07042016Mon
Last updateFri, 01 Jul 2016 8am

Upcoming ‘Tonica’ jazz festival promises top acts, as city looks to host 2017 International Jazz Day

Around 20 universities, music schools and cultural institutions from all over Mexico will participate in the week-long seminar and associated workshops that forma part of the Jalisco Jazz Festival 2016, scheduled this year from July 29 through August 7.

Organized by the Instituto de Jazz Tónica, the festival also features some top-notch live performances in Guadalajara, as well as two events in Puerto Vallarta.

Organizers are trying to raise the profile of the festival this year, as they work with UNESCO to try and make Guadalajara the official site for the International Jazz Day 2017.  Washington D.C. hosted this year’s event on April 30.

This year’s opening gala at the Palacio de la Cultura y la Comunicación (Palcco) on Friday, June 29, 8 p.m.  features a visual art performance by “Jazzamoart” (jazz, amor y arte), the pseudonym of Guanajuato artist Javier Vázquez Estupiñán. He will create a painting onstage while being inspired and motivated by music from the Federico Sánchez Quartet.

A “Fiesta de Jazz” on Sunday, July 31, 5 p.m. at Palcco features a slew of well-known domestic and international artists, including pianist John Beasley, one time accompanist to Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis, among others.

The Palcco also hosts a concert on Thursday, August 4, 8 p.m. featuring guitarist Charlie Hunter and drummer Scott Amendola, both from the United States.

There will also be a “Ruta de Jazz” tour on Friday, August 5, from 8 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. that takes in four metro-area night spots and bars: El Deposito Providencia, Primer Piso, Gin Club and Boogie House.

The festival’s closing concert at Palcco on Saturday, August 6, 8 p.m. features the “Tonica All-Stars”: Beasley, Hunter and Amendola, as well as Brian Lynch, Ernesto Ramos, Victor Correa, Michael Blake, Ben Shephard, David Leon, Keena Dimick, Lowell Ringel, Kyle Swan. Alexander Alfred, Jonah Udall and Chuck Bergeron.

For more information on the festival, visit http://jaliscojazzfestival.com or call (33) 3333-2624.

Palcco is at Avenida Central 375, Colonia Residencial Poniente, Zapopan, across from the Trompo Magico Children’s Museum. Tickets available at theater box office Monday to Friday, 10 a.m.- to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., or from Ticketmaster. More information at (33)9690-9000 or visit www.palcco.com.

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