Click thumbnail to enlarge JAZZ IN THE VALLEY began in 2000 when TRANSART received a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts to commission Ahmad Jamal to compose a piece in homage to the Hudson River Valley. The presentation of this piece, entitled "Picture Perfect," was the beginning of an end-of-summer event for jazz lovers seeking a change of scenery and experience and an introduction to the music for local residents to experience this music.  The concert has since grown into an annual concert series showcasing music performed by world-class musicians fittingly complemented by breathtaking views of the Hudson River as backdrop. BEHIND THE BEAT: Intro to Jazz is the educational component of the Jazz in the Valley Festival, introducing young people to jazz as art form and teaching tool. BEHIND THE BEAT consists of   in school Assembly Presentations, Master Classes and music instruction and a Traditional Drumming Workshop Series offered weekly in an After School program.  Programs take place in public school districts through the mid Hudson Valley in the cities of Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Newburgh and  in New York city  in Brooklyn, Queens,  the Bronx and Manhattan  and  anywhere there are numbers of culturally disadvantaged youth.   NEA Jazz Master Ahmad Jamal -2000 Louis Hayes       2008 Audience 2006 Les McCann       2009 Eddie Palmieri         2009 Marlena Shaw        2008 Stefon Harris       2002 Ron Carter Trio                          2009 Audience 2009  NEA Jazz Master Curtis Fuller -2006 Oscar Brown Jr.          2004 Mulgrew Miller        2009 Vincent Herring / Jeremy Pelt                     2008 Michelle Rosewoman 2006 Maurice Brown         2008            TK Blue                 2008       Roy Hargrove        2001 Javon Jackson        2009