Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - The Salty Paw Jazz Orchestra, Puerto Vallarta's first and only youth-based jazz orchestra, will be performing at 7 pm on February 16 and 17 at the Faro Lighthouse on the Malecón, as a part of the International Jazz Festival Puerto Vallarta hosted by sister city Highland Park, Illinois.

The Salty Paw Jazz Orchestra was inspired by this Jazz festival, which consist of young high school age musicians playing in Big Band style groups, and is held every two years. Maestro Victor Kris, along with some students from a local music school, decided that Vallarta was ready for a high school style jazz ensemble just like the ones they saw in the festival and now, after two short years, the Salty Paw Jazz Orchestra has been invited to participate, representing Puerto Vallarta.

The Salty Paws will perform classics like "In the Mood," "Birdland" and a variety of jazz favorites, from Pop to Latin, and will feature professional trombonist/composer Francisco Torres. Francisco is originally from Sonora, Mexico and now lives in Los Angeles. He has produced several Poncho Sanchez albums earning him five Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations for Best Latin Jazz Album.

The Puerto Vallarta Jazz Festival also features free jazz concerts by award winning school groups from the United States, including: Take One vocal jazz from Chicago, under the direction of Dan Gregerman; OoLaLa vocal jazz, Kingston Winter reggae, and La Onda Caribena latin jazz, under the direction of the Caleb Chapman Soundhouse team from Utah. The groups will also perform for students at local schools.

Mary Jo Papich of Highland Park Sister Cities is the festival director and is returning to PV for the biennial event. The festival is being sponsored by the school groups and American Classic Tours/Festivals, the Sister Cities of Puerto Vallarta/Highland Park, the Mexico Tourism Board, Vallarta Tours, and the city of Puerto Vallarta.

The Salty Paw Jazz Orchestra is proud to participate in The International Jazz Festival Puerto Vallarta and hope all come to see young musicians from the US and Mexico come together to share their music.