Charlottetown-A parade of Canadian music legends will headline this summer's PEI Jazz and Blues Festival, presented by Atlantic Turbines. The Festival will run from July 5-8 in downtown Charlottetown, Headlining the festival with be the iconic Downchild Blues Band, jazz great Phil Nimmons, keyboard virtuoso Doug Riley and Maritime blues/rocker Matt Minglewood.

As well as the popular big tent on Queen Street, this year's festival will include two new venues, a new concert series, and two additional mainstage concerts...one of them free.

On the Saturday afternoon of the festival (July 7), the walls of the big tent on Queen Street tent will be opened up and local merchants will be encouraged to hold sidewalk sales while jazz, blues and world music from the mainstage reverberates throughout the downtown shopping area free of charge.

There will also be a new ticketed concert series added to the festival and presented in one of Charlottetown's stately downtown churches.

"Sometimes the tent can be a bit on the noisy side", explained festival volunteer Bob Nicholson, "We wanted to provide an intimate setting for those performances."

There will also be a new venue for the festival's late-night concert series the Studio Theatre in the Confederation Centre of the Arts. "We think the Confederation Centre Studio Theatre is going to be great for our late-night program", Nicholson said. "The room is small enough to feel intimate, yet big enough to handle a crowd, and it's practically right beside the mainstage tent."

The Studio Theatre venue will also be used for the Festival's Chris Driscoll Memorial Workshops. The Festival's workshop series grew by leaps and bounds last year, attracting great crowds and providing some amazing experiences for those in attendance"

The Festival's line up will also include an impressive list of established Canadian talent: acclaimed pianist David Braid, blues/world guitarist Harry Manx, guitar/mandolin virtuoso Kevin Breit (who records and performs with the likes of Norah Jones, Holly Cole and Rosanne Cash), and two of Canada's most influential young jazz ensembles, the Christine Jensen Quartet and the Lina Allemano Four. As well, Doug Riley will be joined onstage by such nationally renowned sidemen as Mike Murley (tenor), Kevin Turcotte (trumpet) Chris Mitchell (alto), Jamie Gatti (bass) and Terry Clarke (drums).

The maritimes and PEI will also be well represented in this year's Jazz & Blues Festival. Thursday's late-night jam will be hosted by Field Trip, a Montreal-based trio featuring Charlottetown bassist (and Queen Charlotte/Colonel Gray alumnus) Pat Reid. The group will use the late-night venue for an Island launch of their new CD which is currently ranked in the top ten on Canadian University Jazz Charts.

Other maritime musicians will include Halifax guitar/dance ensemble el Viente Flamenco, and Nova-Scotia's juno-winning bluesman Morgan Davis. As well, several of the Island's jazz musicians will be invited to join a "Festival Big Band" comprised of the likes of Mike Murley, David Braid and other visiting stars, for a special tribute to the music of Phil Nimmons. Among other things, the band will stage a performance of Nimmons' award-winning "Atlantic Suite."

Details on all the artists appearing at the festival, along with prices and schedules, can be found at www.jazzandblues.ca

Media contact: Ann Thurlow, (902) 892-9887, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it