Venice Jazz Festival 2010

From 23 July 2010 to 01 August 2010

Big names are one of the prerogatives of the Venice Jazz Festival, the prestigious event organized by Veneto Jazz, which will host in this years third edition a parade of artists of the calibre of Pat Metheny, Norah Jones and Paco De Lucia in the citys most representative sites: these are the best known artists of a very dense calendar that in a little more than a week will pack together a long series of events, including concerts, exhibitions, workshops and reading sessions through the citys calli, campi and campielli, as well as in the citys glorious sites of Saint Marks Square and La Fenice theatre.

The opening of the exhibition will be down to the Pat Metheny Group on July 23rd in the historic Venetian square. Surely Pat Metheny, with his creative oestrus and an unmistakable as well as virtuosos technique, has approached, during his very long career, every music genre, never renouncing his artistic identity of cultured extractions (probably explainable only with his name) indeed dialoguing with every musical form in an original, fertile and incisive way. Experimentation has always been the engine of his music creativity, even in the last discographic episode, the ORCHESTRION, that Metheny produced entirely on his own with an orchestra of instruments played solely through mechanical devices.

The Pat Metheny Group remains one of the most influent and acclaimed groups of the past twenty five years. Founded in 1977 and the only winner in history of music of 7 consecutive Grammy Awards for seven successive releases, the group is returning to Italy after a five-year absence: on the stage there will be Lyle Mays (piano, keyboards Steve Rodby (double-bass) and Antonio Sanchez (drums).

Norah Jones will also be in Saint Marks Square where she will present her latest album The Fall on July 24th. A winner of multiple Grammy Awards, Jones expands in this latest effort her horizon to new musical languages and gives life to several collaborations with names such as Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, and Modest Mous Ryan Adams and Will Sheff from the Okkervil River. Sarah Jones will appear on stage accompanied by the instrument that has made her well known everywhere - the piano, but will also have time for the guitar which she also uses a lot in the recording studio.

Paco de Lucia, talented genius of the Flamenco guitar, will be at the Fenice Theatre on July 29th. His music originates from the heart of tradition and feeds on instinct and contamination amongst genres in a ravishing alchemy. De Lucia has managed to combine his art with the jazz of Chick Corea, Al Di Meola e John MacLaughlin, with Brazilian rhythms and classic Spanish music of which he is now a universal ambassador. In Venice he will present his latest masterpiece Cosistas Buenas, an album divided between Spain and Mexico. Another magnificent event of the festival, scheduled on July the 27th at the La Fenice Theatre, is the double concert of Esperanza Spalding, the young America singer and double-bass player, and Yamandu Costa, the talented Brazilian guitar player.

On top of the numerous events in selected hotels and Venetian venues, there will be additional locations for the festival, which will host with international masters, emerging talents and innovative proposals of the jazz scene, precisely: the Campo dellErberia in Rialto, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the San Servolo Island. A festival to experience day and night, with many free-entrance events.Beginning of concert in Saint Marks Square 21.30.Beginning of concert at La Fenice Theatre 21.00.