For International Jazz Day today, April 30, top Cuban musician Roberto Fonseca is set to lead an online concert and creative exchange. This is also part of the Transcultura program, the UNESCO project aimed at deepening integration between Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through culture and creativity. Fonseca will present his Havana Jazz Plaza house band -known as Los Bandidos All Stars -, joined by guests from nine of the 17 Caribbean countries which are part of the Transcultura Program.
“I am honoured and happy to be part of this party with a very special concert, and with a deluxe cast”, Fonseca commented on his social networks, generating a high expectation among jazz lovers internationally.
This initiative will feature the virtual participation of Jamaican musicians Oshane Love and Orville Everet Hammond, Andre Woodvine, from Barbados; Barbara Cadet, from Santa Lucia; Michele Henderson, from Dominica; Reginal Policard, from Haiti, and James Sanker from Belize.
Also joining will be Casandra Núñez, from the Dominican Republic, and Gairy Knight, from San Cristóbal y Nieves; all with established careers in the world of jazz.
From Cuba there will be other famous artists, such as the 2012 National Music Award Bobby Carcassés, the saxophonist César López, José Luis Cortés “El Tosco”, Orlando Valle “Maraca”, Pablo Menéndez and Germán Velazco.
The core of Fonseca’s house band, is made up of Cuban musicians Michel Herrera, Roberto García, Javier Salva, Ruly Herrera, Yandy Martínez, Adel González, Jorge Coayo and Emir Santa Cruz, each with a solid presence in the world of jazz, with their own projects in many cases.
The celebration of the 10th anniversary of the International Jazz Day will also include performances by Brenda Navarrete, Rodrigo García, César “Pupi” Pedroso and Carlos Calunga.
On stage, Roberto Fonseca, artistic director of the concert, will see the Jazz Plaza Band at its largest, that will undoubtedly help to promote and integrate promotion the work of Caribbean artists.
At the same time, according to UNESCO sources, it will create a resource for use in the teaching-learning processes in music schools in the region.
Along with the concert, short videos where artists share their views on jazz as a universal language are being promoted.
The concert will be broadcast on the Facebook pages of the Havana Jazz Plaza Festival, the Ministry of Culture of Cuba, and Streaming Cuba, from 6:00 p.m. Cuba time. [11pm UK time].
Proclaimed by the international community during the UNESCO General Conference in 2011, at the initiative of UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock, and recognized by the United Nations General Assembly, International Jazz Day brings countries and communities together around the world every April 30.
One of the main objectives is to celebrate jazz, highlighting its important role in fostering dialogue, fighting discrimination and promoting human dignity.
Link to original report in Spanish by ACN
Watch this trailer for the concert
The concert was also streamed on facebook here
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