

Join the Black Eyed Peas on Tuesday, Feb 9 at 8:00pm for the concert of a lifetime. This will change the very way you experience music. The concert will be at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. Tickets are available now. This is going to be an amazing show that will completely change the way you experience music! Described as the ultimate Black Eyed Peas party experience, it also marks the first time that the group – will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie – is united for a North American headline tour since their 2006 Monkey Business world tour.

In support of their multi-platinum #1 album, The E.N.D, featuring the chart record-breaking consecutive #1 singles, “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling” – The Black Eyed Peas will replicate the party vibe of a hot

The E.N.D., The Black Eyed Peas’ fifth studio album, is also their first original album since Monkey Business (released May 2005), certified RIAA triple platinum in the U.S., with worldwide sales of more than 9 million copies. Monkey Business generated Grammy® Awards over two consecutive years, for “Don’t Phunk with My Heart” and “My Humps.” The Peas’ first Grammy® Award came six years ago, for “Let’s Get It Started,” from their breakthrough album of 2003, Elephunk, which introduced Fergie into the lineup, and turned the group into international superstars with cumulative 25-times platinum sales in nearly a dozen countries around the world.

[AEG Live]

Star Wars: In Concert Worldwide concert tour plays October 29 at the
Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena

September 17, 2009 – Star Wars™: In Concert is a unique multi-media event featuring music from all six of John Williams’ epic Star Wars scores. As part of its worldwide tour, it will play October 29, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

Tickets for the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena go on sale Friday, September 25 at 10 a.m. at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena box office, by phone at (800) 745-3000, and online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Narrated live by Anthony Daniels (the actor who portrayed C-3PO in all six films), the production features a full symphony orchestra and choir, accompanied by specially edited footage from the films displayed on a three-story-tall, high-definition LED super-screen – one of the largest ever put on tour. The live music and film elements are synchronized in order to create a full multi-media, one-of-kind Star Wars experience.

“We’ve taken the key themes from the music and cut together all the images that fit with each theme, so you can really get a sense of how the music played into the images,” said George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars Saga. “The whole soundtrack is a testament to John Williams’ creativity and his extraordinary ability to enhance the emotional aspects of the films.”

More

Star Wars: In Concert – 2

“Creating the music for the Star Wars films has been an exciting and wonderful experience for me, and I therefore have derived particular pleasure in assembling a compendium of themes from all of the films to be presented in Star Wars in Concert,” said Williams. “The editors at Lucasfilm have created original film montages to accompany each of the musical selections, and in the process, I believe that a singular and unique Star Wars experience has been born.”

“This event has been crafted to present Star Wars from many points of view; for the first time, the full dramatic sweep of Williams’ iconic scores can be heard performed live in one evening,” said Another Planet Touring Producer Spencer Churchill.” “The show is a new way of experiencing the epic scope of the saga.”

Accompanying the concert is an exclusive exhibit of Star Wars costumes, props, artifacts, production artwork and specially created behind-the-scenes videos from the Lucasfilm Archives. Many of these pieces are leaving Skywalker Ranch for the first time. The exhibit features many classic fan favorite artifacts, as well as several new and never-before-seen items, including:

• Full costumes for Jedi Masters Kit Fisto and Plo Koon will be on display.

• For the first time ever, pages from John Williams’ original hand-written sheet music for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace will be exhibited for the public.

• Also on display will be various never-before-seen props from the films, including blasters and helmets from Coruscant, Tatooine and other iconic Star Wars locations.

For more information, go to www.StarWarsInConcert.com.

Star Wars: In Concert is produced by Another Planet Touring in association with Lucasfilm Ltd. Performances will be conducted by Dirk Brossé and the production is directed and designed by Steve Cohen. Star Wars in Concert had its world premiere at the 02 Arena in London on April 10 and 11, 2009.

Tickets go on sale September 25, 2009 at 10 a.m.
at Ticketmaster, all Ticketmaster Outlets,
by phone(800) 745-3000, and online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Every summer in St. Augustine you can enjoy the free Concerts in the Plaza series. This event has been called “the best way to spend a Thursday night in St Augustine”. This is without doubt a wonderful opportunity to spend time outdoors and enjoy a free concert in the park with friends and family. This event offers a wide selection of music to the Old City all summer long. On Thursdays you can enjoy everything from Bluegrass and blues, jazz and country, swing and folk, to old time and popular rock.
All Thursday night concerts are free. The concert begins at 7 p.m, bring your own chair and maybe even picnic dinner.

The event takes place at The Plaza de la Constitución, located in the heart of St. Augustine between Cathedral Place and King Street, west of the Bridge of Lions. The band performs from The Gazebo in the center of the Plaza. Since this is usually a popular event, come early to get a good spot.

Parking
There are several places to park. Parking is available in the Historic Downtown Parking Facility (HDPF) located at the St. Augustine & St. Johns County Visitors Information Center. This is usually where we choose to park when visiting. It’s convenient and easy. We don’t enjoy wasting time looking for parking when we’re visiting for a day. There’s just too much to see and do in St Augustine. The parking place is about a ten minute walk from the Plaza. Parking is $1.25 per hour with a $7.50 per day maximum.
On street parking is also available near the Plaza de la Constitución and is free after 5:00pm.