Creative Chair for Jazz and Bassist Christian McBride Serves as Music Director

Goapele Opens the Show

Media support provided by KKJZ; Concert generously sponsored by Lexus

The versatile and multi-talented Queen Latifah revisits the jazz repertoire for her debut appearance at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday, July 11, at 8 p.m. Queen Latifah delivers jazz standards, R&B and selections from her upcoming release, Trav'lin' Light, in a performance that kicks off the 28th year of the Jazz at the Bowl series. Developed by Christian McBride, the Carolyn and William Powers Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, the 2007 Jazz at the Bowl series is comprised of eight concerts that feature jazz heavy-weights and rising stars.

A one-woman empire, Queen Latifah has steadfastly conquered many facets of the entertainment industry. Her latest endeavor brings her back to her first love - music. Trav'lin' Light is the much anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed and Grammy-nominated The Dana Owens Album, her first foray into jazz, blues, and soul. Trav'li'n Light features an A-list of jazz musicians, including Christian McBride, who also serves as bassist and musical director for her July 11 Hollywood Bowl appearance and other scheduled concerts. This is Queen Latifah's only appearance in Los Angeles this summer, before she launches a fall tour.

Songstress Goapele, dubbed a "homegrown neo-soul phenom" by URB magazine, and "chanteuse-in-the-making" by Billboard, opens the show, also making her Hollywood Bowl debut.

Other upcoming Jazz at the Bowl performances this summer also include:

• 50 Years of Stax featuring Isaac Hayes, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Mable John, Booker T. Jones, Angie Stone and Lalah Hathaway celebrate on July 18, performing a host of originals from the legendary Memphis record label.

• Cedric the Entertainer hosts Jazz at the Movies on July 25. Conductor Vince Mendoza leads a jazz orchestra for performing cool jazz music used in film, in sync with classic movie clips shown on the Bowl's side screens, with Christian McBride, musical director, and Wallace Roney on trumpet.

• Benny Carter's 100 Years of Music celebration is held on what would have been his 100th birthday, August 8. The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, James Moody, Roy Hargrove, Russell Malone, Marlena Shaw, Eldar, Roberta Gambarini, and special guests pay homage to the jazz great performing music by and for Benny, along with musical tributes and rare film clips.

• Guitars reign supreme for an evening with Lee Ritenour & Friends, on August 15. Ritenour invites friends Patrice Rushen, Brian Bomberg, Alex Acuña and Richard Bona to join him in an infectious jam, while John Scofield explores the bluesy side of jazz. African jazz guitarist Lionel Loueke and his trio Gilfema open.

• Legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck performs his jazz hits and swinging standards on August 22. French-American songstress Madeleine Peyroux opens, and the Bruce Hornsby Trio featuring bassist Christian McBride and drummer Jack DeJohnette close the evening.

• Arsenio Hall hosts Nancy Wilson's 70th Birthday Celebration, with many friends and colleagues from her esteemed career including Patti Austin, Ernie Andrews, Terence Blanchard, Regina Carter, Kurt Elling, Nnenna Freelon and Ramsey Lewis on August 29. Legendary jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis

• B.B. King returns to the Hollywood Bowl on September 5 for the B.B. King Blues Festival featuring Robert Randolph & The Family Band, led by searing pedal-steel player Robert Randolph and soul-bluesman James Hunter.

QUEEN LATIFAH: musician, television and film actress, a label president, an author and entrepreneur. Since her screen debut in Spike Lee's 1991 film Jungle Fever, her film career has skyrocketed. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe nomination, and a SAG Award nomination for her portrayal as Mama Morton in Miramax's Chicago. Her latest film for HBO, Life Support, in which she was both the star and executive producer, received critical acclaim. In July she will star in Neil Meron and Craig Zadan's Hairspray playing Motormouth Maybelle. Latifah's other film credits include Wayne Wang's The Last Holiday, Universal's The Bone Collector, MGM's Beauty Shop, Marc Forster's Stranger Than Fiction, Ice Age 2, as the voice of the Wooly Mammoth, Disney's Bringing Down The House, Set it Off, which earned her a nomination for a Spirit Award in the Best Actress category, and the critically acclaimed Living Out Loud. Next up she begins filming Mad Money which she will star alongside Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes. Queen Latifah is also one of music's most well respected rappers. Her ground breaking 1989 debut, All Hail the Queen, set the standard for female rappers. She has earned four Grammy nominations as well as a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rap Performance in 1994. Latifah's first vocal album, the Grammy-nominated, Queen Latifah - The Dana Owens Album, is a platinum-selling collection of timeless classics chosen and covered by the Queen herself. Queen Latifah has also written a book on self-esteem entitled Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman. Every year, Queen Latifah serves as co-chairman for the Lancelot H. Owens Scholarship Foundation, Inc. Established by her mother, Rita Owens, to perpetuate the memory of a loving son and brother, the foundations provides scholarships to students who excel scholastically, but are limited in financial resources.

Over the course of three albums as a leader and over a hundred as a sideman, Grammy winner CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE has arguably become the most acclaimed acoustic and electric bassist to emerge from the jazz world in the 1990's. His passion for musical diversity has led him to work with everyone from Chick Corea to Pat Metheny, from Kathleen Battle to D'Angelo, from Diane Krall to Bruce Hornsby, from Quincy Jones to Sting. Given that the bass is the heart and soul of any music, this makes McBride's versatility all the more impressive. McBride's most recent recording, on Ropeadope, resists pigeonholes. His first release for the label, Live at Tonic, captures his capacious quartet joined by an array of guest artists, including eight-string guitar ace Charlie Hunter, Logic, pianist Jason Moran, violinist Jenny Scheinman, beat boxer Scratch, and Soulive guitarist Eric Krasno. McBride holdsthe Artistic Director post at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass summer program. In January 2005, he was named co-director of The Jazz Museum in Harlem. While working for the museum in Harlem, McBride is racking up frequent flyer miles as the second Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. He works with the organization year-round, building on the Philharmonic's presence in the musical community as a leading presenter of jazz.

GOAPELE brings an infusion of fresh energy and a classic, yet new sound to R&B music with her sophomore set, Change It All. The Oakland, California-based songstress broke onto the Bay Area music scene in 2001 with her EP, Closer, and the follow-up full length album, Even Closer. Released on her family-owned record company, Skyblaze Recordings, the album's mix of soulful grooves and thought-provoking lyrics introduced the world to a multi-faceted artist and songwriter, known as much for her social and political activism as for her lush romantic ballads. Critics from Rolling Stone, Billboard, Essence, Vibe, and a host of others, hailed the songstress as an emerging artist to watch and heralded Even Closer as an album ahead of its time. The inspiring title track, "Closer," notched #1's on radio playlists throughout the country. Change It All is a collection of love songs and politically and socially inspired songs that remain true to Goapele's firmly planted soul roots while allowing her to branch out in a number of exciting, new directions. For a singer whose name means 'to move forward' in Sitswana, a South African language, her new album, Change It All, proves that enlightened change can be a positive force in the world of music and beyond.

PLEASE NOTE:

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11 at 8 PM

HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood

Jazz at the Bowl

QUEEN LATIFAH

GOAPELE

Media support provided by KKJZ

Concert generously sponsored by Lexus

Tickets ($1 - 93) are on sale now at HollywoodBowl.com, at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office (Tuesday - Saturday, 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.), or by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, and at all Ticketmaster outlets (Macy's, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations). Groups of 10 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.

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