47th International Jazz Festival in Barcelona takes to the streets

Barcelona (CNA).- Between 20,000 and 25,000 people are expected to attend ‘Jazz and Food’, a public celebration held this Saturday, the 3^rd of October, at the Parc del Centre in Poble Nou. Part of the 47^th International Jazz Festival in Barcelona, there will be 12 hours of free music programmed for the event and a wide range of food trucks selling street food. This year, the Liceu Big Band, Frégory Privat, La Calor, The Excitements and Barcelona Gipsy Klezmer Orchestra are among the participants and over fifteen restaurants selected by culture magazine BCN Més will be set up in food trucks located throughout the area. The party in the park “was an idea we pursued for years and now it is a reality” stated president of organiser ‘The Project’, Tito Ramoneda. 

‘Jazz and Food’ is a “jewel” in the festival

The party in the park will begin with the orchestral sounds of the Liceu Conservatory’s Big Band, followed by twelve hours of uninterrupted music. This will include the electronic fusion of Latin American roots in ‘La Calor’ and performances by pianist Grégory Privat and percussionist, Sonny Troupe. The brass band Perdiu Grouse, swing music from l'Orquestra Ilegal de Barcelona, Barcelona Klezmer Gipsy Orchestra and a soul experience from The Excitements will also take place during the evening. Between performances, the Barcelona Street Band will liven up the party with a musical journey through the park.

A dozen food stalls will be set up in food trucks managed by restaurants selected by culture magazine BCN Més. International cuisine including Indian appetisers and Japanese sushi will be available as well as local Mediterranean foods. 

The president of the organiser ‘The Project’, Tito Ramoneda, said that the festival has always been willing to be open to locals, and recalled that on the 40^th anniversary of the festival they did a concert in the park which has now been extended to a full day of free concerts. “It was an idea we pursued for years and now it is a reality. We have found the formula”, said Ramoneda, who recalled that the park has a special symbolism for the festival and wants to continue celebrating the opening there. The adviser to the district of Sant Martí, Marc Andreu, agreed with Ramoneda and stated that ‘Jazz and Food’ in the ‘Parc del Centre’ in Poblenou is one of the “jewels in the things that will happen” during the jazz festival.

Four months of jazz

The Barcelona Jazz Festival started on the 26^th of September and will run until the 22^nd of December, offering more than forty concerts and hundreds of musical performances at various locations throughout the city. The festival's artistic director, Joan Anton Cararach, said that the programme this year is made up of “a great variety of music” that is being produced in Barcelona.

Besides the Forum Auditorium, the festival will also use the ‘Palau de la Música’, Sant Jordi Club, the Liceu Conservatory, Barcelona’s Casino, the Havana hotel and several other locations throughout the city as music venues. It will also extend outside of Barcelona with concerts in Sant Cugat and L'Hospitalet. Ticket prices range between €15 and €110.

The long-awaited Diana Krall opened the festival

Canadian jazz singer and pianist Diana Krall opened the festival last Saturday at the Forum Auditorium, a triangular shaped architectural landmark in Barcelona. The performance was long-awaited after the singer unexpectedly rejected an offer to inaugurate the jazz festival in 2014, only 48 hours after she was chosen, due to health reasons. She performed songs from, ‘Wallflower’, her sixteenth album which pays tribute to the artists who have influenced her career, including Bob Dylan, Elton John and Jim Croce. The five-time Grammy winner, whose first visit to the city was in 1996, did not fail to delight her audience once again.