Jason Mraz and Percussionist Noel "Toca Rivera" to Perform

Jason Mraz to Perform One Intimate Performance at the Civic Theatre Alongside Percussionist Noel “Toca” Rivera

5th September 2011

Internationally revered recording artist, Jason Mraz, has announced plans for a special international tour, an extraordinary itinerary that will see the Grammy Award-winning tunesmith visiting North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand with one very special show at the Civic Theatre, Auckland on Tuesday 15th November. This will be the only show in New Zealand and is certain to be a unique opportunity to see the US troubadour in a stripped back, sensory mode. More than just a concert tour, Mraz’ worldwide journey will see him celebrating music’s lasting power to inspire change and help others through global citizenship.

The majority of the tour, and this very special New Zealand show, will find Mraz teaming up with his long-time friend percussionist Noel “Toca” Rivera, for a series of acoustic dates celebrating the tenth anniversary of their independently released classic, “LIVE AT JAVA JOE’S.” The schedule got underway with a performance at the Musicians United For Safe Energy (MUSE) benefit concert slated for August 7th at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. Proceeds from the event – which featured a star-studded line-up that included Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Morello, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Doobie Brothers, and many others – have gone to support Japan disaster relief efforts and organisations worldwide working to promote safe, alternative, non-nuclear energy.

From there, Jason and Toca have gone on to Kansas City, Missouri, where they performed at this year’s Farm Aid benefit concert, August 13th at Livestrong Sporting Park.

In September, Mraz and Rivera’s impromptu travels will begin in Morocco, and will take them throughout Europe, where they will immerse themselves in local culture, seeking unique performance spaces and treasured surf spots. Their European tour will kick off in Southwest France, where they will headline the inaugural Groundswell Festival, an eco-friendly surf and music festival being held in the Landes Region near Hossegor, the surf capital of Europe. Following the festival, the duo will make stops in Prague and Berlin.

November will see the duo performing special select shows at such iconic venues as New Zealand’s Civic Theatre, Australia’s Sydney Opera House and New York’s Carnegie Hall. While in Australia, Mraz and Rivera will take the opportunity to visit some of the world’s treasures there that they have never experienced, including Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock). The tour will conclude on November 28th and 29th with a pair of eagerly awaited, special, intimate shows at Spreckels Theatre in Mraz’s adopted hometown of San Diego.

Long known for his many philanthropic activities, Mraz recently established the “Jason Mraz Foundation,” formed in order to help sustain a number of charities for which he has been a dedicated and impassioned advocate. Among the organisations supported by the Jason Mraz Foundation are Free The Slaves (www.freetheslaves.net), dedicated to eradicating child slavery around the world; True Colors Fund (www.truecolorsfund.org), which promotes the advancement of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality; Surfrider Foundation (www.surfrider.org), dedicated to protecting our world’s oceans, beaches, and waves; the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) (www.nrdc.org), which works to protect wildlife and wild places and to ensure a healthy environment for all life on earth; youth organizations VH1 Save the Music (www.vh1savethemusic.com) and Free the Children (www.freethechildren.com); the School of the Performing Arts in Richmond County (SPARC) (www.sparconline.org); and the health/rehabilitation charities MusiCares (www.grammy.org/musicares) and Life Rolls On (www.liferollson.org). For additional information, please visit www.jasonmraz.com.

What’s more, Mraz is featured in the acclaimed new documentary film, The Big Fix, filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell’s damning expose of last year’s Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The film – for which Mraz also served as Associate Producer, as well as contributing a new song, “Collapsible Plans,” featured in the end credits – was an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival with a special screening, and will be shown later this year in New York and Los Angeles.

Hailed as one of the modern eras most gifted pop troubadours, Mraz has shared stages with percussionist Noel “Toca” Rivera for more than a decade. The two musicians first met back in 2000, when Mraz was just making his mark on the San Diego coffee house scene. Enthralled by the young songwriter’s free-flowing lyrical mastery, Rivera invited Mraz to join the eponymous trio he fronted alongside his brother Carlos. The group hit the road, travelling California’s highways and byways together in a beat-up Winnebago, inspiring Mraz’s classic song, “Dream Life of Rand McNally.” When Carlos decided to take time off, Jason and Toca continued to collaborate as a duo, earning acclaim and passionate audience responses wherever they performed. Mraz’s guitar and vocals match beautifully with Rivera’s intuitive djembe playing and the two maintain a long friendship and collaborative relationship, recording and touring together to this day.

“I dig the groove Toca lays down with his drum,” Mraz says, “and the delicate touch he finds on the harmonies. He's like every member of the Dave Matthews Band and Boyz II Men rolled up in one prize wind-up teddy bear designed to beat a drum.”

Mraz of course went on to become a worldwide superstar, a multi-talented singer/songwriter who made pop history with the sensational single, “I’m Yours.” The four time platinum track – featured on Jason’s double platinum album, “WE SING. WE DANCE. WE STEAL THINGS.” – was not only the #9 highest selling single in 2009, but was also #15 on the highest selling single ‘ARIA 2000-2009 End of Decade Charts.’

Do not miss the opportunity to see this very special event; an artist in a mode you’ve not seen him in for some time.

TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 12th SEPTEMBER, 9am

JASON MRAZ : TOUR DETAILS

Tuesday 15th November
Civic Theatre, Auckland
http://www.the-edge.co.nz/ | ph 0800 289 842

For more information go to:
www.jasonmraz.com
www.chuggentertainment.com

ENDS

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