First born in 1998 thanks to the enthusiasm of a group of music fans, the San Javier International Jazz Festival has evolved into one of the most important cultural events in the Murcia region, if not the whole of Spain, achieving national and international recognition, bringing together some of the most important and influential musicians from the jazz scene together to fuse their style with those of other musical genres such as blues, soul, bossa nova and funk.
The 25th edition of the festival, which takes place from June 30th to July 23rd, will bring together such greats as Dianne Reeves, Djavan, Niels Lan Doky, and The Waterboys, among others.
The director of the Festival David Martínez pointed out that the 25th edition, “commits to the present and the future, although it takes the opportunity to look back and remember the musicians who have already passed through here and have made it great.” Martínez also had words of recognition to the one who was its creator and director, Alberto Nieto, present at the event, whom he thanked, for continuing to collaborate with the festival.
Brazilian music legend Djvan will feature in the opening of the festival, with performances by the brilliant trombonist Steve Turre, and the very young new sensation in the world of jazz, Samara Joy.
Other established artists such as the vocalist Michele Hendricks together with the trumpeter and singer, Ronald Baker; The New Champs “In memory Joey DeFranceso”; the British soul-pop group, Mama’s Gun, and the project that unites the Italian jazz group, Musica Nuda and the Spanish pianist, Chano Domínguez.
Although there is far too much for us to feature in this article, a full schedule of events is available via the promotor locations, including the town hall, although a couple of last-minute confirmations didn’t make some of the official literature, the first, scheduled for July 8, is Antonio Serrano and Dianne Reeves quartet. The first, well known to the festival audience -he was with the Argentine Luis Salinas in the first edition-, is a highly sought after harmonica player; undisputed master of his instrument in the fields of jazz, blues, flamenco, tango and even classical music. Along with Olivier Ker Ourio and Grégoire Maret, he is one of the three greatest virtuosos of the chromatic harmonica in Europe. As for Reeves, there is little to say: five times Grammy winner, named ‘Jazz Master’ by the National Endowment for the Arts -the highest honour that the United States grants to artists of the genre- and the San Javier Jazz Award in 2015, a legend on a par with Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter and Shirley Horn. It will be the fourth time that she performs at Parque Almansa.
The Waterboys, more commonly known for their pop pieces than jazz, and The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra will appear at the end of the event in which the Whittington-Campillo duo will also be performing, in which the Paolo Fresu quintet will be reunited a long time later and in which Scott Hamilton will inaugurate the Nuevo Teatro del Almansa Park.
The director of the Festival, David Martínez, was accompanied by the Mayor, José Miguel Luengo and the general director of the Institute for Arts and Sciences, ICA, Manuel Cebrián, presenting the details of the program, which will be dedicated to the recently deceased musicians who left their mark on Festival Internacional de Jazz de San Javier, such as Joey DeFranceso, the pianist Ransey Lewis, who was awarded the Festival Award, and the saxophonist Wayne Shorter.
