arts & entertainment

Jazz returns to Panama

The 6th annual Panama Jazz Festival kicks off Jan. 12 at the Teatro Ascanio Arosemena in Balboa.

Organizers expect upward of 18,000 concert goers over the six-day festival.

la prensa

high notes: Panamanian jazz pianist and festival organizer Danilo Pérez has been preparing for this year’s Panama Jazz Festival since last February. The lineup boasts genre greats Wayne Shorter (upper right) and Cuban pianist Chucho Valdéz (bottom right).1142338

Music enthusiasts may come out en masse for the 6th Annual Panama Jazz Festival for the dazzling performances promised by some of the current icons of the genre, but for Danilo Pérez, jazz pianist and organizer of the event, the festival is much more than a reunion of talented musicians.

“It’s an opportunity to take chances,” he said, becoming visibly animated as he imagines the various performances. “The festival will be an alternative scene thanks to the art workshops that [the musicians have attended] and the auditions to choose the music scholarships in institutions abroad.”

Though an obvious success, the jazz festival almost didn’t take off in the country because of what Pérez says is the pessimism that occasionally afflicts Panamanians. When the idea was first proposed, he was bombarded by negative comments.

‘“This can’t be done here,’ they told me,” said Pérez, who refused to listen to the critical voices and launched the first festival in 2003.

“Contrary to what some have thought, the festival has grown,” he added. In fact, about 16,000 people attended the various concerts last year, double the number it attracted in 2003. “To me, this gives the message that you can!”

This year’s festival, which is expected to draw between 18,000 and 20,000 people, will be held from Monday, Jan. 12 through Saturday, Jan. 17, with most of the concerts taking place in the Teatro Ascanio Arosemena in Balboa. The grand finale, with open air performances by various artists and bands, is planned for Saturday in the Plaza de la Catedral of Casco Viejo and is free to the public.

Among the featured jazz giants is American saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter, cellist John Patitucci and Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés. Panamanian salsa king and Tourism minister is also slated to play.

“The other five festivals have enjoyed the presence of great musicians, but this year we have Shorter, a legendary jazz figure, which puts the event in a range of international first class,” boasted Pérez.

This year’s festival, which has been in the works since February 2008, will also feature music workshops, ballet, modern dance, yoga for musicians, and other mixed sound and literary presentations.

Además en Herald

• Hope for reforms fades
• New garbage rule creates mess
• Legislator laid to rest
• Assembly approves tax rebate for exporters
• Court seeks opinion in diamante case
• Jazz returns to Panama
• Growth expected to slow
• FARC remains active in Panama
• Social security employees to strike