International Jazz Day will have a stop in Barcelona this year with a day of free concerts on Passeig de Gràcia. The celebration, which will take place on April 30, settles the pending account that the city had with the genre, "a capital of European jazz" in the words of the councilor of Turisme, Xavier Marcé, who has expressed his desire to consolidate the event in the city's festive calendar.
Passeig de Gràcia on the corner with Calle Casp is the place chosen for the installation of the stage, facing the square, which from one in the afternoon will host the cast of artists and their music for almost ten hours. The performances combine international figures with local artists, and will start at 1:00 p.m. with the Sant Andreu Jazz Band to continue with Joan Mar Sauqué (2:30 p.m.), Las de Barcelona (4:00 p.m.), the duo formed by Michael League and Bill Laurance (5:30 p.m.), the couple formed by Hamilton from the Netherlands and Nduduzo Makhathini (7:15 p.m.) and, to close the day, the Balkan Paradise Orchestra (9:00 p.m.).
During the presentation ceremony held this Wednesday, the great jazz tradition of Barcelona was highlighted, which contrasts with the fact that the International Day of this genre had never been celebrated to date, a commemoration recognized by Unesco in 2011, which highlights the value of jazz "as a motor for peace, dialogue and mutual understanding".
“Barcelona has been the gateway for jazz in Spain” recalled Tito Ramoneda, director of the Barcelona Jazz Festival, which this year celebrates its 54th edition. The director of the contest wanted to recall, however, that the first Barcelona international jazz festival took place a few years earlier, in 1966, with the presence of Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck and a young Tete Montoliu. The Jazz festival is one of the organizers of the concert together with the Town Hall and the Passeig de Gràcia Traders Association, a street that this year celebrates its 200th anniversary.
This event is what has led to locating the event in the central avenue, taking advantage of the tax exemption that the events associated with the bicentennial will enjoy for three years, which invites us to think that the next editions of this International Jazz Day will return to be held in the same place. In any case, the intention is to give continuity to the event, "it has to stay forever" stated Xavier Marcé, with the idea of making it a massive, popular and free party.
Looking to the future, Ramoneda highlighted the desire for this celebration not to form part of the Barcelona jazz festival, but "to be able to incorporate the entire jazz music fabric of the city, to be the beginning of this celebration that Barcelona has deserved for years ”, a reflection shared by Marcé, who has expressed his wish that the activities transcend the central celebration in the future to expand to halls, venues and schools “make it our day of music”.
