JazzBoston is happy to announce that Mayor Thomas M. Menino has proclaimed April 26 to May 4, 2008, Jazz Week in the City of Boston. Revived by JazzBoston last spring following a 25-year hiatus, this citywide celebration of the music is a collaborative effort by and for Boston's entire jazz community.

In 2007, more than 150 events took place at over 50 locations in and around the city. Next year's eight-day Jazz Week, which will once again kick off during the Smithsonian Institution's national observance of April as Jazz Appreciation Month, will showcase hundreds of musicians of all generations performing jazz of every style in venues throughout the Greater Boston area - from clubs, museums and churches to libraries, universities, hotels, and community centers. Read more about Jazz Week and check out the photo gallery of last year's highlights on the JazzBoston site.

Jazz Week events are produced independently by participating musicians, presenters, clubs, educational institutions, and other organizations. All events are promoted by JazzBoston under the Jazz Week umbrella through an extensive, print, broadcast and web marketing campaign.

"We encourage artists to think creatively about special themes or new approaches, perhaps seeking out a venue to present their music that might be new to jazz," says bandleader and trumpeter Mark Harvey, Jazz Week team co-leader and JazzBoston board member. "We encourage presenters, club owners, and restaurant managers to book jazz into your space during this special week, even if you've never done it before."

Musicians and presenters should send relevant details of confirmed events to jazzweek@jazzboston.org for inclusion in the overall Jazz Week promotional campaign. And stay tuned for updates!

Current JazzBoston members and those who join by Dec. 17 will be eligible to win two tickets ($150 value) to the New Year's Eve performance of the Danilo Perez Big Band at Berklee College of Music's David Friend Recital Hall. Part of NPR's "Toast of the Nation" broadcast produced locally by WGBH 89.7 FM and heard live on Dec. 31 from 8 to 9 p.m., the concert will mark the radio premiere of Perez's "The Panama Suite." The drawing for the tickets, provided courtesy of Berklee College of Music, will close at midnight on Dec. 19. Apply online now to join JazzBoston.

Perez, a JazzBoston Artistic Advisor, travels south to host the fifth annual Panama Jazz Festival Jan. 21-25 in Panama City. With clinics and master classes for young Panamanian and Latin American students presented by instructors from New England Conservatory and Berklee, the festival will have a distinctive Boston educational flavor. Check out the site for the festival lineup and travel information if you're considering a break from the New England winter.

Pianist McCoy Tyner, who appears at the Regattabar Dec. 27-29 with guest Christian Scott, has released a new album, "Quartet," and the first three JazzBoston members who show their membership cards at the door on each of the three nights will receive a free CD.

Show your JazzBoston membership card and get a 50% discount on tickets to hear the next generation of young jazzers when the Boston Arts Academy, the city's only public school for the visual and performing arts, presents its annual Winterfest Jazz Concert at Berklee Performance Center on Wednesday, Dec. 19. Showtime is 7 p.m.; discounted tickets for JazzBoston members are $5.

Don't forget that JazzBoston members also receive discounts at the Regattabar, Scullers, the Real Deal Jazz Club and Cafe, The Beehive, Ryles, the Vernissage Restaurant's "Jazz Thursdays at Vernissage," and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's Thursday evening jazz series, "Jazz at the Gardner."

For discounts at all these venues, just show your JazzBoston card at the door, or when calling for reservations, give your name and member number.

You can help underwrite JazzBoston's efforts to support the growth of our city's jazz scene and get a 2007 tax deduction in the process by making a contribution by Dec. 31 to our all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) organization. Your donation will help offset the costs associated with the free services JazzBoston provides to spread the word about jazz here, and also help fund a variety of JazzBoston community programs throughout the year. These range from presenting a series of educational panels at the Boston Public Library during Jazz Week to providing public school students with an up-close-and-personal experience with the music in and out of the classroom.

To make a tax-deductible contribution, send a check to JazzBoston Inc., 393 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02115. Or contribute online. And, of course, if you'd like to express your support by becoming a JazzBoston member at any level, you can join online. Thank you!

Pianist and composer Geri Allen's residency at Harvard University swings open to the public on Friday, Dec. 7, when she presents a pair of free events on the Cambridge campus. At 4 p.m. Allen takes part in a workshop moderated by Harvard Jazz Bands director Tom Everett at Lowell Hall, Kirkland and Oxford streets. For information, call (617) 495-8676. At 8 p.m. she gives a free performance with her trio at John Knowles Paine Concert Hall. Call (617)496-6013. On Saturday, Dec. 8, at 8 p.m., Allen will be joined by the Harvard Jazz Bands in a tribute to Mary Lou Williams at Lowell Hall. Tickets:$10. Call (617) 496-2222. More info at Harvard's Office for the Arts "Learning from Performers" site.

New England Conservatory puts its faculty and their student ensembles in the spotlight next week as part of the Keller Jazz Series, Keller Room, with three free performances each night beginning at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10: Anthony Coleman, Dave Harris, Rakalam Bob Moses; Wednesday, Dec. 12: Danilo Perez, Oscar Stagnaro, Rakalam Bob Moses; Thursday, Dec. 13: Dave Fuiczynski, John Lockwood, Cecil McBee. Read NEC's events listings.

We'd love to hear what you think of this e-newsletter and what kinds of information you'd like to see included in future issues. Email us at newsletter@jazzboston.org. If you'd like to know more about JazzBoston and consider becoming a member, go to www.jazzboston.org. And please pass this e-newsletter along to all the jazz fans and music lovers you know!