The Reason for our Renewed Commitment to Jazz Español
With great satisfaction, I am pleased to announce that the 17° Festival Internacional de Jazz de Punta del Este will take place again at El Sosiego Punta Ballena between the 3rd and 6th January, 2013.
The journey has been long and intense since our founding festival in 1996 --yet it has been joyful-- we have witnessed hundreds of first class musicians leaving their artistic mark on the stage of a festival which, because of its rural location, often fascinates and inspires jazz musicians used to more urban sites.
Our commitment to jazz was, from the early beginnings when the festival was only an idea, much more than just for the style or type of music: it was a choice founded in the conviction of the cultural values of this musical genre, born more than 100 years ago in the South of the United States, and then consolidated in the course of the 20th century. Jazz has since become the true universal language, capable of merging the most diverse music.
That is why this year, at the end of last April, we did not hesitate to join with the world in celebrating the International Jazz Day, inaugurating the first Uruguayan celebration of this great event established during the General Conference of UNESCO, November 2011, and spearheaded by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock who officiated as Goodwill Ambassador. Thus, in our old warehouse --now recycled-- at Finca el Sosiego, musicians and many fans of jazz gathered to celebrate the International Jazz Day.
That first meeting was something unique and unrepeatable, with wonderful empathy shown between Paquito D'Rivera and Rubén Rada, who had never played together. This proved an experience too beautiful to convey with words. It was a high symbolic gathering, since jazz on the one hand brought the greatest Afro-Caribbean musician of today (and illustrious representative of Latin jazz); and on the other hand, the most prominent Afro-descendant musician born in Uruguay, home of the candombe, which, as we know, is the rhythm of most genuine African spirit that has survived in the Río de la Plata.
After having witnessed this jam session held in "the middle of the field", it's impossible to hide one's happiness, having observed the truth in the concept expressed by the Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova: "Jazz has been a force for positive social transformation throughout its history, and it remains so today. This is why UNESCO created International Jazz Day. From its roots in slavery, this music has raised a passionate voice against all forms of oppression. It speaks a language of freedom that is meaningful to all cultures.” |
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This rationale given by UNESCO on the influence of jazz in society – supported unanimously by the most important world jazz musicians – has served as an incentive and involuntary "recognition" for the effort we have made for 17 years to give to Punta del Este, Uruguay and the region, a Jazz Festival capable of spreading this genre that Louis Armstrong defined long ago as "a combination of all good music”.
It is worthwhile to outline the rationale mentioned above, in which UNESCO now assesses jazz:
1. Jazz breaks down barriers and creates opportunities for mutual understanding and tolerance;
2. Jazz is a vector of freedom of expression;
3. Jazz is a symbol of unity and peace;
4. Jazz reduces tensions between individuals, groups, and communities;
5. Jazz fosters gender equality;
6. Jazz reinforces the role youth play for social change;
7. Jazz encourages artistic innovation, improvisation, new forms of expression, and inclusion of traditional music forms into new ones;
8. Jazz stimulates intercultural dialogue and empowers young people from marginalized societies.
Most of the above concepts reflect exactly what we have seen at the Festival Internacional de Jazz de Punta del Este all these years. And we can tell the reader that most of the musicians write back to us later, thankful for their stay in Punta Ballena, emphasizing the warmth and affection with which they were received, and the thrill of playing in an environment so different from the one they are used to. And of course, they ask us to return, something that has happened many times, some of them come in many different formations. For our part, there is a constant excitement and joy bestowed upon us by the musicians, and to those who come to visit our festival each and every summer.
The recognition of the public, the musicians, and the press is a testament to our pride and our commitment. It is on behalf of all of jazz lovers, that the only choice that we imagine is to go ahead without looking at the real obstacles that often occur in this business, with the same enthusiasm and conviction as ever, and to be useful to the great jazz musicians who make more bearable the everyday reality with a beauty that only they are capable of creating. Personally, I serve as a bridge between art and the public, and this has become one of my deepest satisfactions and, no doubt, a vital impetus.
Therefore, we continue celebrating the music of jazz, as without it, many of the things in life would be meaningless. |