Les Paul Foundation Launches Interactive Website and Community Outreach Programs

Guitar legend Jeff Beck will mark Les Paul's 95th birthday by performing at The Iridium Jazz Club in New York City on June 8th and 9th.

The late, great Les Paul; guitar hero to millions Courtesy: preachjacobs.files.wordpress.com

(NEW YORK) - Today would have been Les Paul's 95th birthday. To mark the occasion of the late guitar great, the Les Paul Foundation debuts a new, interactive website lespaulfoundation.org and announces the nonprofit organization's newly formed community programs. "Les was such a people person that this intersection of community outreach and interactive website is very much his persona," says Les Paul Foundation trustee Jeff Salmon. The website actually features three sites in one. The Les Paul Foundation section provides details of foundation programs, news and events. In the Les Paul Community section, fans can join together in an interactive forum, view videos and upload photos. The Les Paul Legacy area features a detailed timeline with interactive recording studio illustrations featuring the seven major aspects of Paul's life and achievements. In the spirit of the lifelong contributions of Les Paul, the foundation will provide grants to institutions to conduct medical research including research related to hearing impairment. Additionally, the foundation is in the process of creating scholarships and grants for studies in electronic, mechanical and aural areas of music to stimulate the advancement of technical aspects and pleasures of music. Another focus of the foundation will be to catalogue the instruments, inventions and other Les Paul memorabilia to create exhibits displaying the accomplishments of Paul's life and his achievements in the advancements of sound. Exhibits are currently on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio and Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Guitar legend Jeff Beck will mark Les Paul's 95th birthday by performing at The Iridium Jazz Club in New York City on June 8th and 9th. Les Paul played at The Iridium for over 12 years right up until his death and Beck will honor and pay tribute to his mentor and long time friend by featuring a mix of Les Paul classics. The Les Paul Foundation was initially formed by Les Paul himself in 1995. Today, the organization aims to honor and remember the life, spirit and legacy of Les Paul by supporting music education, engineering & innovation and medical research. For more information about the foundation, call 212.687.2929 or visit: lespaulfoundation.org .