For more information, contact James Jolly, director of marketing and communications, at 843.383.8018

Hartsville, S.C. — The Hartsville-Coker Concert Association presents jazz legends The Dukes of Dixieland on Thursday, February 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the Center Theater, downtown Hartsville. Admission is $20 for adults, $7 for children under 18 and students, or free with Coker College ID. Tickets are on sale in advance at the Greater Hartsville Chamber of Commerce or at the door.

For over 30 years, the Dukes have performed their distinctive blend of traditional Dixieland, New Orleans jazz and rhythm and blues, blended with innovative jazz stylings and arrangements. The Dukes preserve such Dixieland favorites as “Bourbon Street Parade” and “South Rampart Street Parade” with mellow blues standards like “Basin Street Blues” and “St. James Infirmary Blues.” For good measure, the group tosses-in some hand-clapping and toe-tapping ragtime numbers, such as Scott Joplin's “The Entertainer” and “Maple Street Rag.”

The band has stirred audiences throughout the world, alone and sharing the stage with Mel Torme, Red Skelton, Ella Fitzgerald, Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, Woody Herman and scores of other jazz greats. The Dukes of Dixieland earned a Grammy nomination for their jazz-gospel album “Gloryland” and Bose Audio selected the Dukes to produce a demonstration album. The band has also released a holiday album, “Christmas in New Orleans,” and “Timeless,” a four-CD collection of their music.

In November 2005, the Dukes raised money for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Relief Fund by performing down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the city of New Orleans on board the world-famous Steamboat Natchez.

The Dukes are also one of the few Dixieland jazz ensembles to appear as special guests with symphony orchestras, including the symphonies of Cleveland, Baltimore, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, The National Symphony, and the New York Pops. Their television credits include a 90-minute PBS special “The Dukes of Dixieland and Friends” and several guest appearances on TNN's “Nashville Now.”

The Hartsville-Coker Concert Association (HCCA) is a new venture stemming from the Coker College Performing Arts Series and the Hartsville Community Concerts Association. HCCA  will present an expanded program of events at both the Center Theater in downtown Hartsville and the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center on Coker College’s campus. For more information, call 843-383-8018 or visit www.hartsvillecokerconcerts.org.

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Februay 3, 2007