Jazz Plaza 2024, from Havana to Santiago (+ Billboard)

The island's biggest jazz event will reach its 39th edition next year, from January 21 to 28, 2024. The cities of Havana and Santiago de Cuba will host on their stages the virtuosity of national and foreign musicians that make each meeting of the Jazz Plaza International Festival unique.

On this occasion, a special fact marks the visuality of the event, as reported at a press conference last Friday: the main image was created by the founder of the festival himself, the maestro and 2012 National Music Award winner Bobby Carcassés.

In Havana, the inaugural concert, under the name of Beloved musicwill be given by Joaquín Betancourt, winner of the 2019 National Music Award, who will also celebrate his 50 years of artistic life and the 15th anniversary of the Joven Jazz Band. Meanwhile, the eastern venue will open its presentations with a unique concert by pianist Nachito Herrera with the Santiago de Cuba Symphony Orchestra and guest musicians from that region of the country.

The framework of the festival will offer, as usual, a space to pay tribute to outstanding figures of music. This time, with the Covarrubias Hall of the National Theater as the epicenter, new arrangements by Cuban and foreign jazz musicians will pay tribute to the work of Bola de Nieve, Miguelito Cuní and César Pupy Pedroso.

According to its organizers, American saxophonist Ted Nash and the Cubadentro project will return to Havana to present a play with the Cuban Malpaso Company at the Marti Theater. It was also announced the return of the usual theoretical and exchange spaces that take place in connection with the celebration of the Leonardo Acosta in Memorian International Colloquium, as well as the master classes, lectures and workshops of Primera Línea.

The 39th edition of the Jazz Plaza Festival will close with a special performance by pianist Roberto Fonseca, who will perform for the first time with the National Ballet of Cuba, under the direction of Viengsay Valdés. The show, in addition to closing the event, will pay tribute to the 75th anniversary of this institution that constitutes Cultural Heritage of the Nation.

Among the novelties foreseen for this great musical festival is the return of the Karl Marx Theater (currently under repair) as one of its stages, in addition to other traditional venues such as the Avellaneda and Covarrubias halls of the National Theater, the Tito Junco Hall of the Bertolt Brecht Cultural Center, and the Theater of the National Museum of Fine Arts. As usual, other cultural centers in the municipality will open their doors to host activities, such as the Pabellón Cuba, the Fábrica de Arte Cubano, the Jardines del Teatro Mella and the Casa de la Cultura de Plaza.

At the Santiago venue, concerts, exchanges and presentations will take place at the Heredia Theater, the Iris Jazz Club, the Jutía Conga Patio of Uneac, the Martí Theater, the Macubá Café Theater and the Dolores Hall and Plaza.

Check here for the Jazz Plaza 2024 Festival line-up.