Acclaimed jazz/blues vocalist Grace Knight will headline the next ABC Radio jazz tour in association with CQU's Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music jazz orchestra and special guests vocalist Sharny Russell and trumpeter Don Rader.

The tour has been extended to include free concerts in Noosa (3pm, Sunday, June 29 at RSL Tewantin Centenary Park); Bundaberg (8pm, Monday, June 30 at Moncrieff Theatre); Gladstone (8pm, Tuesday, July 1 at CQU Gladstone); Rockhampton (8pm, Wednesday, July 2 at Pilbeam Theatre); Cairns (7pm, Friday, July 4 at The Ergon Energy Soundshell at Fogarty Park); Townsville's Magnetic Island (7pm, Saturday, July 5 at Alma Bay Amphitheatre); Mackay (3pm, Sunday July 6 at city council precinct). Details are available from the local venue or council.

There will be an additonal gig - outside the scope of the ABC tour - on Hamilton Island from 8pm on Monday, July 7 (in the Phoenix Room).

This third annual ABC Radio/CQCM jazz tour follows successful tours headlined by Don Rader and Don Burrows in 2001 and 2002.

Grace Knight took the Eurogliders pop band to chart topping success throughout the 80s, then she became Australia's number one selling Jazz Diva in the 90s, and more recently she has written her own songs for the 'Zietgeist' album. Grace found her career spin into a new realm following the release of the 'Come in Spinner' soundtrack in 1990, for which she was chosen to sing 1940's torch songs. The result was outstanding, the album selling over 250,000 copies and a vast, enthusiastic new audience materialising. For more biographical details and photos visit: http://www.graceknight.com/press/ The CQCM jazz orchestra is a 20-piece group including leading jazz teachers and students from the Mackay region and led by CQCM jazz lecturer Derrin Kerr. Recent gigs have included the Darling Harbour jazz festival (with James Morrison and Don Burrows) and the Beef Australia Expo Opening Ceremony in Rockhampton.

According to Professor Jim Mienczakowski, Dean of CQCM: "I've never seen a group of staff and students love their work so much! And why not? They are simply so good at it! The jazz orchestra is not so much a CQCM touring outfit - but a Queensland institution in their own right. We are proud that they are in our faculty and are ambassadors for jazz, young musicianship and for excellence in Central Queensland." ENDS For tour details or to arrange an interview call CQCM via 4940 7800