25th TERRASSA JAZZ FESTIVAL

The new edition of the Terrassa Jazz Festival is coming shortly - now in its twenty-fifth year! From 7 March to 2 April, you can listen to around 275 artists at any of the event's many venues, including 42 concerts, 19 of which will be free. We feel confident that the Festival will surpass itself once again, as we have opted for musical quality in a programme aimed at every sector of the public. The names of established musicians will feature alongside emerging talents on the jazz scene, with presentations that explore new horizons in the genre.

The concert programme will start on 7 March with the Latin jazz band Afro Blue, responsible for opening the event, who will be followed by artists appearing at the Festival for the first time, such as bassist Avishai Cohen, pianist Myra Melford, flautist Jamie Baum, organists Gary Burton and Melvin Rhyne, trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer and, also from Norway, Atomic, with their improvised music venture. Old friends will be returning to Terrassa, some after an absence of many years: John Scofield, Joachim Kühn, Dave Schnitter, Frank Foster, Dennis Rowland, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Chris Potter, Richard Galliano, Hiram Bullock, Dick Oatts and Scott Hamilton will be coming 'home' in March, as will the legendary saxophonist Johnny Griffin, to receive the Jazzterrasman 2006 award at the closing ceremony.

This year's event will be featuring some new venues. The Alegria Theatre will be hosting the band New Flamenco Reunion of pianist Chano Domínguez, and the Plaza Can N'Anglada will play host to the fusion venture Connexió Argan.

Lovers of the Blues will really enjoy the now-traditional "Blues Night" starring bluesman Charlie Musselwhite, while over at Pícnic Jazz Vallparadís we can look forward to performances from Eric Sardinas and Ana Popovic, who will be introducing their new and dynamic bands.

The national scene will be very well represented with the music of trumpeter David Pastor and his band Stringwords, a spectacular symbiosis between jazz and classical music inspired by the music of Clifford Brown and Charlie Parker. Names such as Víctor Uris, Vicente Espí, Joan Monné, Dave Pybus and the band Terrassa Dixie Sextet will be appearing with a recently-released record to their credit. Bands such as the Big Band Jazz Terrassa, La Vella Dixieland, La Locomotora Negra and the Barcelona Jazz Orquestra will also be there at our anniversary. Likewise, we will be presenting a new edition of JazzJove Non Stop dedicated to our youngest fans.

On its 25th anniversary, the Festival will be featuring a significant increase in the number of parallel activities. Exhibitions, conferences, a new film series, a record fair and a lindy-hop camp will be some of the main events.

This more participative edition, strengthened by its free public events, together with the headlining concerts at the Nova Jazz Cava, will once again make Terrassa the focus of attention of all jazz enthusiasts.

Enjoy the Festival!