For the price of a $20 wristband, jazz lovers will be admitted to a number of New Orleans’premiere music clubs. This year, we introduce the VIP Balcony Parties bringing the music to all levels of Frenchmen for a $50 wristband. VIP Balcony Parties feature a bird’s eye view of the festivities, live jazz in an intimate setting, Abita beer, and hors d’oeuvres from Schiro’s, The Marigny Brasserie and other neighborhood restaurants. Each venue and balcony will feature top jazz bands honoring the Louis Armstrong legacy for Satchmo Summerfest 2003. The New Birth Brass Band will strut along the Frenchmen Corridor and play in front of participating clubs from 7:00 to 10:00 pm. All music outlets on Strut are located between the 600 block of Frenchmen and the corner of Decatur and Esplanade in the lower French Quarter. Also featured on the Strut is the touring exhibit, “Satchmo, The Louisiana Years” at Café Brasil and projected Armstrong images on the street. Advance tickets can be purchased from Ticketweb at www.ticketweb.com or by calling (510) 704-4448. Must be 21 or older to enter certain venues.

The SATCHMO CLUB STRUT is a fundraiser with proceeds benefiting the New Orleans Jazz Centennial Celebration’s jazz education programs. NOJCC is a tax-exempt organization created in 1994 by the Louisiana Music Commission to develop its statewide school and community touring jazz education programs. One of the education programs developed by NOJCC, “The Second Line Creation Station” a crafts workshop and parade returns this year to the Satchmo Summerfest with Cherice Harrison Nelson.

For general information on the Satchmo Club Strut and the Jazz Centennial Celebration, please contact JASON PATTERSON or BRIDGET FENLASON (504) 835-5277. For a full Satchmo Summerfest schedule visit www.satchmosummerfest.com

Strut Shuttle: The Satchmo Club Strut Shuttle is free, courtesy of Gulf Coast Bank & Trust, and will deliver Strutters to Café Brasil where Strut tickets may be purchased at 6:30 pm. Shuttle will run every half hour and pick up from the following locations in a loop from 6:30 to 10:00 pm:

• The Sheraton, 500 Canal Street, beginning at 6:30 pm
•W, New Orleans, 333 Poydras 
•W, French Quarter, 316 Rue Chartres, 
• Tower Records, 408 N. Peters Street, then dropping off at Café Brasil