Yamaha Drums and Pianos Take Center Stage at 50th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival
BUENA PARK, Calif. Yamaha drum sets, pianos and artists took center stage at this year's Monterey Jazz Festival. The event, which celebrated its 50th year, is the longest-running jazz festival in history.
Held September 21 to 23 at the 20-acre Monterey Fairgrounds site, the festival featured performances by some of the biggest names in jazz, including several Yamaha Artists.
Yamaha Pianos provided performers with a wealth of choices, including four CFIIIS Concert Grands, two C7 PE models, one C6 PE, two C2 models, two U3 PE upright pianos and one DGT Disklavier GranTouch Digital Grand Piano. Those pianos not supplied by Yamaha Artists Services were provided by Music Exchange in Walnut Creek, California.
"Yamaha is one of our longest partnerships, said David Murray, the festival's production coordinator. "They've been like family to us and we get lots of compliments from the artists about the quality of the instruments."
Yamaha also provided a selection of drum sets, including Absolute Maple Nouveau, Absolute Birch Nouveau, Oak Custom, Tour Custom and several Stage Custom drum sets.
Yamaha Artists who wowed the festival crowds included pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba along with drummers Eric Harland, Mark Mondesir and Kendrick Scott.
"We had several special requests and had to move some drums around a bit, but everything went quite well due to good management on Yamaha's part," said Murray. "We're fortunate that the Yamaha people are here, because they bend over backwards to help."
In addition to providing the Festival's pianos and drums, Yamaha donates instruments to Festival-affiliated jazz education programs throughout the year. As it has in the past, Yamaha (in association with Gadsby's Music in Salinas) donated a Yamaha Disklavier as a hole-in-one prize for the Ninth Annual Golf 'n' Jazz Tournament.
Sue Downs, a Yamaha Disklavier Product Specialist, the only artist at the festival with her own stage, presented workshops entitled "Music & Technology on the Disklavier" throughout the weekend. The presentations showcased the features of the DCT2A GranTouch Disklavier Digital Grand Piano, which combines a grand piano with digital recording and playback capabilities.
For additional information, visit The Monterey Jazz Festival Web site at www.montereyjazzfestival.org, or call (925) 275-9255.
For more information about Yamaha products, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; call (714) 522-9011; email infostation@yamaha.com.
Eric Harland |
Yamaha Pianos provided performers with a wealth of choices, including four CFIIIS Concert Grands, two C7 PE models, one C6 PE, two C2 models, two U3 PE upright pianos and one DGT Disklavier GranTouch Digital Grand Piano. Those pianos not supplied by Yamaha Artists Services were provided by Music Exchange in Walnut Creek, California.
"Yamaha is one of our longest partnerships, said David Murray, the festival's production coordinator. "They've been like family to us and we get lots of compliments from the artists about the quality of the instruments."
 (L-R) Yamaha Piano Divison Vice President Paul Calvin, Tim Jackson, General Manager of the Monterey Jazz Festival and Yamaha Product Specialist Sue Downs. |
Yamaha Artists who wowed the festival crowds included pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba along with drummers Eric Harland, Mark Mondesir and Kendrick Scott.
"We had several special requests and had to move some drums around a bit, but everything went quite well due to good management on Yamaha's part," said Murray. "We're fortunate that the Yamaha people are here, because they bend over backwards to help."
 Kendrick Scott, Mark Mondesir and Eric Harland at Monterey 2007 |
Sue Downs, a Yamaha Disklavier Product Specialist, the only artist at the festival with her own stage, presented workshops entitled "Music & Technology on the Disklavier" throughout the weekend. The presentations showcased the features of the DCT2A GranTouch Disklavier Digital Grand Piano, which combines a grand piano with digital recording and playback capabilities.
For additional information, visit The Monterey Jazz Festival Web site at www.montereyjazzfestival.org, or call (925) 275-9255.
For more information about Yamaha products, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; call (714) 522-9011; email infostation@yamaha.com.