The 2009 starts today in La Habana one of the most important events of the Cuban music: the International Competition of Young Jazz musicians, “Jojazz, dedicated this year to Jose Miguel Crego, known popularly as “El Greco". The Amadeo Roldan Theatre, Mella Theatre, the Casa de Cultura de Plaza, and the Club “La zorra y el cuervo" will be the venues of the event this year.

Activities will begin at 10:00 am in the Amadeo Roldan Theatre with a workshop titled “Jazz. Harmony and Improvisation," by Orlando Sanchez Soto, though the opening gala will be at night. Musicians awarded last year will join the Big Band of Joaqun Betancourt in a concert which is expected bursts of virtuosity.

This festival named with a privileged acronym linking Spanish words Joven (young) and Jazz end up saying “Joyas" (jewels)--arrives this year at its twelfth edition seriously consolidated as an event which brings together the most outstanding young musicians in the island. Jazz is necessarily a genre that implies virtuosity and delivery; high technical precision, combined with improvisation.

Young musicians animate the Festival along with prestigious and world famous Cuban jazz figures that participate, as Jury of the contest and as invited performers to galas and concerts. Furthermore, there is a tradition of dedicating each year the event to a important jazz musician.

The “Jojazz" is organized in two lines of competition: Performance and Composition, with their respective juries and awards. Until now is reported the participation of 29 contestants, two of them are presented in singing. This modality is so demanding--at the same time very attractive--that no one was participating in previous events since several years. This year appears the vibraphone as instrument, in addition to the traditional: trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, trombone, guitar, bass, piano, drums and flute. In composition are reported 19 competitors.

Another valuable area of “Jojazz" is the workshops with teaching character in which established artists pass on their knowledge and experience to younger musicians. It stands out in this line a “Trumpet Workshop" which will feature such distinguished instrumentalists as Bobby Carcasses, El Greco, Yassek Manzano, Roberto Garcia, among others. It will be held at the Theatre Amadeo Roldan on Friday 27th at 10:00 am. To the workshops are also invited two Norwegians: Pitsj and Listen, but unfortunately Skapada would not know the topic they will present in their workshop.

The “Jojazz" is an ideal opportunity to take the pulse of the younger generations of Cuban musicians, and visualise the future of this dynamic genre in the “Island of the Music." From our experience we can say that talent, rigor, discipline in practice the instrument abounds.