Belgrade Jazz Festival, 40th Edition, 24-29 October 2024
The Belgrade Jazz Festival, the oldest and most prominent jazz event in Serbia, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. With the slogan Jazz Legacy, from October 24 to 28, the audience will get the chance to experience first-time guest appearances, performances by the most sought-after local and international artists, new musical projects and walk down memory lane of the event’s highlights.
This rare jubilee, even in world terms, challenged the Festival with a special responsibility to approach the program in a celebration mode, with greater ambitions that put the Festival on the world jazz map.
This year, two program nights with four concerts will be held in the MTS Hall – the opening and closing of the event, with a program for jazz enthusiasts and everyone who values quality music. At the grand opening on October 24, the RTS Big Band and respected conductor, pianist and arranger Alan Broadbent will perform with the program “From Newport to Belgrade”, conceived as a celebration of the event’s glorious history in the spirit of this year’s slogan. We will enjoy original Broadbent arrangements of compositions by Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Charlie Haden, as well as works inspired by Newport and the legacy of Dizzy Gillespie. The same night, for the first time in Belgrade, today’s world’s leading jazz singer, the American diva Cécile McLorin Salvant, winner of three consecutive Grammys for the best vocal jazz album, will perform. This year’s summit of jazz grandmasters on October 28 will be rounded off by a grand premiere – Bill Frisell is finally coming to Serbia! Along with John Scofield and Pat Metheny – who also performed at our Festival – he is one of the Golden Guitar Three with top positions reserved in prestigious world polls since the 1980s. The Buena Vista All Stars band will close this year’s Belgrade Jazz Festival with the ONE NIGHT IN HAVANA program. ensemble is led by trombonist Demetrio Muñiz, who was the musical director of the Buena Vista Social Club Orchestra for many, the lead singer is Ibrahim Ferrer Jr. and their repertoire includes, among others, classic Cuban songs from the album Buena Vista Social Club.
The Program:
24th October:
@7PM, MTS hall (dvorana): Big Band RTS (Serbia) & Alan Broadbent (New Zealand): From Newport to Belgrade
@9PM, MTS hall (dvorana): Cécile McLorin Salvant
25th October:
@7PM, Belgrade Youth Center, Main Hall: Anat Cohen
@9PM, Belgrade Youth Center, Main Hall: Gianluca Petrella & Cosmic Renaissance
@10:30PM, Belgrade Youth Center, Americana Hall: Émile Parisien Quartet: Let Them Cook
@12PM, Belgrade Youth Center, Americana Hall: Quartabê
26th October:
@7PM, Belgrade Youth Center, Main Hall: Serbian All Stars – Past, Present and Future
@9PM, Belgrade Youth Center, Main Hall: James Carter Quintet: Lookin’ at Lock – Tribute to Eddie Lockjaw Davis
@10:30PM, Belgrade Youth Center, Americana Hall: Kompost 3
@12PM, Belgrade Youth Center, Americana Hall: Daniel Erdmann’s Velvet Revolution
27th October:
@7PM, Belgrade Youth Center, Main Hall: Jason Moran – Ellingtonia
@9PM, Belgrade Youth Center, Main Hall: Rudresh Mahanthappa – Hero Trio
@10:30PM, Belgrade Youth Center, Americana Hall: Kris Davis Diatom Ribbons
@12PM, Belgrade Youth Center, Americana Hall: Rodrigo Amado – The Attic
28th October:
@7PM, MTS hall (dvorana): Bill Frisell
@9PM, MTS hall (dvorana): The Buena Vista All Stars
