Held every year during the first weekend in August, the JazzFest Heritage Music Weekend is expanding from two days to three days with a glittering new “opening act”—the “We Love You Madly” Awards Gala. Starting on the evening of Friday, August 5, 2005, Jazz Unites, Inc. will inaugurate the “Love You Madly” Awards, which were created to recognize people from all walks of life, who do what they can, through their various professions, to promote the preservation and appreciation of jazz. Among the eight people who the organization is honoring are a U.S. Congressman, a television network correspondent and the founder of a bank.

“All of our honorees have proven themselves to love and care about jazz,” explains Geraldine de Haas, founder and president of Jazz Unites Inc. “And, as Duke Ellington would say, ‘We love them madly!’”

The 2005 national honorees are U.S. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan and pianist, educator and CBS “Sunday Morning” correspondent Dr. Billy Taylor. Congressman Conyers is sponsor of the 1987 legislation recognizing jazz as an American Treasure. Dr. Taylor headlined the first Duke Ellington Tribute Concert, helping to launch Jazz Unites Inc. and the two-day, free JazzFest, as a world-class showcase of jazz artistry. Today, his knowledgeable and inspiring CBS reports on jazz artists offer Middle America a clear window on the best of the art form. Locally, Jazz Unites Inc. is honoring Illinois State Senate President Emil Jones Jr., Cook County Board President John Stroger Jr., jazz pianist Earma Thompson, WBEZ radio personality Larry Smith, the late musical storyteller Oscar Brown Jr., and ShoreBank Co-Founder Milton Davis—both of whom died recently.

As a special treat, ad man turned jazz singer, Tom Burrell, will pay tribute to Brown by performing some of the late singer’s most famous works.

On Saturday morning, the honorees will return to the grounds of the cultural center to officially open the JazzFest, which will start at 10:00 a.m. with the Battle of the High School Bands. The rest of the line-up for the two-day musical extravaganza includes: Ernestine Anderson; Christian McBride; Fred Anderson with Corey Wilkes, Tito Carrillo, the Wallace Roney-Geri Allen Quintet; Crosswinds, Julia Huff, Kathryn Davis and other special guests.

Nearly 50,000 people are expected to attend the JazzFest Heritage Music Weekend, which is the oldest African American produced musical festival in the United States. For more information about the “We Love You Madly” Awards Gala, call Jazz Unites Inc. at 773-734-2000 or visit www.jazzunitesinc.org.