We have now reached the end of this fifty-first edition of Umbria Jazz: final rush with Somi, Fatoumata Diawara, Chucho Valdés, Roberto Fonseca, Veronica Swift, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Djavan and the Pacific Mambo Orchestra.
Last days of music and events for the 2024 edition of Umbria Jazz, a true institution of Perugia and of Umbria as a whole which this year too gave the public ten days of concerts and emotions, accentuating the cosmopolitan connotations of the Perugian capital and striking , once again, the hearts of all jazz fans and beyond.
Perugia transformes
If the event – which now has half a century of history – owes its birth to those exchanges between enthusiasts of the genre – the creator and current artistic director Carlo Pagnotta first and foremost – today it is undoubtedly one of the largest and most awaited festivals, a recognized musical event and opera of absolute international importance according to regional law 21 of 19 December 2008 which protects it like other national events (above all the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto and the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro).
It’s true, a lot of time has passed since the first experience of that Hot Club Perugia which managed to bring Louis Armstrong to the Morlacchi Theater (1955) and Chet Baker to the Sala dei Notari (1956). Already in the first edition of the event, dated 1973, an international dimension was introduced into the idea of a festival dedicated only to lovers of the genre, which had the aspiration to give, to a small and quiet region like Umbria, a broader possibility of tourism and territorial promotion, to use terms that are very popular today. A dimension in which the apparent anachronisms – the historic center where everything screams “Middle Ages!” flooded with black, vibrant music and with that typical melancholic note which, in the collective imagination, seems cloaked in the glow of jazz clubs, with sequins and the torpor of all those alienating experiences that only happen late at night in the heart of a big city – they have long since reconciled to transform a city and, why not, to allow the evolution of the festival itself, expanding and enriching its primary essence.
The three souls (plus one) of the Festival
And this is how the current defined formula of “three festivals in one” continues to enjoy great success, also enriching itself with musical genres close to jazz and with important names such as Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Sting, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Ornette Coleman, the elusive João Gilberto, Quincy Jones, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Eric Clapton, Santana, R.E.M., Prince, Liza Minnelli, Elton John, Ben Harper, Bob Dylan, Prince, B.B. King, Tom Jones, Thom Yorke, Earth, Wind & Fire, Paolo Fresu, Stefano Bollani, Mika and Lenny Kravitz, who performed at the Arena Santa Giuliana no later than last Saturday, in front of 18,000 people.
This tripartite formula allows you to enjoy the festival in different ways, of course, but also in different places located in the Umbrian capital: the aforementioned Arena Santa Giuliana, where major events and the wider public are hosted; some institutions in the historic center such as the Morlacchi Theatre, the National Gallery of Umbria, the Méliès Cinema, but also restaurants and bistros where you can combine a lunch, dinner or aperitif with live concerts; finally the squares, streets and gardens of the historic center, with free concerts that carry forward not only the itinerant spirit with which the festival was born, but also the tradition of New Orleans marching bands and jam sessions. Since 2019, a section dedicated to the little ones has also been added. UJ4KIDS, hosted at the Santa Giuliana Gardens, presents a rich program of concerts and initiatives related to culture and musical education.
Collateral initiatives
Umbria Jazz is also training: from the collaboration with the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, a program has been active since 1987 that offers an intensive course for musicians under 30. Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics takes place during the summer festival and offers sessions theoretical and practical lessons from the teachers of the prestigious American institute. Quite a few of the musicians who today perform on the stages of Umbria Jazz as established professionals have attended the Clinics in recent years. This year, 221 students are enrolled in the courses, who come from all over the world to combine their professional growth with the unique atmosphere of the festival.
There was no lack of recognition, awarded by the Perugia Foundation, which rewards the Ambassadors of Umbria in the World, i.e. musicians who have brought and kept the name of Italy and Umbria high outside the national borders. In past years, great names in the musical panorama who have made, and are making, the history and fortune of Umbria Jazz have been awarded: Enrico Rava, Renato Sellani, Giovanni Tommaso, Stefano Bollani, Francesco Cafiso, Roberta Gambarini, Franco D’Andrea , The Soloists of Perugia, Danilo Rea, Enzo Pietropaoli, Giovanni Guidi, Fabrizio Bosso, Rita Marcotulli, Paolo Fresu, Rosario Giuliani, Dado Moroni, Gianluca Petrella. This year the Perugia Foundation awarded Alessandro Lanzoni, who was awarded the award in conjunction with last night’s concert which was held at the Morlacchi Theatre.
Eleonora Cesaretti
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