[News Boquete] BJBF2016 newsletter

Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival    The Biggest little Jazz&Blues Festival of the world!                         10th anniversary                                                              Feb 25 - 28, 2016             BJBF Newsletter August 2015 Here we go again! Howdie folks, dear friends of the Boquete Jazz&Blues Festival, we know you've been anxiously waiting for news about next year's festival. It will be the 10th anniversary of the Biggest Little Jazz&Blues Festival in the world, and you'll be in for a fantastic treat! BJBF 2015 was a sold-out success...it was our best festival ever, and ever since the festival crew under the new leadership of producer Mr. John Wolff has been working diligently to even surpass this success with the upcoming 10th anniversary edition in February 2016! The new festival leadership Since yours truly Hans has retired from running the festival after 4 successful years Mr. John Wolff, a "Panagringo" (Panamanian born in the US), blues aficionado and avid supporter of the Boquete festival has volunteered to take over. He is joined by our large group of volunteers plus associate producers Shakura S'Aida and Deanna Bogart, who, after having played the 2015 festival, fell so much in love with it that they wanted to get more deeply involved, and thus became associate producers! Now, how neat is that???And, of course, yours truly will also be lending a helping hand....   Our beautiful festival venue  the Greek-style amphitheatre at Valle Escondido, an upscale residential resort. This is surely the most beautiful venue for a festival you can find in Panama -our audiences and musicians just loved it... and you will, too! A stellar line-up How can you take your love of music to new heights?  Start off at an elevation of 3,000 feet above sea level and then let some of the world's top performers set you soaring.  The Boquete Jazz and Blues Festival is the ideal launching pad to send you into orbit.  The sky is by no means limited in the open-air amphitheater of the luxurious Valle Escondido resort, located in a picturesque mountain community in the Republic of Panama, not far from the Costa Rican border.  Each yearly festival has reached a new crescendo, and the lineup for the tenth annual event, scheduled from 26 through 28 February 2016, promises to raise the bar even higher. To build on past successes, festival producer John Wolff enlisted two of the peak performers from 2015 as associate producers — Shakura S'Aida, a rising international jazz and blues diva now living in Canada, and Deanna Bogart, a widely acclaimed pianist, saxophonist, singer and songwriter from the United States.  The two women will be joined in an all-star band by the renowned Danish harmonica performer and manufacturer Lee Oskar, a founding member of the group War.  Past performance levels also warranted a 2016 encore for two acts from the Panamanian music scene — the 18-piece Rigoberto Coba Big Brass Band and John Carney's smooth Latin jazz band Gato Maximo.  In addition, percussionist Charlie Marre, who sat in with some of the 2015 performances, will continue filling in the beat next year. The impressive lineup also features five first-time acts.  Representing the jazz genre will be Spyro Grya bassist Scott Ambush, saxophone virtuoso Marshall Keys, and spectacular jazz trumpeter Alexander Brown.  Three towering bluesmen will round out the billboard:  Curtis Salgado, a singer and harmonic player who has performed with the likes of Santana, the Steve Miller Band, the Robert Cray Band and Roomful of Blues and who won the Blues Foundation's B.B. King Entertainer of the Year for 2013; guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Tommy Castro, recipient of the same award for 2010; and Ronnie Baker Brooks, son of the legendary Lonnie Brooks and a preeminent torchbearer for the Chicago blues-guitar sound. Shakura and Deanna were extremely helpful with putting together this dream-come-true line-up for 2016.  Can you imagine the incredible joy you'll be able to experience with all these great guys jamming together? Click on the photos below to learn more about these great musicians.         Shakura S'Aida                                                         Deanna Bogart Ronnie Baker Brooks                                                      Tommy Castro                  Curtis Salgado                                                  Marshall Keys                  John  Carney                                                   Scott Ambush                  Alexander Brown                                               Lee Oskar         Rigoberto Coba Big Band                                Special guest LA Smith Our 2016 line-up in one video!  Check out this beautiful video presentation and more details of the amazing artists who will be performing at the 2016 festival! http://www.boquetejazzandbluesfestival.com/line-up2.html   The festival program Like in the years before we will have a New Orleans style street parade, a free concert in the park, a garden party, an open mic jam, 4 after hours jams, a special show at our local communal theater, and 4 shows each on the main stage on each day of the festival weekend.. A preliminary festival program is available on our website. At this point in time it is still subject to change. Please check it out on our site and check back frequently for changes: http://www.boquetejazzandbluesfestival.com/program2.html Festival tickets Sorry to keep you waiting folks. We wanted to start ticket sales in June but being forced to create a new organizational structure in order to meet new rules implemented by Panamanian authorities have delayed everything. This unfortunately also forced us to raise admission prices considerably.  General admission tickets, VIP tickets and jam packages will be available for online sales in early September, with local sales to follow later. General admission:  Advance sales until Dec. 31: 1-day ticket $60, 2-day ticket $110 Full price starting Jan 1, 2016: 1-day ticket $70, 2-day ticket $125 VIP tickets: Advance sales until Dec. 31: 1-day ticket $100, 2-day ticket $150 Full price starting Jan 1, 2016: 1-day ticket $130, 2-day ticket $185 There will be 150 VIP tickets available. A VIP ticket grants admission to the weekend shows at the main stage, front row seating with seat cushion, and reduced prices for food and drinks at a conveniently located bar in the amphitheater. In addition, BJBF VIP's will be entitled to a special room rate of $89 at the Albrook Mall Tryp hotel in Panama City, valid before and after the festival for multiple stays until Dec. 31, 2016 (savings of $80 per night!), based on availability. Fedora Club membership (by invitation only). Donation requested $350 The very exclusive 2016 Fedora Club will be limited to 50 members only. A club membership includes: 2-day VIP ticket, value $185 Jam package, value $65 Admission to our special show at the Boquete communal theater BCP, value $20 A special 10th anniversary festival tile, value $30 A high quality Fedora hat, value $35 Special room rate of $49 at the Albrook Mall Tryp hotel in Panama City, valid before and after the festival for multiple stays until Dec. 31, 2016 (savings of $120 per night!), based on availability. For booking details for VIP's and Fedora Club members  please see the Albrook Mall Tryp hotel section below. Admissions to the four after hours jams and the garden party: Admission will be granted on donations basis. Please check our website for more details. Donations will be collected at the door. Jam package: $65 (savings of $25, includes the garden party but not the BCP show) Will be available for online purchase. BCP show: $20, (Only 50 seats available, for local sales only.) Please stay tuned for further publications in this newsletter and on the ticket page of our website: http://www.boquetejazzandbluesfestival.com/tickets.html Already a tradition: Our beautiful annual festival tiles! Started in 2012 our series of 6"x6" festival tiles have quickly become much sought-after collectible pieces of art. Made by the local TUCAN TILE shop in Boquete. They are already working on a special anniversary edition for BJBF 2016. Individual tiles of previous years will also be available at the festival. Get discounts when buying more than 1 tile! Other festival merchandise like t-shirts, baseball caps, mugs, and posters will also be available locally. For cost reasons we're unfortunately not able to ship anything from Panama.  Good news for foreign visitors! Getting to Boquete has become much easier for foreign visitors since COPA Airlines (Panama's international airline) have started direct flights from Tocumen, the international airport of Panama City, to David, the capital of the province of Chiriqui, just 35 minutes by road from Boquete. No more cab rides necessary to get to the domestic airport of Albrook in order to get on an Air Panama flight to David. And it's much cheaper, too! Copa, a Star Alliance member, is serving a large number of cities in the US, and they have a code-share agreement with United. These flights between Tocumen and David v.v. can only be booked in conjunction with an international flight. For purely domestic travel you'd still have to book a flight with Panama's domestic airline Air Panama or go by bus or rental car. The Blues Bus will be rolling again! Everybody who rode the Blues Bus to get to BJBF 2015 will be happy to hear that Marie Willis, our bus lady, will do it again! A great way to get from Panama City and Coronado beach to Boquete and back! More details will be published here and on our website later. NEW: Extended shuttle bus service to the festival venue We will have a bus service available running between various Boquete hotels, the Boquete central park and the main stage at Valle Escondido on both days of the festival weekend, from 11:30am - 1:30pm, and 6pm - 7:30pm each day. A one-way trip is just 1 dollar! (free for musicians). More details will be published later.  Albrook Mall Tryp by Wyndham hotel: Our festival hotel in Panama City! Get great discounts by booking the Tryp for your stay in Panama City. Here's the truly amazing deal for festival visitors: BJBF VIP ticket holders: - Special rate of $89 incl. breakfast and high speed internet access for two. Fedora Club members only: - Special rate of $49 incl. breakfast and high speed internet access for two. Both special rates are based on availability. Both are valid until Dec. 31, 2016 for multiple stays from the time of booking before and after the festival dates. Online Fedora Club membership or VIP ticket purchasers should mail a copy of their online purchase confirmation. In addition the hotel will have a list of all Fedora Club members and VIP ticket holders All bookings must be made directly with the hotel via phone +507-307-0243 or email at reservations @ tryphotel-am.com (omit spaces)  Looking for more information and a place to stay in Boquete? Several of our fine Boquete hotels are offering great discounts to festival visitors. To find out about them as well as lots of other information please go to the information page of our website. Be quick! Boquete only has a limited lodging capacity.  Hotels are selling out fast! 4 days full of fun, excitement and great music in a tropical environment are waiting for you! A New Orleans style street parade, a free concert in the Boquete Central Park,  a party in a lush, tropical garden,  four all-star jam sessions at night, and two open-air festival days in the most beautiful venue Panama has to offer!  Beautiful Boquete is waiting for you! We can't wait to see you here! If you like this newsletter please forward it to your friends and ask them to sign up also. Help us to spread the word and to place Panama firmly on the world-wide blues map! Hans Lebuser, director/producer of BJBF 2012 - 2015   A work in progress: Below are the logos of fine businesses which are supporting the festival. More will be shown later. Your logo will show up here as well as on our website and printed material if you decide to become a sponsor for BJBF2016. Our website is attracting up to 30,000 visitors per month, and our postings via the social media have a potential outreach of 100,000+ people. Find more information about the various sponsoring options on our online sponsor page. Please click on the logos below to learn more about our sponsors and their businesses. Gold sponsors   Silver sponsors Copper sponsors                      Bronze sponsors                          Community sponsors          Friends of the festival

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