The Havana International Jazz Festival (Cuba Jazz
Festival) was born in 1978 when Bobby Carcasses, and other well known
Cuban Jazz musicians, presented the first Jazz concert at the Casa de la Cultura de Plaza
in downtown Havana. This is the origin of the title 'International Jazz
Festival Plaza' because it finds its birth in this open-air venue. The Casa de la Cultura de Plaza
hall, with its pleasant intimate outdoor terrace, is still one of the
places where concerts and jam sessions take place. Based on this
success, another Jazz festival was organized the following year,
featuring pianist Chucho Valdes. Renowned artists such as Dizzy
Gillespie, Max Roach, Charlie Haden, Roy Hargrove, Jack DeJohnette,
Danilo Perez became part of the Havana scene on a regular basis.
In 1996 Chucho Valdes became artistic director of the Havana
International Jazz Plaza Festival and president of the Organizing
Committee with Alexis Vazquez Aguilera as the vice president. The
festival has since expanded to include all the main concert halls in
downtown Havana, not to mention impromptu street jam sessions along the
Malecon.
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| Chucho Valdes |
Among the 2013 performing artists were Chucho
Valdes, Arthur O'Farrill, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Bobby Carcasses, Roberto
Fonseca, Harold Lopez-Nussa, Jorge Reyes, Yasek Manzano and the Cords
Quartet, Naat Berahman, Michel Herrera, Ernan Lopez-Nussa, Klimax,
Orlando Sanchez, Bellita y Jazztumbata, Emilio Morales, William Roblejo,
Alfred Thompson, Habana d' Primera, Mezcla, Jesus Fuentes y Santo Tomas
Conection, Oscar Valdes y Diakara, Ruy Lopez-Nussa, Cesar Lopez y
Habana Ensemble, Rolando Luna, Javier Salva, Aire de Concierto, Emir
Santa Cruz, Jorge Luis Pacheco, Sexto Sentido, Alejandro Falcon y
Cubadentro, Ernesto Camilo Vega, Ta Bueno Jazz, Gala Mayor, Habana Sax
and other Cuban Jazz musicians including Alexis Bosch y Proyecto de Jazz
Cubano, Frank Fernandez and the Jazz Band conducted by Maestro Joaquin
Betancourt, the National Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Maestro
Enrique Perez Mesa, the Entrevoces Choir conducted by Digna Guerra and
the Troy University Jazz Ensemble from the USA. The 2014 artist line-up
will be announced very soon.
Travel form Jamaica to The 30th Annual Havana Jazz Festival can be arranged through Caribbean and Latin Travel Consultants Limited - ventasjamaica@caribbeanlatintravel.com
