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Gerhard Feldmann’s Bösendorfer New York is partnering with the Jazz Foundation of America to donate the legendary "Blue Note" Bösendorfer to the JFA's inaugural auction benefit, which will be held November 16 at the B.B. King Blues Club and Grill in New York City. Auction proceeds will support JFA non-profit programs, especially working gigs and educational programs for victims of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

The Blue Note's Bösendorfer Half Concert Grand Model 225 has been hailed as making the Blue Note "the best-sounding room in the world." The list of pianists who have played the instrument is long, but includes Monty Alexander, Harold Arlen, Andy Bey, Dena DeRose, Hank Jones, Eric Reed, Arturo Sandoval, Diane Schuur, Horace Silver, and Kenny Werner. The Model 225's famous dynamic range results from its four additional sub-bass keys, which take the instrument's bass range to a low F, a feature exclusive to Bösendorfer.

The JFA was founded by Dr. Billy Taylor, Herbert Storfer, Phoebe Jacobs, and Ann Ruckert in 1989 to provide emergency assistance and long-term support to veteran jazz and blues musicians in financial, health, career, and personal crisis; it creates employment through cultural and educational programs that promote jazz awareness and appreciation. Led by its executive director, Wendy Oxenhorn, and E*TRADE financial president, Jarrett Lilien, JFA assisted nearly 500 emergency cases in 2004, preventing homelessness, eviction, and hunger for hundreds of elderly musicians. JFA also provided free medical and dental care, counseling, and legal services and created over 400 jobs last year.

In addition to live and silent auctions, the JFA benefit will feature a dinner and special performances by Hank Jones and others. In addition to the Model 225, JFA will auction off Remo Palmieri’s custom-designed guitar, Frank Foster’s gold-plated tenor sax, Miles Davis' boa constrictor leather jacket, Freddie Hubbard’s horn, and a stay at Palais Schaumburg in Salzburg, Austria, the home of benefit committee member H.S.H. Prince Max of Schaumburg-Lippe of Austria, a 14th-century palace which has never before been opened to the public.

Tickets to the auction benefit start at $350 and are available through the Jazz Foundation’s office. For more information or to be put on the invitation mailing list, contact: auction@jazzfoundation.org or call (212) 245-3999, x: 23.