INDIA, THE "PRINCESS OF SALSA", LEGENDARY TRUMPETER ARTURO SANDOVAL, AND CUBAN BASSIST CACHAO TO PERFORM ON JULY 12

Media support provided by KKJZ

Media sponsor: Autry National Center and Charter

Generously sponsored by Washington Mutual

Commencing the 26th season of the Jazz at the Bowl series, Creative Chair for Jazz Christian McBride has programmed eight concerts featuring beloved greats and rising stars. The series offers an eclectic line-up of remarkable artists, satisfying a variety of musical tastes and preferences, whether audiences are jazz aficionados or new listeners. The eight-week Wednesday night series runs from July 12 - September 6.

"I intend to continue the tradition of presenting great musicians in two of the world's most iconic venues-Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl," says McBride. "Being fortunate enough to work with numerous artists across many genres, this will be an opportunity to bring to fruition many ideas I've had for a very long time, and I'm humbled that the LA Phil considers me worthy of the job."

Jazz at the Bowl opens with a Latin Jazz Night on Wednesday July 12 featuring the Princess of Salsa, India, legendary trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, and creator of mambo music Cachao.

Dubbed the "Princess of Salsa" by the incomparable Tito Puente, India is one of the most important singers of salsa with a virtuosic vocal range that has been featured on hundreds of stages throughout the world. India began her professional career singing with TKA, one of the pioneer Latina hip-hop groups in New York and working with producers Little Louis Vega and Jelly Bean Benitez. Her professional life changed once she met the legendary Latin jazz pianist, producer and composer Eddie Palmieri, who helped her reach stardom within the Latin music world. In February 2006, India released Soy Diferent (I am Different). This album was created under the production of renowned salsa music producer Sergio George and co-producer Isidro Infante, an eight-time Grammy award-winning producer who will be leading India's band during her Hollywood Bowl appearance. India is part of the history of Latin music on an international scale and her brilliant legacy lives on for this generation and for those to come.

Arturo Sandoval is fluent in at least four musical languages. He can burn through an Afro-Cuban groove, tear up a bebop tune, soar over a Mozart concerto, and soothe you with a luscious ballad; all with equal power and grace. Arturo Sandoval has been awarded four Grammy Awards, six Billboard Awards, and an Emmy Award, the latter for his composing work on the entire underscore of the HBO movie based on his life, For Love or Country, starring actor and filmmaker Andy Garcia. He is one of the most dynamic and vivacious live performers of our time. Arturo Sandoval's versatility can be heard on recordings with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Woody Shaw, Michel Legrand, Bill Conti, and Stan Getz to Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, Rod Stewart and Alicia Keys among many others. His most recent release is Live at the Blue Note. It is a celebration of all that Arturo has become throughout his 42 years of constantly living in the realm of music. Recorded on a summer night at the legendary jazz club, it is a musical journey through the heart and soul of Afro-Cuban Jazz, his endless love of straight-ahead jazz, Acid-jazz, uproarious scat vocals, touching piano performances and percussion.

Joining India and Arturo for Latin Jazz Night at the Hollywood Bowl is fellow Cuban Cachao, considered by many to be the creator of Mambo music. Now 87 years old, Cachao spent 76 years living in Cuba, where he revolutionized the Cuban music scene. He eventually made it to the U.S. and after moving to Miami, spent almost a decade with little recognition by American music fans. That changed in 1992, when Andy Garcia made a documentary about Cachao titled Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos - a title which honors Cachao's uniqueness as musician and innovator. In March of 1995, Cachao earned a Grammy Award for Master Sessions, Vol. 1, his successful album of Descargas that came out of his collaboration with Garcia. He later released a second volume of the Master Sessions, which also achieved critical acclaim.

Upcoming Jazz at the Bowl performances this summer also include:

• John Pizzarelli, musical director, with his Quartet and a big band, explore the jazzier side of the American Songbook, with special guests Kurt Elling, Bill Henderson, Annie Ross, and Tierney Sutton. (July 19)

• The sound of soul fills the Bowl when Al Green makes a rare appearance at the Bowl for an evening of stylish song and spirit. Smoky-voiced Lalah Hathaway adds a touch of R&B and smooth jazz; Lizz Wright opens the eve with her sultry, fresh take on jazz. (August 2)

• Master pianist Herbie Hancock brings his latest project, while Creative Chair for Jazz Christian McBride demonstrate the funkier side of jazz. Joshua Redman brings his modern jazz group to open the show. (August 9)

• It's Mardi Gras in August! New Orleans Night features the re-united Original Meters, The Neville Brothers, and San Francisco's marching band, the Brass Monkey Brass Band. (August 16)

• Big Band Bash arrives at the Bowl when three great bands make the Bowl swing with classic jazz: Dizzy Gillespie's All Star Big Band with special guest James Moody, Kenton Orchestra 2006: Artistry In Rhythm with drummer Peter Erskine, and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra. (August 23)

• Jazz guitar legend and vocalist George Benson mesmerize with his silky sounds, as does the unique jazz vocals of Al Jarreau. Impassioned soul-singer Raul Midon opens. (August 30)

• Jazz at the Bowl wraps up its season with James Brown: Soul On Top featuring James Brown. In a one-of-a-kind concert, the Godfather of Soul revisits his 1969 jazz -flavored album Soul On Top. Backed by a big band, led by Christian McBride on bass, with original arrangements by Oliver Nelson, Brown sings standards and vamps up one or two of his classics with swinging style. R&B queen Angie Stone opens the show. (September 6)

CACHAO was born in 1918 in Cuba, and became one of the world's leading jazz bassists and exponents of Afro-Cuban music. Over his lifetime, Cachao has written over 3,000 "danzónes" - a traditional style of Cuban music - mostly for Orquesta Arcaño y sus Maravillas. He is credited with inventing the "mambo" in 1938; a style of Cuban music later popularized by Perez Prado. In 1957 he introduced jazz-like improvisation and created what became known as "descargas." This new form of "jamming" mixed jazz-like improvisation, Cuban idioms and extended soloing in a loose format not seen or heard before. These Cuban jam sessions had a profound effect on the growing Latin music scene in New York. Shortly after Fidel Castro's rise to power in 1962, Cachao left Cuba for the U.S., settling in New York and performing with and influencing, among others, Tito Rodriguez and Charlie Palmieri; two of New York's most famous bandleaders of the era. Over the years Cachao has recorded with Tito Rodriguez, Charlie Palmieri, Rolando Valdez and Gonzalo Fernandez. His most recent disc, Ahora Si was released in 2004.

INDIA, a Puerto Rican singer-composer who hails from New York, has a virtuosic vocal range displayed in each of her signature albums. In February 2006, India released Soy Diferente (I am Different), where she shines as composer of almost all of the songs, collaborating with Jorge Luís Piloto, Sergio George, Santiago Larramendi, Nicolás Tovar, Luís R. Vázquez, Alejandro Montalbán, Emilio Estefan, Jr., Ricardo Gaitán and Alberto Gaitán. India's 2002 release, Latin Song Bird, Mi Alma y Corazón, was certified Gold, and received numerous nominations and awards during 2003-2004: Grammy and Latin Grammy Award, Billboard and Lo Nuestro Award nominations, receiving the BMI Award (Best Salsa Song of the year 2004), Billboard (Best Album - Tropical/Salsa, 2003) and a La Gente Award 2003. During the decade of the 90's, India became one of the most important singers of salsa (singing with Tito Nieves and Oscar De León, to name a couple of the greats of this genre). Tito Puente recorded with her one of the most highly acclaimed records in Latin Jazz, Jazzin', where she once again displayed to the world her artistic and vocal prowess. Her recordings, Sobre el Fuego, recorded in 1997 (where she sings a duet with Celia Cruz) and Sola, in 1999, where she pays tribute to La Lupe singing dramatic songs, received prestigious Grammy Award nominations, aside from receiving the Billboard Award for Best Tropical/Salsa Album in 2000 for Sola. All her records as a solo artist have been certified Gold and Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Her recording, Dicen Que Soy (1994), produced by Sergio George, out of which came numerous hits (both national and international), was certified quadruple platinum, four of the hits reaching number one on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks chart and six landing spots in the top ten. The explosive duet with Marc Anthony, Vivir Lo Nuestro, was featured on this album and catapulted her to superstar of song status.

ARTURO SANDOVAL, a protégé of the legendary jazz master Dizzy Gillespie, was born in Artemisa, a small town in the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, on November 6, 1949, just two years after Gillespie became the first musician to bring Latin influences into American Jazz. Sandoval began studying classical trumpet at the age of twelve, but it didn't take him long to catch the excitement of the jazz world. He has since evolved into one of the world's most acknowledged guardians of jazz trumpet and flugel horn, as well as a renowned classical artist. Sandoval was a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning group Irakere, whose explosive mixture of jazz, classical, rock and traditional Cuban music caused a sensation throughout the entertainment world. In 1981, he left Irakere to form his own band, which garnered enthusiastic praise from critics and audiences all over the world. Sandoval was voted Cuba's Best Instrumentalist from 1982 to 1990. Sandoval is also a renowned classical musician, performing regularly with the leading symphony orchestras from around the world. Arturo has composed his own Concerto for Trumpet & Orchestra, which can be heard on Arturo Sandoval: The Classical Album. Also, he has been chosen to perform with the foremost orchestras on primetime television, and was asked by John Williams to record Williams' original Trumpet Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra. His classical artistry has earned him the respect and admiration from the most prestigious conductors, composers and symphony orchestras world-wide. Filled with a virtuoso capability, Arturo Sandoval desires nothing more than to share his gift with others who feel the same intense adoration for music as he does.

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 37th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2006, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue for the second year in a row at the 17th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards; the Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

WEDNESDAY, JULY 12 at 8 PM

HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood

Latin Jazz Night

In order of appearance

ISRAEL "CACHAO" LOPEZ, acoustic bass

ARTURO SANDOVAL, trumpet

INDIA, vocals

Media support provided by KKJZ

Media sponsors: Autry National Center and Charter

Generously sponsored by Washington Mutual

Tickets ($1 - 81) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at HollywoodBowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details. For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.

# # #