barcelona jazz festival

Film festivals, theatre festivals, and the biggest football game in the world - October is packed with things to do in Catalonia

An intimate concert kicks off Barcelona’s month of jazz concerts, displaying some of the best local and international artists. The 44th ‘Festival Internacional de Jazz de Barcelona’ will run until the 30th of November. Pianist Omar Sosa and trumpeter Paolo Fresu opened the festival interpreting their 2011 disc ‘Alma’ (‘Soul’), together with 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. The 2012 Barcelona 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.

The ‘Voll-Damm Barcelona International Jazz Festival’ gave its gold medal to George Wein, a prominent jazz promoter from America. Wein received the award on the main stage of the Newport Festival in the United States in front of an audience of 7,000 people. Wein recognised the uniqueness of Barcelona’s jazz festival.