Ranging from jazz icon Dave Brubeck to pop chart-topper Shawn Colvin, smooth jazz stalwart Norman Brown to soulful blues/jazz diva Patti Austin, the lineup for the 38th annual Robert Mondavi Summer Festival should appeal to a wide range of musical tastes.

The festival's bill of fare was announced at a luncheon today at the Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville.

Making their first wine country appearances this summer will be folk pop singer/songwriter Shawn Colvin, pop balladeers Air Supply and, as part of a smooth jazz ensemble, vocalist Patti Austin and pianist Alex Bugnon. Returning headliners include Preservation Hall Jazz Band, piano legend Dave Brubeck, and smooth jazz icons Norman Brown and Paul Taylor, guitarist and saxman, respectively.

Festival founder Margrit Biever Mondavi told media representatives and festival friends this year's lineup had been especially difficult to put together as concert schedules during warm weather months scatter in-demand artists across the global landscape.

Noting the winery "is so proud to support the community with our summer concert tradition," the winery's vice president of cultural affairs said that through the festival the winery has not only been able to donate more than $1 million to charity but also ensure "that great music in Napa Valley endures."

Primary beneficiary of the summer festival over the years has been the Napa Valley Symphony Orchestra. In recent years, music programs of the Napa Valley Unified School District have benefitted as well -- and will again in 2006. This year, proceeds from the opening holiday weekend performance by New Orleans' Preservation Hall Jazz Band will benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Big Easy openers

As usual, Preservation Hall Jazz Band -- renowned exponents of Big Easy jazz -- will open the concert series. Instead of the traditional Saturday night show, this year's opener is scheduled for July 2. According to Mondavi, this year's event will take on a festival air with activities and food treats offered prior to the evening performance. Traditional Independence Day fireworks will bring the festivities to a close.

And from Down Under Š

The series continues on July 8, with Air Supply, the pop duo celebrating three decades of musicmaking this year. Signed to Arista Records in 1980, Australia's Air Supply shot to the top of the charts with the group's first single, "Lost in Love." The second single, "All Out of Love," went up the charts even quicker. The trademark sound of Russell Hitchcock's soaring tenor voice and Graham Russell's simple yet majestic songs created a sound that still find favor with listeners around the world.

The series skips a couple of weekends, including one that will see the Mondavi operation host winemakers, chefs, entertainers, restaurateurs, journalists and the public at events celebrating 40 years of innovation at the Robert Mondavi Winery.

Colvin's Napa debut

On July 29, Shawn Colvin will make her Napa Valley debut. One of the leading lights of the so-called new folk movement launched in the late 1980s, Colvin is a young guitarist and singer who's emerged as a songcraftswoman with lots of pop smarts. Her first recording, "Steady On," released in 1989, won a Grammy Award as Best Contemporary Folk Recording. Her 1992 follow-up, the more pop-oriented "Fat City," earned a Grammy nomination for the single, "I Don't Know Why." Her biggest hit, "Sunny Came Home," won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1998.

Opening for Colvin will be Columbia recording artist Brandi Carlile, a 23-year-old melancholy balladeer with a country accent.

Summer Storm

The festival skips a week in early August and resumes on Aug. 12 with Norman Brown's Summer Storm, a smooth jazz ensemble featuring guitarist Brown, vocalist Patti Austin, saxman Paul Taylor and Switzerland-born jazz pianist Alex Bugnon.

Brown first appeared here with saxophonist Dave Koz, and returned in 2004 as part of a smooth jazz ensemble paying tribute to Grover Washington Jr. A Grammy Award-winning guitarist and composer, Brown is fronting an all-star lineup this summer that is touring the country. Composer of the well-received single, "That's the Way Love Goes," Brown received a Grammy for his "Just Chillin'" recording in 2002.

Patti Austin crosses all musical genres, has 16 solo albums to her credit, has performed her award-nominated hit songs on the Grammys and Oscars -- and as a performer, songwriter and vocalist has a star-studded career that began at the age of 4. The daughter of a jazz trombonist and goddaughter of musical legends Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington, Austin made her stage debut with Washington at the world-famous Apollo Theater in Harlem. Her debut album for Quincy Jones' Qwest label included the chart-topping hit "Baby Come to Me," a now classic duet with James Ingram. The pair reprised their success with the Oscar nominated "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?"

Two years ago, saxophonist Paul Taylor was riding high on the airwaves with the title track of his 2003 Top Ten contemporary jazz CD, "Steppin' Out." As part of the "Groovin' for Grover" tour, Taylor not only appeared at the Mondavi winery but at festivals all across the country. Since 1995, Taylor has recorded hit after hit, which has helped to improve the viability of smooth jazz as a major player in the world of music.

Contemporary jazz keyboard player Alex Bugnon, nephew of trumpeter Donald Byrd, grew up going to the Montreux Jazz Festival in his hometown in Switzerland. He attended the Paris Conservatory of Music before moving to the United States to enroll in the Berklee School of Music. He spent four years as a session musician, backing such urban and jazz performers as Patti Austin, James Ingram and Keith Sweat, before striking out on his own. His newest recordings have consistently reached the contemporary jazz charts.

Jazz legend wraps it up

Wrapping up the festival on Aug. 19 will be the Dave Brubeck Quartet, featuring Bobby Militello on flute and saxophone, Michael Moore on bass and Randy Jones on drums.

Still touring and recording at 85, jazz legend Dave Brubeck is equally distinguished as composer and pianist. Studies at the College of the Pacific and with composer Darius Milhaud at Mills College led to the founding, with fellow students, of the experimental Jazz Workshop Ensemble which recorded in 1949 as the Dave Brubeck Octet. In 1958, the combination of Brubeck with drummer Joe Morello, bassist Eugene Wright and alto saxophonist Paul Desmond quickly achieved overwhelming success as the Dave Brubeck Quartet. The Quartet's experimentation with time signatures unusual to jazz produced works like "Blue Rondo a la Turk" and "Take Five," introducing millions of enthusiastic young listeners to unexplored regions of jazz.

To get tickets

Ticket prices for the five events are as follows: Preservation Hall Jazz Band on July 2, $55; Air Supply, July 8, $60; Shawn Colvin, July 29, $60; Norman Brown's Summer Storm, Aug. 12, $60; and Dave Brubeck, Aug. 19, $65.

Once again this year, the winery will offer a limited number of reserved lawn seats for an additional $30 per ticket.

Also available are a very limited number of VIP seats that include a family-style dinner in the vineyards with Mondavi wines. A handling charge of $5 should be added to all mail orders.

Tickets for all concerts will go on sale on April 24, at 9 a.m. Online orders can be placed at www.robertmondaviwinery.com. Telephone orders can be placed at 1-888-769-5299.

Mail orders should be postmarked no earlier than April 21. They can be addressed to Robert Mondavi Summer Music Festival Office, P.O. Box 106, Oakville 94562.