UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock and Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of UNESCO, have announced the program for International Jazz Day 2018, whose Global Host City is Saint Petersburg, Russia. More than 190 nations will host IJD events on April 30.
In addition to admission-free outreach and jazz-education events held throughout the city on April 29 and 30, Saint Petersburg will host IJD’s main event, the All-Star Global Concert, which will stream live from the city’s Mariinsky Theatre on April 30.
The Saint Petersburg concert’s co-artistic directors are Hancock and the acclaimed Russian saxophonist Igor Butman, with keyboardist and bandleader John Beasley returning as musical director. Artists performing in the concert and taking part in the daytime events in Russia include Cyrille Aimée (France), Oleg Akkuratov (Russia), Till Brönner (Germany), Oleg Butman (Russia), Fatoumata Diawara (Mali), Joey DeFrancesco (U.S.), Vadim Eilenkrig (Russia), Kurt Elling (U.S.), Antonio Faraò (Italy), James Genus (U.S.), Robert Glasper (U.S.), David Goloschyokin (Russia), Hassan Hakmoun (Morocco), Gilad Hekselman (Israel), Horacio Hernandez (Cuba), Taku Hirano (Japan), Anatoly Kroll (Russia), Gaoyang Li (China), Rudresh Mahanthappa (U.S.), the Manhattan Transfer (U.S.), Branford Marsalis (U.S.), James Morrison (Australia), Moscow Jazz Orchestra (Russia), Makoto Ozone (Japan), Danilo Pérez (Panama), Dianne Reeves (U.S.), Lee Ritenour (U.S.), Luciana Souza (Brazil) and Ben Williams (U.S.).
UNESCO and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz established IJD in 2011. Past host cities include Havana, Cuba; Washington, D.C.; Paris, France; Osaka, Japan; Istanbul, Turkey; and a dual celebration in New York City and New Orleans.
Leading up to International Jazz Day, a special concert will take place on April 22 in New Orleans’ Congo Square, to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Crescent City. The concert will introduce a series of education-related activities happening throughout New Orleans, and it will stream on April 30, prior to the live-stream of the All-Star Global Concert in Saint Petersburg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw9MLH08iy0&t=1476s
An all-star lineup celebrates International Jazz Day in Havana in April 2017 (photo by Steve Mundinger/Monk Institute)
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