SF Jazz fest maintains a world view
While the San Francisco Jazz Festival continues to look far beyond the nation's borders, presenting a globe-spanning array of artists, it hasn't forgotten that charity begins at home.
Reflecting the increasingly international nature of jazz, the 23rd annual installment the West Coast's preeminent jazz festival features artists from Cuba, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Benin, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Kyrgyzstan and Congo, as well as the United States. But Wednesday's opening night event at Herbst Theatre is a fund-raiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina from New Orleans, the historic cradle of jazz.
The concert, featuring the great jazz chanteuse and songwriter Abbey Lincoln, was originally planned as an exclusive perk for members of San Francisco Jazz Organization (SFJAZZ), the nonprofit group that produces the festival and its sibling spring season concert series. In the wake of the Gulf Coast disaster, however, tickets to Lincoln's concert are now available to the public, and all net proceeds will be used for direct relief to displaced New Orleans musicians and their families through the New Orleans Musicians' Clinic.
Just as it was the Crescent City's melting pot that produced a new musical style with roots in Africa, Europe and the Caribbean, the San Francisco Jazz Festival has become a wide open port of call for artists hailing from distant lands. Some musicians, such as Belgian-born harmonica master Toots Thielemans and the remarkable teen-age pianist from Kyrgyzstan, Eldar Djangirov, are pure jazz players who immersed themselves in the American idiom.
Continue...
Reflecting the increasingly international nature of jazz, the 23rd annual installment the West Coast's preeminent jazz festival features artists from Cuba, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Benin, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Kyrgyzstan and Congo, as well as the United States. But Wednesday's opening night event at Herbst Theatre is a fund-raiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina from New Orleans, the historic cradle of jazz.
The concert, featuring the great jazz chanteuse and songwriter Abbey Lincoln, was originally planned as an exclusive perk for members of San Francisco Jazz Organization (SFJAZZ), the nonprofit group that produces the festival and its sibling spring season concert series. In the wake of the Gulf Coast disaster, however, tickets to Lincoln's concert are now available to the public, and all net proceeds will be used for direct relief to displaced New Orleans musicians and their families through the New Orleans Musicians' Clinic.
Just as it was the Crescent City's melting pot that produced a new musical style with roots in Africa, Europe and the Caribbean, the San Francisco Jazz Festival has become a wide open port of call for artists hailing from distant lands. Some musicians, such as Belgian-born harmonica master Toots Thielemans and the remarkable teen-age pianist from Kyrgyzstan, Eldar Djangirov, are pure jazz players who immersed themselves in the American idiom.
Continue...
For more information contact All About Jazz.
