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Jazz and Blues Festivals
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About American Voices Jazz Festivals
Each American Voices Jazz Festival features the following elements:
-Headline artist (such as Toots Thielemans or Maynard Ferguson)
-American Voices Jazz Team artists-in-residence
-Workshops and jam sessions for young players
-Big Band project for young players
-Jazz Educational materials and music scores donation
-Collaborations with local jazz performers
-Compilation CD
-Special events for sponsors
Since early 2002, American Voices has been active in the organization of Jazz Festivals and events in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, and Burma among others.
As part of our mission to take quality American music to developing countries, we are proud to have presented jazz luminaries such as Toots Thielemans and Maynard Ferguson as our headline artists in Baku, Azerbaijan. In addition, we have worked closely with the National Concert Hall of Taipei to present the legendary drummer Jack de Johnette and Toots Thielemans to audiences there in 2003 and 2004.
All of our Jazz Festivals feature members of our American Voices jazz team as artists in residence performing in gala events and in jazz education workshops and jam sessions with young musicians. In Azerbaijan, these educational efforts have led to the establishment of regular jazz workshops for youth and a Baku Big Band. A donation of jazz educational materials is also made at every festival.
Working with local jazz artists is a high priority in our festivals, and collaborative work with American Voices artists is a large part of our programming. This has lead to projects such as the Jazz Bridges projects in Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Burma.
A CD compilation is released after each large scale project feature the festival highlights and collaborations with local artists. Our current releases include "Caspian Jazz and Blues Festival 2002" , "Jazz Bridges Burma" and "American Voices Around the World'.
As our festivals strive to offer all concerts free of charge to the public, we depend greatly on our sponsors for generous financial support in this regard.
Our Festivals in 2004
Baku Jazz Festival
"New Paths in Jazz"
Headline Artists: HaviKoro Breakdancers
Featuring: Chris Strik, Drummer
Baku Big Band
Azeri Jazz Night and much more....
Our Festivals in 2003
Caspian Jazz and Blues Festival
"Year of the Big Bands"
May 12 – 18, 2003, Baku, Azerbaijan
Headline artist Maynard Ferguson Bop Nouveau Band
American Voices Artists: Deborah Carter and Mike Del Ferro Trio
Featuring: Stian Carstenson (Norway) New Cool Collective (Netherlands) , US Air Force Band – The Ambassadors, Azeri Jazz Night, Vagif Sadikhov Trio(Moscos/Baku), Emil Mammedov Trio (Baku)
Baku Big Band – Big Band workshops for young players
American Music Month Festival Kyrgyzstan:
April 20 to May 20, 2003, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Headline Artist: Mississippi Blues Night with CoCo York and the Mike Del Ferro Trio
Jazz workshops and jam sessions for young players
Jazz educational materials donation
Collaborations with local jazz performers
Almaty Autumn Jazz Festival:
October 20-26, 2003, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Headline Artist, Stian Carstensen
American Voices Jazz Team artists-in-residence
Jazz workshops and jam sessions for young players
Jazz educational materials donation
Collaborations with local jazz performers
Our Festivals in 2002
Caspian Jazz and Blues Festival, Baku, Azerbaijan
April 2002
Headline Artist: Toots Thielemans and the Mike Del Ferro Trio
Featuring: Amina Figarova Group, CoCo York, Kim Prevost of New Orleans, Azeri artists
Broadway in Kathmandu
