Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding.

JazzBoston wants to help you get to the 2013 Newport Jazz Festival. With events like Wayne Shorter's 80th Birthday Celebration, Esperanza Spalding with the Radio Music Society, and the Roy Haynes Fountain of Youth Band, this year's not one to miss. Take advantage of the very special day-trip packages for August 3 and 4 that JazzBoston is offering in partnership with NPR jazz champion WBGO, beginning with a ride on a comfortable chartered bus from the historic Wally's Jazz Cafe directly to the festival gate in Newport. You can't beat this deal!

What's included in the day-trip package. What's better than going to the Newport Jazz Festival? Going to the Newport Jazz Festival without the hassle of driving, accompanied by friends. In addition to round-trip transportation from Boston, your package includes one General Admission ticket for the day (value $74 if purchased in advance, $84 if purchased during the festival) and a $20 food and beverage voucher for the Louis Jadot Cafe on the festival grounds.

With the special JazzBoston discount, the full package price of $195 per person drops to $175. Get a group of four or more friends together, and you each pay only $155.

Trip details. The bus departs from Wally's at 8 am both days. Arrive early for coffee and donuts with other jazz lovers at Wally's bar, compliments of JazzBoston, then enjoy the ride in your reclining bucket seat with wi-fi, and a special screening of the 1958 Newport documentary, Jazz on a Summer's Day. You'll be dropped off at the festival gate and picked up in the same place for the ride back to Wally's when the music ends at 7 pm.

Choose your day and reserve now. Space on the buses is limited. See the festival website for the complete lineup of artists, choose your day, and reserve now online or by email. Remember to mention the discount code, JAZZBOSTON. You can also reserve by calling (973) 624-8880 x269. Please use this option if you're reserving for a group.

With the help of friends like saxophonist David Liebman, JazzBird is on its way to becoming the radio app that connects the world's jazz community. At the beginning of July, the acclaimed bandleader, educator, and NEA Jazz Master introduced JazzBoston's new radio app to students and teachers from more than 40 countries gathered in Denmark for the annual meeting of the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ), which he founded in 1989. Liebman distributed a flyer about the app with a questionnaire about the attendees' favorite hometown jazz radio shows and other jazz shows or stations they listen to regularly. The answers will help us expand JazzBird's inventory of high-quality international shows and stations, one of our top priorities. Liebman also handed out the new JazzBird card (shown above).

We've heard that the app stirred a lot of interest - particularly the 24-hour programming and the opportunity for even the smallest community station to gain an international audience. Nearly everyone took a card. More details expected this week.

Back in Boston, Lydia Liebman Promotions, run by Dave Liebman's daughter, is assisting JazzBoston in mounting a PR campaign for JazzBird. Lydia is currently a student at Emerson College and Berklee College of Music. She's also the host of the critically acclaimed jazz radio program "Reeds & Deeds II" and the General Manager of online radio station WECB. Keep your eyes out for a new JazzBird Facebook page and an item on JazzBird in the MassJazz Travel Guide.

Also in Boston, we're recruiting the app's first formal panel of curators. Using an agreed-on set of objective guidelines, the musicians, radio hosts, and knowledgeable fans who serve as curators check each existing and proposed show to ensure that the production quality is good, the schedule is reliable, the music played fits under the big umbrella of jazz, and the entire range of jazz styles is represented overall and, to the extent possible, within different time periods. Eric Jackson, dean of New England jazz radio, has agreed to be a JazzBird curator.

Download JazzBird LITE, the app's free version, now. Try it out, then write to jazzbird@jazzboston.org and tell us what you think.

Jason Palmer, Yellowjackets, and Nicole Henry.

If you're a JazzBoston member, write to newsletter@jazzboston.org now to enter a drawing to win free tickets to any of the events listed below, and please note which shows and dates you're interested in. You must be a JazzBoston member to be eligible to win.

• Become a JazzBoston member now. Annual memberships begin as low as $20.

The Regattabar is offering a pair of tickets to the following shows:

July 9, 7:30 pm - Buckwheat Zydeco
July 12, 7:30 pm - Darrell Nulisch
July 17, 8 pm - Miss Tess & The Talkbacks
July 19, 7:30 pm - Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica
July 20, 7:30 pm - Eguie Castrillo & His Orchestra
July 24, 7:30 pm - Cettina Donato Group
July 25, 7:30 pm - Nicole Henry
July 26, 10 pm - Ron Carter
July 30, 7:30 pm - Wysocki Family Jazz Trio
July 31, 7:30 pm - Leftover Cuties
August 2, 10 pm - Alex Alvear & Mango Blue
August 3, 10 pm - Freddy Cole
August 9, 10 pm - Eric Johnson & Mike Stern
August 24, 7:30 pm - Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo

Scullers is offering tickets to the following shows:

July 26, 10 pm - Manhattans featuring Gerald Alston and Blue Lovett (1 pair)
July 25, 8 pm - Mark Morganelli (2 pair)
August 1, 8 pm - Somi (1 pair)
August 2, 10 pm - Terence Blanchard (1 pair)
August 9, 10 pm - Tuck & Patti (2 pair)
August 16, 10 pm - Yellowjackets (1 pair)
August 28, 8 pm - Jason Palmer (1 pair)
August 29, 8 pm - Marc Cary (1 pair)

Roberta Gambarini

New England has a wealth of jazz festivals. Don't miss these perfect weekend getaways!

Newport Jazz Festival, August 2-4. Experience the sounds of Esperanza Spalding, Wayne Shorter, and many more. Take advantage of JazzBoston/WBGO's great day-trip package offers!

Litchfield Jazz Festival, August 9-11. In its 18th year, this year's festival will include the Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Band, Gregory Porter, and students from the Litchfield Jazz Camp.

Provincetown Jazz Festival, August 17 and 19. This smaller scale jazz fest will bring you two great concerts and donate a portion of the proceeds to worthy causes. Donna Byrne with Tim Ray, Marshall Wood, & Bart Weisman plus Fred Fried & Bruce Abbott with Michael Lavoie & Miki Matsuki.

Salem Jazz and Soul Festival, August 17 and 18. This festival features mostly local acts and a variety of jazz styles. In the lineup: the Tough Love Trio, North Shore Jazz Project All Stars, Diane Blue & Toni Lynn Washington.

Rockport Jazz Festival, August 14-18. Roberta Gambarini, The Four Freshman, Kurt Elling, Regina Carter, and Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo Duo. Five nights of incredible music!

Northampton Jazz Festival, September 7. Celebrate the end of summer with the 3rd annual Northampton Jazz Festival. See artists like Ben Allison and the Al Foster Quartet with Eric Alexander.

Yakir Arbib, Aubrey Johnson, and Arni Cheatham.

Concerts in the Courtyard at the Boston Public Library. JazzBoston and the Boston Public Library have partnered to bring jazz to one of the city's most beautiful public spaces, the courtyard of the Central Library in Copley Square.
July 25, 6 pm: Revolutionary Snake Ensemble. The award-winning second-line brass band will bring their exciting energy and Mardi Gras-style costumes and masks to the Library.
August 30, 12:30 pm: Arni Cheatham. The saxophonist and 2013 Boston Jazz Hero and his quintet Synergy will close the concert series with what Cheatham calls "Jazz - the real thing, the full spectrum from mild to wild."

Two Gentleman of Verona. The Commonwealth Shakespeare company has decided to jazz up their annual Shakespeare production on the Boston Common. NEC students will share the stage with actors and provide a live sound track to one of Shakespeare's early plays. Click here for performance dates and times.

Berklee Summer in the City. This free outdoor concert series features Berklee students, faculty, and alumni performing throughout the Boston area. Lucky for us, there will be plenty of jazz. Here is a small sample of the free concerts being offered. For more, visit www.berklee.edu/events/summer.
July 8, 6 pm, at the Regattabar: Albino Mbie
July 11, 6 pm, at the Wakefield Library: Grant Richards
July 17, 6 pm, at Ramler Park: Swingin in the Fens with Jelani Bauman
July 25, 5 pm, at Kendall Square's Cambridge Center Plaza: Fabio Rojas
July 26, 12 pm, at Greenway Boston: Lauren Desberg
July 29, 6 pm, at the Regattabar: Daniel Rotem
July 30, 7:30 pm, at David Friend Recital Hall: Aubrey Johnson Sextet
August 1, 12 pm, at Atlantic Wharf:The Jackson Fitzgerald Group
August 4, 5 pm, at Marcella Park: Diane Richardson at Jazz at the Fort
August 8, 12 pm, at Atlantic Wharf: Yakir Arbib

Boston Summer Arts Weekend. On the weekend of July 26-28, The Boston Globe, WGBH, and Citizens Bank are once again coming together to host Boston Summer Arts Weekend in Copley Square. Two visiting jazz acts will be performing.
July 26: Dr. John and Preservation Hall Jazz Band
July 27: Angelique Kidjo and Red Baraat

The Makanda Project. Dedicated to performing the music of Roxbury native Makanda Ken McIntyre, the 13-member ensemble led by John Kordalewski continues its summer ritual of free concerts on Saturday afternoons in Roxbury Heritage Park, 183 Roxbury Street. For more information, call (617) 652-7564. Also see The Makanda Project's website.
August 10, 1 - 4 pm: Concert with live painting sponsored by MassArt's sparc! the ArtMobile.
September 13: Roxbury Founders Day Celebration concert, presented by Roxbury Action Program.

• Local Spotlight is the new feature written by JazzBoston's Newsletter Editor Claire Dickson. Check here every month for news and information on local jazz happenings.

Amid the hustle and bustle of summer festivals and outdoor concerts, musicians are bound to feel inspired to pull out their instruments and jam. Since 1947, Wally's Cafe has been the primary place for Boston jazzers to play together and this summer will be no different.

Every Saturday and Sunday Wally's hosts a traditional sit-in jam session from 6 - 8 pm. Unlike the other nights at Wally's (which are 21+), all ages are welcome to jam. College students, high school students, even kids as young as 12 come to jam. As history has shown, some of these jammers will go on to be big names in jazz. Founder Joseph L. Walcott (otherwise known as Wally) and current owners Elynor Walcott and sons Paul, Frank, and Lloyd Poindexter (who were named 2011 "Jazz Heroes" as a family) have dedicated themselves to creating a stomping ground for aspiring musicians. Charlie Parker, Art Blakey, and Roy Hargrove are just a few of the legends who have played at Wally's over the years.

Drummer and recent Berklee graduate Willy Rodriguez is currently running the Wally's jams. He brings a high level group - a mix of students and professionals - and creates a laid back atmosphere for jammers. No signup sheet, no rules, jump in if you know the tune. This relaxed feeling fits the venue perfectly. Wally's is a small, dim, narrow room hidden behind a red door on Mass Ave. It's like a secret, magical world of jazz, one that you should definitely visit this summer.

When you go, here are a few tips:

• Be prepared to encounter the masses of teenagers studying at the Berklee summer programs.
• Be ready to play your standards not just in all 12 keys, but in all tempos. These youngsters like to speed things up.
• Vocalists: Bring a mic! Wally's doesn't have mics for vocalists to use, but they will have an amp to plug into.
• Don't be scared away if you don't play. Listeners are more than welcome!
• Have fun. You're playing at one of the most historically significant jazz sites in Boston with the next generation of jazz musicians!