Woodland Park Zoo- PRESS RELEASE
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Editor note: For more information and/or photos, please call 206-684-4838. Calendar
Advisory: Contact:
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What:
A major fundraiser
for the zoo, Washington Mutual ZooTunes is held outdoors in the zoo’s North Meadow where concert-goers spread out with blankets
and low-backed patio chairs. With tickets $21 and under, and kids 12
and under free, the festival seating performances offer one of the best
concert bargains in the Northwest. Thanks in part to Washington Mutual’s
sponsorship, ZooTunes raised over $600,000 last year to support animal
care, zoo maintenance and upkeep, education programs for children and
adults, and conservation programs that are helping to preserve wildlife
species in our state and all over the world. When: Where: Tickets: Info: Who: July 14: Nanci Griffith, $19 - In the late ‘70s and ‘80s Nanci Griffith brought her self-described “folkabilly” music to Nashville as one of the new generation of folk/country/pop artists, which also included Lyle Lovett and Dwight Yoakam. During more than 20 years of writing and performing, Griffith has amassed a legion of admirers (Bob Dylan requested her to perform at his anniversary concert) as well as the millions of fans she’s reached through unstoppable touring and playing everywhere from Texas honky-tonks to Norwegian National Symphony Hall to Albert Hall to Carnegie Hall. Griffith’s body of work includes some of country music’s most enduring hits, including Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris’s “Gulf Coast Highway,” and Kathy Mattea’s “Love At the Five And Dime,” as well as over 15 wonderfully literate and acclaimed solo albums. Career highlights include five Grammy nominations. Griffith’s latest album released in 2002, “Winter Marquee,” offers listeners the opportunity to check in on an artist at the top of her game, whose continual growth as a writer and as a citizen of the world can be a source of illumination to us all. Truly, it is a record for all seasons. July 21: Lucinda Williams, $19 - Time Magazine recently named Lucinda Williams America's Greatest Songwriter, and it's not difficult to make a case for her deserving the title. The daughter of poet Miller Williams, she's recorded six albums, generally to critical praise, won three Grammies, and her material has been widely covered, with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Patty Loveless, and Tom Petty scoring hits with her songs. “World Without Tears,” her seventh record and follow-up to 2001's minimalist “Essence,” finds Williams working in a new environment. The result is a complex, multifaceted album that musically highlights Williams’ continued blurring of musical genres and poetic lyrics. July 25: John Hiatt solo/acoustic, $21 - One of the most celebrated songwriters alive, Hiatt’s compositions have been covered by dozens of artists including Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Paula Abdul, Iggy Pop and the cartoon bear band of Disney’s 2002 film “The Country Bears.” His latest album, “Beneath This Gruff Exterior,” contains all the Hiatt trademarks that have earned him such respect - the finely rendered details, the subtle blend of humor and pathos, and the unpredictable yet instantly memorable melodies. July 28: Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, $19 - Often considered the premier banjo player in the world, Béla Fleck is the only musician to be nominated for Grammys in jazz, bluegrass, pop, country, spoken word, Christian, composition and world music categories. He formed the Flecktones in 1989, which debuted in 1990 by playing a “blu-bop” mix of jazz and bluegrass. The group soon became a commercial success and critically acclaimed band. “Outbound,” Béla Fleck and the Flecktones’ seventh album, features an all-star cast of guest artists including vocalists Shawn Colvin and Jon Anderson (of Yes). August 4: Greg Brown with special guest Todd Snider, $18 - Rolling Stone magazine describes Greg Brown as a “wickedly sharp observer of the human condition.” His music is an intricate mix of insightful lyrics that paint powerful and often deceptively simple images on a canvas of gospel, blues, country, rock and jazz. Brown's songwriting has been lauded by many, and his songs have been performed by Willie Nelson, Carlos Santana, Michael Johnson, Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter. He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards, and has played at New York City’s prestigious Carnegie Hall. He has also recorded more than a dozen albums. His latest CD, “One Night,” is a re-release of a 1983 live performance originally on Minneapolis's Coffeehouse Extemporé Records. Todd Snider - For artists with a loyal following and a wealth of much-loved material—but few, if any, "hits" in the traditional sense of the word - a live album “Near Truths and Hotel Rooms,” is the perfect device to take stock of a career to date. Snider's latest album is a fitting representation of a gifted songwriter, humorist and shameless romantic. Snider has a knack for clever wordplay and a unique world view. August 11: They Might Be Giants, $19 On the heels of the phenomenal success of their first children's album "No!", with sales now topping a remarkable 100,000 copies, alternative rock icons They Might Be Giants continue to expand their creative horizons by releasing their first literary effort - a bedtime picture book entitled "Bed, Bed, Bed." They Might Be Giants have released nine albums in 16 years, are about to issue a career-spanning boxed set, and have been touring widely since the early ‘80s. Two witty, articulate men in their early ‘40s who write catchy songs about things like thermostats and metal detectors, John Flansburgh and John Linnell are the elders to a whole generation of smart rockers - Moxy Fruvous, Barenaked Ladies, Harvey Danger, and Weezer, to name just a few. But, as highly respected, seminal bands often are, They Might Be Giants tend to be commercial runners-up to their offspring August 18: Pink Martini, $14 - Pink Martini blends influences from Cuban rumbas to classical chamber music, from Parisian cafe tunes to foreign film soundtracks, creating music that spans the continents. Comprising 10 musicians, the Portland, Oregon-based Pink Martini was a fortuitous accident thrown together in the fall of 1994. Since then, the group has gone on to tour Europe, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and Taiwan. In the United States, they have toured the country performing with symphony orchestras including the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The Nashville Symphony, The Jacksonville Symphony and The Oregon Symphony, among others. In France, their CD, "Sympathique," has gone "Double Gold," and the group was nominated for the prestigious “Victoires de la Musique” awards for song of the year and best new artist. August 25: Aimee Mann, $19 - Sonically complex and lyrically intimate “Lost In Space,” Aimee Mann’s fourth solo release, marks yet another advance in a career studded with hit singles and critical accolades. From her work in the ‘80s with the MTV favorite Til Tuesday through her acclaimed solo discs “Whatever” and “I’m With Stupid” in the ‘90s, Aimee Mann has always been at the forefront of contemporary songwriters. The close of the millennium brought her greatest success, with the simultaneous releases of “Bachelor No. 2” and the soundtrack to the film Magnolia, which garnered nominations for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and three Grammys. Accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, top award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting a standard for zoos all over the world. With conservation, education and excellent animal care at the core of the zoo’s mission, the zoo is helping to save endangered species in Washington state and around the world including tree kangaroos, snow leopards, red-crowned cranes, African wild dogs, western pond turtles and Oregon silverspot butterflies. By inspiring visitors and others to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s future.
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