Lineup Announced for 2018 Jazz Plaza Festival in Cuba: Joe Lovano, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Chucho Valdes and Ted Nash: Video

Among the artists performing at the 33rd edition of the Cuban festival are Joe Lovano, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Chucho Valdes and Ted Nash.

The Festival Internacional Jazz Plaza Cuba, known informally as Jazz Plaza, has announced the All-Star performers for the 2018 festival, which will take place on January 16-18 in Havana and locales in Cuba.

The Jazz Plaza festival, now it its 33rd year, recently moved from its usual time in mid-December to a month later in mid-January. The 2018 edition will feature Dee Dee Bridgewater with Theo Croker and DVRKFUNK, Joe Lovano with Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Cuba, Roberto Fonseca & X Alfonso, Chucho Valdés with “Friends & Family” and the Ted Nash Trio with Steve Cardenas & Ben Allison in performances at the Teatro Nacional in Havana. There will also be performances by countless other artists from Cuba and the rest of the world including: Bobby Carcassés, Orquesta Aragón, Pancho Amat, Septeto Santiaguero, Ernan Lopez Nussa, Daymé Arocena, and others.

Jazz Plaza is organized Cuba’s Ministry of Culture, Instituto de la Musica Cubana and produced by the National Centre for Popular Music represented by director Víctor Rodríguez García. The international headliners were booked in collaboration with Montuno Productions’ Daniel Florestano and International Music Network’s Scott Southard.

Blue Note Entertainment, the company that owns or licenses the famous Blue Note clubs in New York City, Honolulu, Tokyo, Beijing and other cities, is a sponsor of the festival, and has organized a travel program for U.S. residents to attend the festival. In addition, Insight Cuba, with whom JazzTimes formerly partnered for jazz trips to Cuba, also offers a special excursion for U.S. citizens to the festival as part of their Cuba Tours program. The legal travel for U.S. residents is based on a special license granted by the U.S. government to promote cultural exchange and person-to-person contact with the people of Cuba.