By Antonio Lozoya
The International Jazz and Blues Festival presents the singer and actress Verania Luken, who on this occasion will present a program in the style of «Gypsy Jazz», interpreting the music of the 30s and 40s, by composers including Django Reinhardt, Duke Ellington, Gershwin, and Fats Waller, among others.
The concert will take place in the courtyard of the El Nigromante Cultural Center, Bellas Artes, located at Hernández Macías 75, Centro, this Sunday, August 21, at 6pm.
Gypsy Jazz or Jazz Manouche is the name of a musical genre based largely on the recorded work of guitarist Django Reinhardt. When you think about Gypsy Swing, you will inevitably have a guitar in your mind and next a violin. When you think about American jazz, you will rather make associations with a saxophone and a trumpet. The famous swinging ride of the jazz drum has no use in Gypsy Swing. The drum is replaced by the percussive rhythm guitar.
In 1934, when the Hot Club Quintet with Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli began to blow the stages in Paris with just five men, in America the big bands were still playing. Indeed, Gypsy Swing was invented before but comes very close to the jazziness of Bebop, which came later in 1940. Gypsy jazz is the first jazz style to emerge in Europe.
The members of the Gypsy Jazz Band are: guitarists Ely Doney and Antonio González, violinist Miguel Fajardo, and double bassist Antonio Lozoya. Musicians with extensive professional experience and who have participated in various national and international jazz festivals.
Tickets by PayPal (https://www.sanmigueljazz.com.mx/index.php/tickets-gypsy-music-concert-with-verania-luken/); and by the courtyard of the Centro Cultural El Nigromante, Bellas Artes, from Tuesday August 16 to Saturday the 20th, 11am till 5pm, and Sunday from 1pm to 6pm.
Remember to mark in your calendar the major Festival events in November, from the sixteenth to the twentieth!
Fundación Jazz Fest SMA A.C. is a non-profit organization and you can contribute directly to the Festival in order to support the legacy and tradition of jazz and blues music in San Miguel.
Your participation is very important by attending the concerts, and additionally by making a donation to apply for US tax benefits through the San Miguel Community Foundation.
As you know, after the pandemic years, all the artists need your support more than ever to keep going.
Please check out the concerts for next month, you´ll enjoy them!
www.sanmigueljazz.com.mx
