Veneto. A tribute to Miles Davis at the Castelfranco Veneto Jazz Festival

The great strength of the Castelfranco Veneto Jazz Festival lies in its ability to transform a concert programme packed with leading figures from the Italian and international jazz scenes into an engaging learning experience for the younger generations. Many of the guest artists, as well as taking to the stage for the evening live performances, will in fact be involved in educational activities, with masterclasses aimed primarily (though not exclusively) at students of the “Agostino Steffani” Conservatoire of Music. The twelfth edition of the festival will take place from 7 to 11 July: five days packed with a wide range of events (many with free admission), as well as jam sessions and other supporting events. Topping the line-up are the names of four jazz stars from across the Atlantic, brought together in an all-star quartet for the festival’s opening night: Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter, Larry Grenadier and Eric Harland. This will be followed by a diverse line-up of the best Italian jazz, featuring Fabrizio Bosso, Mauro Ottolini, Maria Pia De Vito, and Gianluca Carollo’s J&J Organ Trio, which will welcome various special guests. Not to be missed is La Notte Blu, a hallmark of the event, which this year takes place over two nights on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 July: a ‘feast’ of music starting at 7 pm, with performances in various venues and throughout the streets of the historic centre. And then, on 7 July, ‘Miles, The Last Concert’, a free event to celebrate the centenary of Miles Davis’s birth – a topical subject for the global jazz community and particularly relevant to Castelfranco Veneto, which hosted the divine Miles’s final concert in Italia and Europe, just two months before his passing. The story of that night in the summer of 1991 will be recounted by Riccardo Brazzale, with the participation of Giuseppe ‘Momo’ Mormile, who organised the event.

www.castelfrancovenetojazz.org; www.conscfv.it/eventi