Zakk Wylde, Lee Ritenour, JJ Grey & Mofro, And Rock Candy Funk Party (Featuring Tal Bergman, Joe Bonamassa, Ron DeJesus, And Mike Merritt0 To Celebrate Les Paul's 98th Birthday At The Iridium June 3-12

Zakk Wylde, Lee Ritenour, JJ Grey & Mofro, and Rock Candy Funk Party (RCFP)--featuring Tal Bergman, Joe Bonamassa, Ron DeJesus, and Mike Merritt--will take The Iridium stage to celebrate Les Paul's 98th birthday with more than a week of shows June 3-12. A portion of all ticket sales will go to benefit the Les Paul Foundation. Tickets are on sale now via http://www.theiridium.com, with additional guests to be announced soon.

June 3: Lee Ritenour, who's recorded and performed with everyone from Pink Floyd and B.B. King to Dizzy Gillespie and Ray Charles, is recognized as one of the most diverse guitarists in music. The Grammy-winner spent 33 weeks atop the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart with his band Fourplay, and his regular Tuesday night appearances at the famed Baked Potato regularly drew stars like Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan in the audience.

June 6: Over the course of six albums and a decade of touring, JJ Grey & Mofro's grimy blend of front porch soul and down-home storytelling has earned the band praise from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal and performances at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits Festival, and more. Grey has shared stages with the likes of Lenny Kravitz, B.B. King, The Allman Brothers Band, The Black Crowes, Los Lobos, Jeff Beck, Ben Harper, Booker T. Jones, and Mavis Staples among others.

June 7-9: Rock Candy Funk Party (RCFP)--which features a powerhouse lineup of world-renowned players including Tal Bergman (drums), Joe Bonamassa (guitar), Ron DeJesus (guitar), Mike Merritt (bass) and Renato Neto (keys)--released their debut album, 'We Want Groove,' earlier this year on J&R Adventures, the independent label founded by Bonamassa and his longtime manager, Roy Weisman. The album features nine tracks--eight originals and one cover--full of space and texture, mashing up funk, jazz, and rock with virtuoso musicianship.

June 10-12: Best known for his work with Black Label Society and as lead guitarist with Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Wylde has become one of the world's most recognizable guitarists with his custom bullseye painted Gibson Les Paul. He'll sit in as a guest with the Les Paul Trio June 10 and perform special acoustic shows June 11-12, featuring a Q&A session and reading from his new book, 'Bringing Metal to the Children: The Complete Berzerker's Guide to World Tour Domination.'

Best known as the The Home of Les Paul, The Iridium has been dubbed a "guitar shrine" by the NY Times and "the city's--if not the country's--new home of the guitar" by Guitar World, and has recently hosted everyone from Jeff Beck and Joe Walsh to Robert Randolph and Mick Taylor for performances and live recordings. The club celebrates its patron saint Les Paul, who performed there weekly for more than a decade until his passing in 2009, every Monday night by inviting special guest guitarists to sit in with his Trio. 

There is a $15 food/drink minimum per person for each set, and dinner will be served nightly. Stay tuned for additional show announcements for Les Paul's Birthday week.

The Iridium on the Web:
http://www.theiridium.com
http://www.facebook.com/theiridium
http://twitter.com/iridiumjazzclub

Watch Live Online at:
http://www.iridiumlive.com

The Les Paul Foundation:
http://www.lespaulfoundation.org/
 
For more information about The Iridium, please contact Carrie Tolles (ctolles@shorefire.com), Anthony D'Amato (adamato@shorefire.com), or Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media: (718) 522-7171.