19th Annual Rosslyn Jazz Festival Adds International Flavor to the Line Up
Release Date: Friday, August 21st 2009 
Rosslyn, VA – The Rosslyn BID is pleased to announce a cross cultural, award-winning lineup for the 19th Annual Rosslyn Jazz Festival. The festival will feature performers from Canada and another who originally hails from France. The Rosslyn Jazz Festival will be held Saturday, September 12 from 12:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Gateway Park located on Lee Highway at the foot of Key Bridge. Presented by Arlington Cultural Affairs and broadcast live by jazz station WPFW 89.3 FM (and emceed by their on-air personalities), the event is free and open to the public. Rosslyn Renaissance and ABC7 WJLA-TV are also event sponsors.
Holly Cole, Canada’s 2008 Juno Awardee for “Best Jazz Album,” is headlining the popular festival. The New York-based Grammy Award-winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra is kicking off the event. European jazz underground sensation Frederic Yonnet, who has performed with Stevie Wonder and recorded with the Jonas Brothers, will demonstrate how a harmonica can create a versatile lead instrument in jazz. Baltimore pianist Lafayette Gilchrist will also take the stage and show off his own brand of jazz, flavored with Hip Hop.
“The Jazz Festival is a Rosslyn tradition that attracts jazz lovers from across the region. The Rosslyn BID is happy to welcome back the performers from last year, after a tropical storm caused the festival’s first cancelation ever. Our enthusiasm for the lineup inspired us to bring the performers back,” says Rosslyn BID Executive Director Cecilia Cassidy.
The festival will also feature a street fair along Lee Highway with multicultural food and craft vendors, including BBQ ribs from Big Daddy’s BBQ, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, and old-fashioned Mighty Mo’s and mac n’ cheese with bacon and peas from the Key Bridge Marriott.
This year’s event is dedicated to the festival’s long time audio engineer Sharon Shapiro, who lost her battle with cancer in April 2009.
The festival will be held just two blocks from the Rosslyn Metro. Festival parking is available for $5 beginning at 11:00 a.m. at 1911 N. Fort Myer Drive. The parking entrance is on N. Moore Street.
For more information on the festival and other Rosslyn BID programs and events, visit www.RosslynVA.org.
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