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International Jazz Festival Celebrates 20 Years

Posted: Nate on Sep 08 | Indigenous & Culture

The Bolivian International Jazz Festival, or Festijazz, opened for its 20th anniversary and 10th year as a national festival this week.  Festijazz was founded in La Paz 20 years ago by musician and civic leader Wálter Gómez, who now serves as an official cultural representative of the city.  The festival will continue over the next 11 days and will feature performers from Brazil, France, Japan, the Netherlands, the United States, and of course, Bolivia.

The guest of honor at this year´s Festijazz will be Brazilian jazz and bossa nova legend Roberto Menescal.  Menescal, who at 73 has devoted over 50 years to the jazz world, is considered one of the founding fathers of Brazil´s national genre, Bossa Nova.  In his comments about the festival, Menescal said, “Coming to play in Bolivia really grabbed my attention because I´ve always heard about jazz from Argentina or Chile.  I didn´t realize there was a jazz scene in Bolivia.  I´m amazed.”  Roberto Menescal opens the festival with a performance in the Municipal Theater tonight.

For more in Spanish see:

http://www.la-razon.com/version.php?ArticleId=117379&EditionId=2277&a=1

http://www.la-razon.com/version.php?ArticleId=117444&EditionId=2278&a=1

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