Jazz fest taken higher

This time around, the embassy will be inviting three artistes – two jazz and one blues – from Italy, four local groups and prolific Nigerian guitarist and singer, Kunle Ayo, for the October International Jazz Festival.
The event will this year be held over eight days at different venues in and around the greater Harare area as opposed to previous events when it was held at the Italian Club in Mabelreign, in the capital city.
From the opening ceremony this Saturday, which will be held at the Rainbow Towers, the musical extravaganza will be taken to the Harare Safari Lodge at Lake Chivero on Sunday; then to The Mannenberg at Fife Avenue Shopping Complex on Monday and Tuesday and to the Celebration Centre amphitheatre in Borrowdale on Wednesday before going back to The Mannenberg on Thursday. The event will wrap up on Friday and Saturday at the Italian Club.
Italian group, Amanda e la Banda, makes a welcome return to Zimbabwe after its appearance at the Harare International Festival of the Arts last year while Francesco Bearzatti Tinissima Quartet and Raffaele Casarano Apulia Jazz 4tet will be in the country for the first time.
Oliver Mtukudzi, Dudu Manhenga, Jazz Invitation and Prudence Katomeni make the star-studded contingent of local artistes who will perform alongside the Italians at the various venues.
The groups will each perform on different days at different venues except on Wednesday and Thursday when they team up for international jam sessions, collaborations that will see all the invited artistes share a single stage.
According to Paolo Pettini of the Italian Embassy, the format of this year’s festival “will give local artistes several opportunities to perform and to promote cultural exchanges with their foreign counterparts”.
Pettini said that the event at the Celebration Centre will be dedicated to Harare’s primary schools besides hosting several different workshops during the whole day for artistes including young musicians. Similar workshops are being organised at the Zimbabwe College of Music.
He said some of the artistes will also perform during the Sanganai/Hlanganani Tourism Fair, which kicks off this Saturday and runs until Wednesday at the Harare International Conference Centre.
He also indicated that the embassy has approached the NACZ with a view to making the jazz festival a brand which should be recognised on the Zimbabwean arts calendar.
“We want to make this a brand that will remain a permanent thing . . . The event has seen nearly 5?000 people attending including diplomats, representatives of international organisations and others in general. It has also seen about 100 artistes performing,” said Pettini. “Moreover, this cultural exchange is surely a vehicle that could highlight the partners in such a way that would make it immediately associated with a higher quality of style.”
The event is a partnership between the Italian Embassy, NACZ and arts development organisation, Pamberi Trust; and is sponsored by the following local corporates and international organisations, namely, Peroni, Ethiopian Airlines, Rainbow Tourism Group, the European Union, Telecel, Fiat, Sontine Travel Agency, Freight World, FBC Holdings, The Mannenberg, Italian Club and Progressive Insurance Brokers.