Musicians from almost twenty countries are among the guests at the 38th edition of the International Jazz Plaza Festivalwhich will have theaters and cultural centers in Havana and Santiago de Cuba as stages between January 22 and 29.
Singers and instrumentalists from the United States, Germany, Brazil, Peru, Canada, Cameroon, France, Argentina, Mexico, Jamaica, South Africa, Spain, Norway, the United Kingdom and Italy will arrive at the jazz event, according to the program released this Thursday by the organizers and reviewed by the agency efe.
The Avellaneda and Covarrubias halls, of the National Theater of Cuba, will host a program of two recitals per day and, in parallel, there will be performances by jazz players in other spaces of the Cuban capital such as the Casa de la Cultura de Plaza, the central Pabellón Cuba and the Cuban Art Factory (FAC).
The event organized by the National Center for Popular Music, the Cuban Institute of Music and the Ministry of Culture, will feature presentations by pianists Bas van Lier (Netherlands), Júlio Resende (Portugal), Kiki Sánchez (Peru), Simón Denizart (France) and the Spanish Pilar Boyero.
American musicians include pianist Aaron Goldberg, saxophonists Ted Nash and Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, violinist Karen Briggs, the band The Funky Taters, and harpist Patrice Fisher.
In addition to the concerts, the program includes a colloquium dedicated to reflection and debate on issues related to national and international jazz events, as well as tributes to Cuban musicians Leonardo AcostaJosé Miguel Crego “El Greco”, Bobby Carcassés, Jorge Luis Pacheco and the late Pablo Milanés and José Luis Cortés.
The memory of Chano Pozo and Juan Formell, leader of the iconic dance music group, will also be honored The Van Van. One of the concerts will be dedicated to them on January 24 at Trillo Park, in the Havana neighborhood of Key West, with the participation of the Cuban percussionist living in the United States Pedrito Martínez and a group of guests.
Jazz Plaza Festival will have a concert in honor of Chano Pozo and Juan Formell
The Jazz Plaza festival has been held since 1980, and three years later it reached the international category to become one of the most relevant music events in Cuba.
Throughout its history it has had the presence of greats of the genre, such as the American Dizzy Gillespie, the French Michel Legrand and the Brazilian Tania María.
