A great jazz party on Passeig de Gràcia
Andrea Motis and Cucurucho Valdés, among others, will perform on May 4th as a prelude to the Barcelona Jazz Festival.
Barcelona"We also dress up in jazz in the spring," says Tito Ramoneda, president of The Project, the promoter behind the Barcelona Jazz Festival. The bulk of the program is concentrated in the fall, but for a few years now, the festival has also organized a major spring party to coincide with International Jazz Day. This year, the party will be on Sunday, May 4th, on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, from 12 to 10 p.m. "We want to highlight the richness of jazz, which goes beyond music, because it's also a lifestyle," says Ramoneda. The concerts, with free admission, will take place on the stretch from Gran Via to Plaça Catalunya, highlighting local talent. The Sant Andreu Reunion Band will perform, with guitarist Josep Travé leading the project and Lucia Fumero leading her trio. Additionally, Andrea Motis will debut the project with Jurandir da Silva. Also present will be the duo formed by Michael League and Bill Laurance, from the group Snarky Puppy, and Cuban pianist Cucurucho Valdés, grandson of Bebo Valdés. "He practically never met his grandfather, but he plays like Bebo," explains festival director Joan Anton Cararach.
As for the Jazz Festival itself, it will open on October 10 at the Palau de la Música with a tribute concert to Ella Fitzgerald featuring the Barcelona Jazz Orchestra and Tricia Boutté, representative of the musical nobility of New Orleans. Fifty-five percent of the festival's program has been confirmed so far, and it also includes performances by Tomatito, Lina & Marco Mezquida, Israel Fernández, and a special commission from Andrea Motis, who will give a concert featuring songs by Amy Winehouse. The artist portrait, traditionally focused on a soloist, will have a collective character this year because it will be dedicated to La Vella Dixieland.
