On Monday 13 May, the 2024 edition of the Ravenna Jazz festival ends on the notes of the original production “Pazzi di Jazz”: a concert that brings together on stage a quantitatively enormous representation of the very young students from Ravenna schools who took part in the educational project of the same name. At the Alighieri Theatre, starting at 9pm, the Orchestra dei Giovani & Don Minzoni and the Swing Kids & Teen Voices Choir will perform in various combinations. With them on stage there will be prominent soloists such as the trombonist Mauro Ottolini, the saxophonist Mauro Negri, the beatboxer Alien Dee and the conductor Tommaso Vittorini, who followed the Ravenna baby musicians in their training. Entry is free, with ticket reservations required from May 6th. Ravenna Jazz is organized by Jazz Network in collaboration with the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Ravenna and with the Department of Culture and Landscape of the Emilia-Romagna Region, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and with the patronage of ANCI Emilia-Romagna .
Pazzi di Jazz 2024 is organized by Jazz Network with the support of the Municipality of Ravenna and with the patronage of the Regional School Office for Emilia-Romagna. Pazzi di Jazz is included in the Territorial Educational Enrichment Plan of the Municipality of Ravenna. Now in its eleventh edition, “Pazzi di Jazz” retains its original format, while the artistic cast has gradually been renewed over time. To crown an educational and training journey that involves numerous schools in Ravenna, four famous artists (Tommaso Vittorini, Mauro Ottolini, Alien Dee and Mauro Negri) will go on stage together with the orchestra and choir of very young people whose preparation they have taken care of, instilling in them the passion for teamwork as well as for music.
Animator of Pazzi di Jazz since its origins, Tommaso Vittorini, well-known composer and conductor, will take to the podium of the concert. He was also responsible for the original arrangements performed during the evening. Also linked to Pazzi di Jazz since the second edition is the young and award-winning rapper-beatboxer Alien Dee. A more recent acquisition but now familiar to Ravenna students is the exuberant trombonist Mauro Ottolini. Another reference soloist of national jazz is the saxophonist Mauro Negri, the freshest arrival in the “Pazzi di Jazz” team.
Alongside these internationally renowned professionals, under the direction of Vittorini, a group of very young musicians will perform: the Don Minzoni Youth and Middle School Orchestra led by Franco Emaldi, the Swing Kids & Teen Voices Choir led by Catia Gori is made up of students from Mordani and Pascoli primary schools and students from various high schools.
Harry Belafonte’s songs will be at the center of the educational workshops and then also of the final concert at the Alighieri. Born in New York in 1927 (with Jamaican origins), Belafonte is known as the “king of calypso” for the enormous popularity that Caribbean music achieved in the United States in the 1950s thanks to him. Belafonte was not only an enormously successful singer but also an actor under the guidance of important directors (Otto Preminger, Robert Rossen, Robert Wise, Sidney Poitier, Robert Altman, Spike Lee…). But above all he was one of the artists most committed to causes linked to human rights and in particular to the rights of black Americans (he also participated in the supergroup USA for Africa, which in 1985 recorded We Are the World under the production aegis of Quincy Jones for support the people of Ethiopia). Banana Boat Song (a traditional Jamaican song) was his first big hit, included in the album Calypso (1956): since then his recording career continued with unstoppable success throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He passed away in 2023 at the age of 96.
Over the years, the uniqueness of an educational experience such as Pazzi di Jazz has been recognized by the most important national institutions, which have rewarded it with the medal of the President of the Republic, the Patronage of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Patronage of the Regional School Office for Emilia-Romagna/MIUR.
Prices
Alighieri Theatre: Free entry with compulsory ticket reservation at the Alighieri Theater box office from 6 May: tel. 0544 249244 (Mon-Sat 10am-1pm, Thurs 4pm-6pm), [email protected].
Addresses and Pre-Sales
Alighieri Theatre, Via Mariani 2, tel. 0544 249244.
