BET Jazz, MTV India, Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz and U.S. Department of State to Partner for First Annual India Jazz & Heritage Tour

BET Jazz, MTV India, Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz and U.S. Department of State to Partner for First Annual India Jazz & Heritage Tour Ravi Coltrane, Al Jarreau, George Duke and Earl Klugh Are Scheduled to Appear One-Week Event to Include Concerts, Workshops, HIV-AIDS Awareness Outreach Press Launch on December 14 at U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- BET Jazz, MTV India, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz and the U.S. Department of State announce plans for the 2005 India Jazz and Heritage Tour from January 12-20, 2005 in Mumbai (formally known as Bombay) and New Delhi, India. American jazz artists scheduled to appear include Ravi Coltrane, Al Jarreau, George Duke and Earl Klugh. "This week-long event is designed to encourage the interaction between Indian and American cultures," states BET Jazz Executive Vice President and General Manager Paxton Baker. "The tour and its various components will also give us the opportunity to increase HIV-AIDS awareness, which has become a major social issue in India." Tom Carter, President of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, remarked, "The Institute partnered with the U.S. Department of State in 1996 to present a very successful jazz education tour in India. We are most pleased to be returning to India for a second educational tour in collaboration with the Department of State and BET Jazz. This exchange will further the Institute's mission to preserve America's legacy of jazz by sharing it with the world, as well as by bringing young aspiring musicians together with the jazz legends who created this music." Added Alex Kuruvilla, Managing Director, MTV Networks India, "Music knows no boundaries. MTV India is proud to be associated with the historic performances by American Jazz giants and to be a part of bringing together people and countries, joining forces in the fight against HIV/AIDS." The 2005 India Jazz and Heritage Tour commences in Mumbai with a master class featuring Ravi Coltrane and participants from the Monk Institute and Indian students. The final Mumbai event will be a charity luncheon with proceeds donated to HIV-AIDS research followed by an evening concert at the Gateway of India, a national landmark situated along the downtown shoreline overlooking the Arabian Sea. Members of the tour will travel to New Delhi and perform master classes and give lectures in various schools. A musical birthday tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. featuring film footage of his visit there in the 1960s is also planned. The tour will include a trip to Agra and the Taj Mahal. BET Jazz and BET Event Productions will produce 10-12 programs for future airing on The Jazz Channel from this tour, including: * Feature on Ravi Coltrane, concerts and master classes and discussion/footage on his father -- legendary jazz great John Coltrane -- and his trip to India; * Feature on Martin Luther King's 1959 trip to India; * HIV-AIDS awareness program; and * An overview/Best of Tour special program. BET Jazz: The 24 Hour Jazz Channel, a subsidiary of BET and Viacom, Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:and)(NYSE:VIA.B), is the principle location for the fulfillment of all jazz interests. The network is the first and only 24-hour television programming service dedicated exclusively to jazz music and culture. BET Jazz features many of the finest names in jazz through in-studio performances, festivals, concert coverage, and celebrity interviews. Many of the shows feature original programming, as well as historic footage, unavailable on any other television network. BET Event Productions (BEP), a division of Viacom subsidiary Black Entertainment Television (BET), is in the business of producing "Best in Class" live events, events that are designed to facilitate the advertising and promotional needs of its clients. BEP offers a full range of services, including project development and management, event marketing, artistic direction and production. MTV India is a 24-hour music channel that caters to young Indians between the ages of 15 - 34. MTV India has over 35 sponsors, more than 270 brands and India specific shows hosted by Indian VJ's. MTV India's playlist consists of 70% Indian music (film & pop) and 30% international music. MTV India is one of MTV Networks' 43 music programming services, transmitted via PanAmSat 10, created exclusively for India. MTV India is received in over 23.5 million homes in India via cable. The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (http://www.monkinstitute.org/) is a non-profit education organization established in memory of Thelonious Monk, the legendary jazz pianist and composer. Monk believed the best way to learn jazz was from a master of the music. The Institute follows that same philosophy by bringing together the greatest living jazz musicians to teach and inspire young people. The Institute offers the most promising young musicians college level training by America's jazz masters and presents public school-based jazz education programs for people around the world. Helping to fill the tremendous void in arts education left by severe budget cuts in public school funding, the Institute's programs are provided free to the public and use jazz as the medium to encourage imaginative thinking, creativity, a positive self-image, and respect for one's own and others' cultural heritage. Source: BET (Black Entertainment Television) CONTACT: Don Lucoff of DL Media, +1-610-667-0501, dondlmedia@covad.net, for BET; or Michael Lewellen of BET, +1-202-608-2003, michael.lewellen@bet.net Web site: http://www.bet.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment