Protagonists and program of the 51st edition, scheduled from 3 to 13 May between Alighieri, Socjale, Cisim and Mama’s
Jazzmeia Horn
A geographical overview of jazz, from the USA to Cuba, with a return to Europe and Italy, zooming from extra-large orchestral formations to soloists: the 51st edition of Ravenna Jazz (organized by Jazz Network) will have a particularly narrative plot. In its eleven evenings, from 3 to 13 Maythe festival will host the pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, one of the few African musicians to have achieved a leading role in world jazz, a prima donna of African-American singing such as Jazzmeia Horn, the “symphonic” jazz of the Italian Jazz Orchestra with John De Leo and Rita Marcotulli, the Caribbean seductions of the Cuban Ana Carla Maza, the a cappella voices of Anonima Armonisti, the virtuosic apotheosis of Joscho Stephan’s manouche jazz, the dreamlike atmospheres of the Opez duo, the soul jazz and lounge of Sam Paglia, the jazz pure by Alessandro Scala.
The “Mister Jazz” workshops, which as per tradition are integrated with the concert programme, will be held by two champions of creative vocalism such as John De Leo (5 May) and Petra Magoni (8). The seminars will be held at the Mousiké Center and will be open to all instrumentalists.
Main concerts
Abdullah Ibrahim
To the Alighieri Theatre, Ravenna Jazz 2024 does things on a big scale, hosting leading personalities of international jazz and blockbuster orchestral productions.
Abdullah Ibrahim he is the supreme representative of African jazz: in 1960, he was the first jazz LP made by black artists in South Africa, his country of origin. The most evocative aspect of his art is his solo performance, and in this way you will listen to him May 9th: a context that brings out his style from the distinctive rhythmic definition, sumptuous and iterative, and from the melodic designs of throbbing sweetness, intensely evocative.
Serial jazz: the original productions with theItalian Jazz Orchestra directed by Fabio Petretti are becoming a fixed and eagerly awaited event, which is renewed at each edition with a different themed musical project and with new guests. Those invited for the inauguration of the festival (May 3) I’m the singer John DeLeo and the pianist Rita Marcotulli, who stand out over the orchestra in a tribute to Elvis Presley, whose songs will be revisited in jazz-symphonic form. Between rock ‘n’ roll and high-profile pop, Presley himself had discovered the potential of his own repertoire translated into opulent arrangements.
Also “Crazy about Jazz” YoungProject is an original production that is updated from year to year: Harry Belafonte’s repertoire is at the center of this mammoth orchestral and choral creation, with a multitude of very young performers prepared and directed by established musicians such as the director and arranger Tommaso Vittorini, the trombonist Mauro Ottolini, the saxophonist Mauro Negri and the beatboxer Alien Dee (May 13th).
Ravenna Jazz Club
The large live shows hosted at the Alighieri are accompanied by the concerts of “Ravenna 51° Jazz Club”: a program inserted in the welcoming setting of the clubs and small theaters of Ravenna and its surroundings. And even if the rooms are small in size, the artists on stage are of wide international fame, with the added bonus of space for local talent.
The Social Theater of Piangipane confirms itself as a stage reserved for voices: it will host three events with groups led by musicians, all singers, all of different nationalities.
The May 5th the Cuban cellist and singer performs Ana Carla Maza, accompanied by Norman Peplow on the piano: Caribbean seductions and passions at the tip of the bow. Her project “Caribe” is a return to the Cuban descargas (jams) of the 1950s, with abundant and joyful diversions towards Caribbean rumbas, Argentine tango and a flirtation with Brazilian samba and bossa nova.
The May 7 it’s time to Naked Music, namely Petra Magoni (vocals) and Ferruccio Spinetti (double bass), who in 2023 celebrated 20 years of their timeless success duo. Magoni and Spinetti continually revive the magic of their interpretations of unreleased songs, international covers and classic French songs.
The May 12th the spotlight will be on Jazzmeia Horn, one of the brightest emerging promises of jazz made in the USA. The young singer from Dallas hit the front page of jazz news in 2015 thanks to her victory in the Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition, which suddenly revealed her talent to the international scene: the perfect modern incarnation of the great African-American divas who established the canons of jazz song.
The stage of Cisim of Lido Adriano it’s for the most surprising listens and the most unconventional artists. And such are the protagonists of the four concerts that will be held in this club. L’Anonymous Harmonists (May 4th) is an a cappella vocal septet which, with the addition of Alien Dee, has brought multi-voice harmonized singing to a new dimension, totally devoid of instrumental accompaniment, bringing it into contact with beatboxing.
Right from the title, “Django Forever”, and from the all-string ensemble, the German guitarist’s trio Joscho Stephan makes clear his dedication to gypsy swing, the gypsy jazz that was all the rage in the 1930s. With Joscho the classical canon of this music which has its tutelary deity in Django Reinhardt suddenly sounds revitalized (May 6th).
The duo Op alongside the guitarist Massi Amadori and the double bass player Francesco Giampaoli. Their music is simultaneously dense and rarefied, sensual and spiritual, melancholic and evocative. Their “Social Limbo” inspires dance steps, but as if in lysergic slow motion (May 8th).
Sam Paglia he composes, sings and above all plays any type of keyboard. Paglia has established himself as one of the most representative names of the lounge movement, transporting the exotica genre into the new millennium. In Ravenna he appears at the head of a quintet that brings together excellent soloists from the area, among whom the saxophonist Alessandro Scala and the trumpeter Enrico Farnedi stand out (May 10th).
Then there is a tradition that is now so well established that it deserves the DOC label: the presence at Mama’s Club (the 11th) by the saxophonist from Ravenna Alessandro Scala, a local hero capable of expressing the most brilliant and engaging impulses of the great jazz saxophonic school, also extending them to funk and boogaloo. For the occasion, Scala will lead a quintet with soloists of the caliber of Mauro Ottolini (trombone) and Francesca Tandoi (piano): an original production of the festival that confirms Scala as a leader capable of involving the best exponents of national jazz.
