Omar Sosa and Paolo Fresu kick off Barcelona’s International Jazz Festival

Barcelona (ACN).- The 44^th Barcelona International Jazz Festival started on Tuesday evening with an intimate concert by pianist Omar Sosa and trumpeter Paolo Fresu. Both artists have interpreted their disc from 2011 ‘Alma’ (‘Soul’) in the Luz de Gas club, with the collaboration of Galician pipe player Cristina Pato. The prestigious pianist Chano Dominguez was also supposed to go on stage, but he was obliged to cancel his participation for health reasons a few days ago. Aside from this official opening concert, the festival had already introduced itself to Barcelonans between Friday and Sunday, during the ‘Barcelona Jazz Weekend’. The 2012 international jazz festival presents a varied programme, with 56 concerts by 80 bands, including Chick Corea, Sony Rollins, Brad Mehldau, Michel Camilo ( with Tomatito), Mavis Staples, Esperanza Spalding and Maria de Medeiros. Furthermore, a large representation of Catalan jazz musicians will also be displayed, programming both leading established artists and new ones.

In order to open the 44^th ‘Festival Internacional de Jazz de Barcelona’, the organisers had chosen the joint project by Omar Sosa and Paolo Fresu. Pianist Chano Domínguez was also supposed to join them but his participation was cancelled a few days ago for health reasons. However, Sosa and Fresu were not left alone on the stage and Galician pipe player, Cristina Pato, joined them during the second part of the concert.

Both Sosa and Fresu had already played in last year’s festival. The positive welcome the audience gave them made the organisers decide to ask them to participate again and to kick off Barcelona’s full month of jazz concerts.  Furthermore, last March, Sosa – who is from Cuba but lives in the Catalan capital – and Paolo Fresu – from Sardinia – were named festival’s ‘honorary ambassadors’. The Galician pipe player Cristina Pato is the third ‘ambassador’ of this year’s festival.

56 concerts by 80 bands

This year’s festival will run until the 30^th of November. The 2012 Barcelona jazz festival will organise 56 concerts throughout the Catalan capital, played by 80 bands. Furthermore, the numbers of concerts and participants are even larger if the previous ‘Barcelona Jazz Weekend’ is also taken into account.

Besides international artists, the festival also displays Catalan jazz musicians, including Ànimes Càndides – which is the new project of members of the Elèctrica Dharma –, Carles Benavent, Giulia Valle Group, Sergi Sirvent, Joan Chamorro and Andrea Motis, La Locomotora Negra and an unexpected Albert Pla.

Regarding the international-level musicians, some of the festivals’s top names include: Chick Corea, Sony Rollins, Brad Mehldau, Michel Camilo (with Tomatito), Mavis Staples, Esperanza Spalding, Maria de Medeiros and, the figureheads of the opening concert, Omar Sosa and Paolo Fresu.

No VAT increase on the final price of the tickets

The organisers of the festival have decided not to include the VAT increase approved by the Spanish Government for cultural shows in the final price of the tickets that the attendees will pay. The VAT increase, in force since the 1^st of September, means that tickets for concerts or theatres will have a 21% VAT taxation, instead of the previous 8%. The organisers have decided to assume the price difference as they feared that many spectators could not attend the festival if the tickets were more expensive than in the past. However, in a previous interview with ACN, the festival’s Director, Tito Ramoneda, stated that “in the mid or long run”, they will not be able to keep this price policy in place and they will be obliged to increase the final price, if the current situation persists and they want to keep up the quality of the festival.