Jackson Browne Benefit Concert for the Hurricane Relief in Santa Monica on Novmeber 29, 08
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Michael Jensen or Meghan Helsel at 626-585-9575 or [email protected]
JACKSON BROWNE & FRIENDS WILL PLAY NOVEMBER 29 BENEFIT CONCERT AT SANTA MONICA
Los Angeles, CA, October XX, 2008: Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne & Friends will perform a benefit concert on Saturday, November 29 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, CA to raise funds for ongoing hurricane and disaster relief efforts in Cuba, Haiti and the Texas Gulf Coast. Proceeds will support additional programs tailored to meet the urgent local needs of families and health facilities throughout all three areas through Operation USA. The event is scheduled for an 8PM start time. Other artists joining Browne in performance at the concert will be announced in the coming weeks.
Supporters and sponsors of the November 29 event – which is produced in association with the Southern California-based non-profit organization Guacamole Fund – include Darius Anderson and Platinum Advisors, Andy Spahn, CTS (Cuba Travel Services), the Center for Democracy in the Americas and The New America Foundation. Reserved seats go on sale to the public at 10AM on Saturday, November 1 and are available through www.jacksonbrowne.com – the $75 ticket price includes all services and facilities fees. A limited number of gold and silver circle tickets, which offer preferred seating, are available through www.guacfund.org.
Browne is spearheading the concert as a response to the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which hit Cuba, Haiti and the U.S. Gulf Coast twice within three weeks in late August and early September, 2008. Cuba was particularly affected, with nearly 440,000 homes damaged (including 68,000 totally destroyed) and almost two million people displaced into temporary shelters. All three areas are in dire need of material and financial aid to help restore safety and provide appropriate healthcare.
Operation USA, a Los Angeles-based humanitarian aid organization that helps people rebuild their lives after man-made or natural disasters, mounted major relief efforts in Cuba, Haiti and Texas immediately following the one-two punch of Gustav and Ike. First response initiatives have included: shipment of electric lights and generators to Texas communities to restore power; a grant to Haiti to purchase relief supplies, especially for water purification; plans for two million water purification tablets to be sent to Cuba; a scheduled sea shipment of medical supplies for Cuban hospitals. Operation USA has worked in Cuba under U.S. license for over 15 years, with a focus on children in medical need.
Since 1979, Operation USA has aided in 99 countries, delivering over $275 million for relief and development projects, with an emphasis on women and children. The organization accepts no government funding and is a co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize as part of “The International Campaign to Ban Landmines.” It has also been cited by Worth Magazine as one of the “100 Best Charities in America,” and was recently named the #1 Privately Funded Charity by watchdog group Charity Navigator.
The November 29 Jackson Browne & Friends benefit concert takes place following the completion of the initial U.S. leg and a Japanese leg of Browne’s world tour in support of his new album, Time The Conqueror (Browne and his longtime band will tour Australia and Europe in early 2009). Produced by Jackson Browne and Paul Dieter, the album was released September 23 on Inside Recordings, the independent label founded and run by Browne and his management team. It is his first set of new studio material since 2002’s The Naked Ride Home, and follows up two live releases recorded during recent solo acoustic tours in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia: the GRAMMY®-nominated Jackson Browne – Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1 (’05) and Vol. 2 (’08).