Hugh Masekela, The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, The Headhunters, The Funky Meters, Diane Schuur featuring Dave Samuels' Caribbean Jazz Project and Wilmington's own Raye Jones are among the featured performers for this year's 17th Annual DuPont Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, the largest free jazz festival on the East Coast.

Wilmington Mayor James M. Baker and Cultural Affairs Director Tina Betz today announced the scheduled lis of performances for the 2005 Festival that will be held Friday, June 3 through Sunday, June 12. Most evening performances for the Festival will be staged in Rodney Square in Downtown Wilmington. Other events associated with the Festival will be presented at nearby Downtown venues. "Our wonderfully supportive group of Jazz Festival sponsors, led by DuPont, has provided Tina Betz and her team with the backing needed to assemble another outstanding Jazz Festival honoring the memory and music o Wilmington's jazz king Clifford Brown," said Mayor Baker. "We hope everyone will head to Wilmington for week-long celebration of jazz, featuring an exciting and entertaining list of national and local performers." Sylvia Banks, Manager, Corporate Contributions at DuPont said the company is proud of its contributions to one of the City's most popular events. "We're delighted to be part of the 2005 DuPont Clifford Brown Jazz Festival. Not only does the Festival provide our community with the opportunity to see and hear world-class jazz performances, but it also gives us a chance to show -off downtown Wilmington as a vibrant and exciting city."

The schedule of events for the pre-Rodney Square-based concerts include:
• Friday, June 3, performance at 8 p.m., at Wilmington's Theatre N at Nemours, JazzReach, (www.jazzreach.org) a Brooklyn, New York-based organization that partners with leading cultural, educational and performing arts institutions to present original jazz programs to students, presents Metta Quintet, JazzReach's official resident ensemble. In addition to carrying out the organization's endeavors in arts education, the Metta Quintet is dedicated to commissioning, recording and performing new jazz compositions. The quintet will premier "Subway Songs," a new multi-media presentation with film and live music featuring a compilation of newly commissioned music inspired by the New York City Subway.
• Saturday, June 4, performance at Noon, at Wilmington's Theatre N at Nemours, JazzReach presents Hangin' with the Giants, a multi-media program for families with children in grades K-4 that promotes the inclusiveness and accessibility of jazz. The program features live music by the Metta Quintet, live narration and interactive animated likenesses of jazz greats Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk, projected on a large screen.
• Saturday, June 4, performances at 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., at Wilmington's Theatre N at Nemours, "The History of Jazz: An African-American Perspective," presented by Warren Oree and the Arpreggio Jazz Ensemble, featuring special guests Tony Smith on trumpet, Jeff Knoettner on keyboard, and vocalists Sherry Butler and George V. Johnson. Sunday, June 5, performance at 7 p.m. at the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew, Duke Ellington's Sacred Music Concert. Between 1965 and 1973, Ellington wrote three massive works that combined elements of jazz, classical music, choral music, spirituals, gospel, blues, and dance. He called them his "sacred concerts" and said it was the most important music he had ever written. "The Best of Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts" had its Wilmington premier during the 2003 Jazz Festival.
• Tickets for the above-mentioned performances are complimentary but must be ordered to secure seating by calling 302.571.4699 or online at www.cliffordbrownjazzfest.com
• Unclaimed tickets will be redistributed on a first come/first served basis at the door.

The 17th Annual DuPont Clifford Brown Jazz Festival daily performance schedule includes the following entertainment line-up: Monday, June 6, in Rodney Square:
• 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., Lunchtime Concert in Willingtown Square, performer TBA
• 6:30 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, Michael Wolff and Impure Thoughts (www.michaelwolff.com)
• 8:00 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, Diane Schuur, featuring Dave Samuels' Caribbean Project (http://www.dianeshuur.com/content/bio.htm )

Tuesday, June 7, in Rodney Square:
• 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., Lunchtime Concert, Willingtown Square, performer TBA
• 6:30 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, Karl Denson, (www.karldenson.com)
• 8:00 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, The Funky Meters, (www.funkymeters.com)

Wednesday, June 8, in Rodney Square:
• 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., Lunchtime Concert, Willingtown Square, performer TBA
• 6:30 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, Chris Brubeck's Triple Play, www.brubeckmusic.com/tripleplay.html
• 8:00 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, The Headhunters

Thursday, June 9, in Rodney Square:
• 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., Lunchtime Concert, Willingtown Square, performer TBA
• 6:30 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, Raye Jones
• 7:15 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, Ingrid Jensen and Project O
• 8:30 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, Lou Donaldson, featuring Dr. Lonnie Smith

Friday, June 10, in Rodney Square:
• 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., Lunchtime Concert, Willingtown Square, performer TBA
• 6:30 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, Flora Purim and Airto Moriera
• 8:00 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band

Saturday, June 11, in Rodney Square:
• 10 a.m. performance, "Peanut Butter and Jazz Jam," location to be announced
• 11 a.m. presentation, at the Wyndham Hotel, speaker/musician Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr., on the Business of Music, part of the City's MegaBizFest Conference for business development
• 12:30 p.m. performance at the Wyndham Hotel, "Musicology"
• 3 p.m. performances in Rodney Square, Wilmington Youth Jazz Band, led by Fostina Dixon, Cab Calloway's Jazz Chords of Calloway, led by Martin Lassman; and 18-year old pianist Christian Sands
• 6:45 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, Sherrie Maricle & The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, with Rachael Price
• 8:00 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, New Orleans Jazz Orchestra

Sunday, June 12, in Rodney Square*:
• 3 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, Judith Owen
• 5 p.m. performance, in Rodney Square, Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Adderly Legacy Band
• 7 p.m. performance, Hugh Masekela
• Please note that Sunday's performances will return to Rodney Square this year. For the past two years, Sunday Jazz Festival performances had been staged at Winterthur.