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BOISE JAZZ SOCIETY ANNOUNCES NEW SEASON WITH THE HARRY ALLEN-JOE COHN QUARTET, ELIANE ELIAS AND ANAT COHEN

The Boise Jazz Society announces its 2008-09 subscription series season, featuring jazz musicians and styles from around the world. The Boise Jazz Society is a collaboration between the Boise community and Boise State University’s Department of Music and the College of Arts and Sciences that bring world-class jazz to Idaho.

A Boise Jazz Society membership and three-concert series ticket is $95.40; general admission is $45 per concert. Doors for all concerts will open at 6:15 p.m. and the concerts begin at 7 p.m. in the Esther Simplot Performing Arts Academy Lobby. The concerts feature open nightclub seating and a no-host bar.

Prior to each concert, the Boise Jazz Society will host a free Jazz Symposium where the public may meet, hear and interact with the artists, gaining insight into their music and a deeper understanding of jazz in general. Select local jazz players, both amateur and professional, will be invited to perform with the artists and receive critiques and advice. Each symposium will be held from 4-5 p.m. on the day of the concert.

This year’s concert series will feature:

• The Harry Allen-Joe Cohn Quartet, Sept. 28. Winners of the New York Nightlife Award for outstanding jazz combo performance, Allen and Cohn’s music reflects the ultimate in swing and exudes their affection for classic jazz. Like an old master, Allen’s full-throated tenor sound creates a feel of bygone songs and styles while Cohn proves himself to be one of today’s most creative guitarists.

• Eliane Elias, Feb. 22. A native of Brazil, this former child prodigy is well versed in the work of artists such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, whom she has saluted on a pair of recordings. But she is equally comfortable performing challenging classical compositions. She has proven herself to be a strong and imaginative instrumentalist whose original tunes and interpretive numbers exude intelligence and passion in equal measure. Her latest release, “Bossa Nova Stories,” celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Bossa Nova movement.

• Anat Cohen, May 16. Conversant with modern and traditional jazz, classical music, Brazilian choro, Argentine tango and Afro-Cuban styles, Cohen has established herself as one of the primary voices of her generation on both the tenor saxophone and the clarinet since arriving in New York in 1999. Playing material as diverse at Fats Waller’s perky “Jitterbug Waltz,” her own impressionistic “Washington Square Park” and a finger-busting choro by the great Brazilian composer Pixinguinha, Cohen has garnered awards from Down Beat and the Jazz Journalists Association.

The Boise Jazz Society is dedicated to raising awareness of jazz as art music; promoting live jazz performances; sponsoring jazz subscription-series concerts presented in an intimate, jazz-club environment; enhancing educational opportunities by producing a series of lectures, workshops and master classes; and providing information to the community on local and regional jazz activities.

Additional information is at http://www.boisestate.edu/music/BJS or by contacting Mike Samball at 426-3498 or .