For yet another year, Madrid will join in the celebrations for International Jazz Day, hosting an extensive programme of concerts devoted to this musical genre. From 28 April to 3 May, another edition of this concert series organised by Madrid en Vivo, the Madrid Association of Concert Halls, will be hosting 18 performances by artists such as Jack Broadbent, Javier Colina, Miguel Siso and Anita Dondorff, in nine concert halls across the city.
The concert series will present a programme ranging from the purest jazz to different fusions across nine jazz clubs, bringing together international stars and key figures from the national and international scene. This concert series is organised by Madrid en Vivo as an official programme of this project that is backed by UNESCO and the Herbie Hancock Institute. For yet another year, Radio Callao Madrid will be the official broadcaster for the concert series, supporting and raising awareness of all the performances with special programmes and content.
The concerts will take place in various Madrid en Vivo venues, such as Café Berlín Club Madrid, Café Central, Intruso Bar, Rincón del Arte Nuevo, Moe Club, El Sótano, Babylon Club Madrid and El Despertar, bringing together leading voices from the jazz music scene.
The concert series will offer a varied programme for all audiences, which will be based on jazz but the artists will move to other genres, such as flamenco, soul, R&B, blues or hip-hop. The programme will kick off on Tuesday 28 April with the performance of the saxophonist Justking Jones in the Babylon concert hall, who will mix the deep tradition of jazz with modern textures and a flowing groove. On the same day, the Intruso Bar will host Pleito, the project by the saxophonist from the Canary Islands, Alba Gil Aceytuno. On Wednesday 29 April, the Babylon Club will host a concert by the trio from New York, New Jazz Underground, famous for its virtuosity and will bring its sound seeped with the authentic rhythm from the Big Apple.
On 30 April, International Jazz Day, Javier Colina and Miguel Siso will be appearing with their Todo Concuerda project, a unique trans-Atlantic dialogue between the double bass player and the cuatro player from Venezuela. At Café El Despertar, Alein Steinbert and Álex Cobos will join together as a duo and Minino Bravo can be seen at the Moe Club with an electrifying fusion that seeks to take jazz to the dark side. Jazztaria will be on stage at the Rincón del Arte Nuevo to review great standards with a very personal voice and approach. Peor Para El Sol will host the Juan Sebastián Jazz Trio, a classical format led by the pianist himself, alongside Enriquito on the trumpet and Loque on the double bass.
On Friday 1 May, Babylon will host the performance by Jack Broadbent, the British master of the slide guitar. Café El Despertar will welcome the Cañete-Figueredo-Barroso Jazz Trio, with three heavyweights from the local scene. El Sótano will host the África Gallego Project and the Rincón del Arte Nuevo will present Hemispheres in conjunction with Estela Julia.
On 2 May, Café Central will present Flamenco Standards, a crossroads where the harmonic freedom of jazz goes hand in hand with the flamenco rhythm. At Café El Despertar, Anita Dondorff will pay tribute to the great divas of the genre in a trio format. Intruso Bar will opt for the hypnotic groove of the classical organ and percussion from around the world with the Organ Bongo Trio; and the Moe Club will welcome the Maom Quartet.
On the final day, Sunday 3 May, Café Berlín will present the Pere Bujosa Trio, in which the double bass player from Majorca will share his vision of contemporary jazz strongly influenced by Mediterranean light and polyrhythms.
30 April was declared International Jazz Day by the UNESCO General Conference in 2011, and has been held in hundreds of countries ever since, with events related to this genre. International Jazz Day aims to highlight the virtues of jazz music as an educational tool and driving force for peace, unity, dialogue and encouraging cooperation between people.
Madrid will be hosting this event after first doing so in 2018, with the aim of institutionalising this initiative and becoming the official venue for future editions. The programme is once again based on essential values and objectives that make the city unique, such as its close ties with New Orleans, the fusion of jazz and flamenco and highlighting the important role of women.
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