On April 29, the Palace of Arts and Culture will host several activities around jazz. At 10 a.m., a masterclass will be held around the history of jazz. Artists will present the different styles and history of jazz to students in the region. At 2 p.m., artists will take students from Tangier on a jazz journey highlighting the elements of jazz and how they come together to produce astonishing music. At 9 p.m., a jam session is planned at Chellah Beach Club TBD. Moroccan and international jazzmen come together with the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance Fellows for a jam session.
On April 30, throughout the morning, musicians from Global Concert will host a series of Masterclasses in the theater located at the Palace of Arts and Culture.
Jazz and blues figures in concert on April 30 in Tangier
The overall concert is scheduled for Tuesday, April 30 at 6:30 p.m. It will be organized at the Palace of Arts and Culture, the city’s new architectural emblem, equipped with the latest technologies in sound and lighting, as well as a layout and decoration in accordance with international standards. Great figures of jazz and blues will ignite the city of the Strait under the musical direction of the American composer and arranger John Beasley. Among the names announced on the event website are the great Herbie Hancock, Claudia Acuña, Ambrose Akinmusire, Lakecia Benjamin, TK Blue, Richard Bona, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Billy Childs, Moreira Chonguiça, Shemekia Copeland, Mandisi Dyantyis, Kurt Elling, Antonio Faraò, Melody Gardot, James Genus, Terreon Gully…
Morocco is represented by the percussionist Rhani Krija who collaborates with the biggest names in music, Abdellah El Gourd, a world-renowned master of Gnaoua music. El Gourd has collaborated over the years with jazz artists, including Randy Weston And Archie Shepp, as well as with the German avant-garde rock group Dissidenten. El Gourd and Weston worked together for many years to develop, record and tour new ways of combining jazz with traditional African rhythms. He is also the founder of Dar Gnawaa cultural center in Tangier which celebrates Gnawa music and encourages cross-cultural collaborations.
The musicians of Dar Gnawa, considered musical healers, will also be part of the party. They perform at ceremonial events and have also toured the world representing Gnawa culture.
They have collaborated with artists such as Randy Weston, Archie Shepp, Johnny “Clyde” Copelan and Les Barbarins Fourchus. The group received a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album for their debut album, “The Splendid Master Gnawa Musicians of Morocco,” which reunited the former Gnawa masters, known as M’Alems.
THE concert will also be broadcast live on YouTube, Facebook, as well as on the online platforms of United Nations and theUNESCOthus offering the possibility to millions of people around the world to follow it live.
International Jazz Day: Tangier, first city in Africa designated world host city
Gnaoua-jazz, which combines jazz and traditional Moroccan music, is appreciated throughout Morocco and well beyond. In the 1970s, Randy Weston created the African Jazz Festivalwhich inspired numerous festivals in Morocco, such as Tanjazz and the Jazzablanca.
Created by the General Conference of UNESCO in 2011 and recognized by the General Assembly of the United Nations, International Jazz Day brings together countries and communities from around the world every year on April 30. It highlights the power of jazz and its role in promoting peace, dialogue between cultures, diversity and respect for human dignity.
