娱乐英语新闻:7th jazz festival to strum up crowds at Expo Park

BEIJING, July 25 (Xinhuanet) -- More than doubling the number of performances from last year, the 2011 JZ Music Festival Shanghai will open one of the largest jazz festivals in Asia at the Expo Park from October 15 to 23 – featuring the internationally acclaimed vocals of Roy Ayers and Tower of Power.

With 100-plus shows, the seventh annual edition of the festival will boast six outdoor stages on the first two opening days at the Green Note venue inside the Expo Park, where audiences can take in a mix of jazz, folk, electronic, funk and rock renditions performed by internationally acclaimed musicians, followed by the "Masters Hall" indoor concert series from October 18 at the Shanghai Center Theater, said organizers.

"With so many fine artists and stages and an extended performance time of midnight, we hope to see even greater success this year," Xu Xiaojie, a press officer for organizer JZ Shanghai Music Festival, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Among the list of world-famous artists on the program are: Jojo Mayer, Jazzanova Live, Take 6, John Pizzarelli, Kenny Garrett, Erik Truffaz, Chris Potter and Jose James; along with Chinese favorites Li Jian, Li Quan and Chang Shilei. The festival performances fall under the umbrella of the three-month Expo Music Festival that gets underway next month at the Expo Park.

JZ music festival ticket prices will hold steady this year at 150 yuan ($23.27) per one-day pass, with a two-day pass setting fans back slightly more at 200 yuan. More details can be found at jzfestival.com or via the hot lines at 6431-7113 and 6431-1075.