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New notes are being added to Bahrain’s growing jazz scene this week with the celebration of the 10th annual International Jazz Day by the Bahrain Jazz Fest, writes Naman Arora.
Last night, Bahrain’s first jazz hip-hop collective, Tribe 11, took to the virtual stage to bring a sound inspired by iconic hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, and today, eminent musicians from Luxembourg are set to entertain audiophiles with tunes from one of Europe’s top jazz hubs.
“The Bahrain Jazz Fest has established itself as Bahrain’s finest and most prominent music festival featuring iconic performances by award-winning international and local artists,” added Jude D’Souza, organiser of the event.
The International Jazz Day, designated as April 30 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), aims to create global awareness, appreciation and conversation about jazz music and highlight its diplomatic role of uniting people across borders.
Jazz enthusiasts on this day celebrate and engage in intercultural dialogue, appreciate the roots of this form of music and discuss and deliberate on how to strengthen its future.
This year, to avoid an overlap with Ramadan, the organisers of Bahrain Jazz Fest are hosting the six-day mini-festival, supported by the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority in partnership with BNP Paribas, ahead of the start of the holy month.
Today at 8pm, some of Luxembourg’s best musicians Claire Parson, Greg Lamy and the Benoit Martiny Band will perform limited virtual sets of their exhaustive works.
Tomorrow at 8pm, Grammy Award-winning baritone saxophonist Lauren Sevian and Radam Schwartz will perform from New York with the Jazz House Organ Quartet.
And on Friday, celebrated Bahraini singer Banah will serenade fans with an Arab-jazz fusion concert at 8pm, culminating in a celebration of International Jazz Day on Saturday.
For details and to register, follow @bahrainjazzfest on Instagram.
