The three most important jazz festivals in Euskadi will arrive soon.

As every year international and local  jazz celebrities will be showing their names on the current edition. The diferent jazz festivals of  Euskadi have adapted theirselves to the state of economic crisis reducing the days of the festival or removing some of the sections. In spite of it they have managed “to support or even to improve” the quality of previous editions, according to the organizers.

Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival

Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival , from july 12 till 18, has decided to take the inaugural act to the Mendizorroza’s Polysport instead of to Armentia, because the staging there is very expensive.

Likewise, the habitual seminar has been replaced with a few magisterial classes of three days at the expense of the best guitarist of jazz of the moment, Pat Metheny, who on Wednesday the 15th of July will act together with Charli Hden and diverse Spanish musicians, among them Kepa Junkera.

The persons in charge of the festival have met in addition bound to realize a last-minute change in the programming of Friday, the 17th of July immediately after singer Randy Crawford and the pianist Joe Sample had been hospitalized. This way, the concert that was foreseen on the occasion of 50 Billie Holiday’s anniversary will be carried out by Madeleine Peyroux’s unmistakable voice as well as the singer of jazz Didi Bridgewater, which precisely is recording a disc dedicated entirely to Billie Holiday. ” In this concert it will be the first time that Didi will sing the reportorio entirely in a festival. It is a world premier and her concert also will be exclusive in Europe “, has Anúa made clear.

This year, the festival recovers the gospel with the guitarist John Scofield and his band of New Orleans and with the most important group of Gospel of the world, The Blind Boys of Alabama. The public will have opportunity as well to listen in the same stage the electrical bass of Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten, and to enjoy Wynton Marsalis’s performances at the head of the Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra with Chano Domínguez and Paco de Lucía, playing the ” Vitoria Suite “, composed in honoring to Vitoria. There will be able to listen to Jymmy Cobb, the last alive component of the disc of Jazz more sold of the history, Kind of Blue, among other artists.

44 Heineken Jazzaldia

For their part, the persons in charge of 44 Heineken Jazzaldia have reduced in one day the festival for what it will develop from July 22 to July 26. The schedule of this edition relies on four mythical names of the jazz: the legends of the keyboard Hank Jones, Abdullah Ibrahim and Randy Weston, and the drummer Roy Haynes, who already acted in the of Guipuzcoa capital in 1983.

This year the Plaza of the Trinidad recovers after one year missed because of the works to renovate it. On this stage Randy Weston, Joe Lovano, Roy Hayenes, Hope Spaldin, Periwig Sambeat, Pitingo, Mélissa Laveaux and Jamie Cullum will act in this edition.

The Jazzaldia will receive in addition in the Kursaal Brad Mehldau’s acoustic concert, Carla Bley with her Big Band, Joe Lovato, the trumpet player Dave Douglas and the concert of Animal Collective. Also there will be raised the Brazilian excellent musician, Joao Golberto, and the historical James Taylor. In the free concerts of the beach of the Zurriola the public will be able to enjoy Vetusta Morla, Russian red, Eva Cortés  and the kings of the new soul, Black Joe Lewis and The Honeydreamers.

Getxo’s Internacional Festival

The Basque jazz circuit is completed by the  XXXIII Getxo’s International Festival, which will take place from July 1 to July 5. This year the festival will bring together artists and groups of great stature as Paquito DïRivera, Spyro Gyra, Michael Camimo, Imar Sossa and the vocalist Diane Schuur. They will not also be absent the contest of groups and the section The Third Millenium, the night jam sessions and the marching band that will cross the different streets of the Biscayan locality. The person in charge, Iñaki Saitua, has admitted that to being the smallest festival of the three they have noticed less the crisis and have not had to remove or to short the schedule.

Three festivals are fitted inside the campaign Jazzeuskadi, directed in turn to promote the tourist and cultural offer of the Basque Autonomic region. For it, there offer packages that include stays in hotels, as well as gastronomic offer and tickets to visit the Guggenheim Museum .