Paris playing global host to International Jazz Day
Launched by famed jazz musician Herbie Hancock, International Jazz Day is to center its fourth annual event in Paris, with jazz-related events taking place across the globe on April 30.
Paris -- a city often considered the second birthplace of jazz after the US and claiming musicians Django Reinhardt, Josephine Baker, Jean-Luc Ponty and Stéphane Grappelli as part of its rich jazz heritage -- takes the reins from Osaka in serving as global host of the 2015 affairs.
Performances, workshops, master classes, jam sessions and panel discussions will take place all around the city throughout the day.
Paris will also host this year's All-Star Global Concert, starting at 7pm local time and streaming live on JazzDay.com. Annie Lennox, Al Jarreau, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Wayne Shorter, Marcus Miller and Hancock are among the many musicians set to perform.
Of course, the idea behind International Jazz Day is to celebrate jazz at both a local and a global level, and many will be exploring events in their own hometown. Those on the lookout will find events scheduled in more than 160 countries and in cities all around the world, from Sarajevo to Bangkok to Lima.
In Seoul, clubs will hold a marathon 7-hour jam session during which 43 musicians will play until dawn, and in New Orleans, a concert on the steps of the New Orleans Museum of Art will be followed by a second line parade from the museum to the gates of JazzFest.
Jazz Day was founded by Hancock in 2012 in his role as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and unanimously approved by the organization's member states. Of special note this year: 2015 marks Hancock's 75th birthday (April 12 to be exact) as well as the 100th anniversary of the birth of Billie Holiday -- two more reasons to celebrate.
A list of global events can be found at jazzday.com/events.
