Jazz returns to Umbria this summer with a Festival that carries on its tradition of combining a successful format, top quality music and large numbers of people.
- Umbria Jazz 09: 37 years of history
- 7 editions with the Santa Giuliana Arena as the main stage
- 10 days of concerts (10 - 19 July)
- 9 stages, including the Arena, a theatre, the town's squares and restaurants
- 220 events, most of them free
- 500 musicians
- 66 Grammy Awards on the Arena stage
Umbria Jazz offers audiences an eclectic programme that shows how various types of music can differ and how much they can differ. If it is good music, it deserves to be promoted and listened to. And so in Perugia you can hear popular songwriters (Paolo Conte, Burt Bacharach and James Taylor) and members of the avant-garde (Cecil Taylor and George Lewis with the AACM project); refined pop (Steely Dan, Simply Red) and orthodox jazz (McCoy Tyner with Bill Frisell, the Roy Haynes Trio, Ahmad Jamal); evergreen standards (no less than three tributes to Nat King Cole: George Benson with a large string orchestra, crooner Allan Harris, and Freddy Cole, brother of the great singer) and Black music (BB King, Solomon Burke, Maceo Parker, and John Scofield with his New Orleans project). Special mention should be made of the two Italian-American encounters, Wynton Marsalis - Francesco Cafiso and the piano duo of Chick Corea - Stefano Bollani, and of the celebration of the music of Charles Mingus performed by Mingus Dynasty and by Quintorigo. Italian jazz is once again well represented, and this year the Italian musicians include Enrico Rava, Paolo Fresu, Gianluca Petrella, Enrico Pieranunzi, Renato Sellani, Danilo Rea, Roberto Gatto and Gabriele Mirabassi, plus the unusual “intrusion" of Gino Paoli, who has great familiarity with jazz and a fine feeling for it. The festival format. The Santa Giuliana Arena, which makes a perfect open-air theatre, is home to the main stage, where the concerts attracting the largest audiences will be held. This year there will also be a smaller stage to the side of the Arena.
Orthodox jazz in its many varied forms is to be found at the Morlacchi Theatre and at the Oratory of Santa Cecilia. The free outdoor concerts take place at the stages in Piazza IV Novembre and in the Carducci Gardens, while the old historic town centre of Perugia itself becomes the stage for the marchin' band (Funk Off). And finally, there are three venues for those who want to combine fine food and great music (the former provided by the Umbrian culinary tradition, the latter provided by Umbria Jazz): the Ristorante La Taverna, the Bottega del Vino, and the Hotel Brufani.
BERKLEE SUMMER SCHOOL AT UMBRIA JAZZ CLINICS THE CLINICS HELD BY BERKLEE COLLEGE IN PERUGIA ALLOW YOUNG MUSICIANS TO STUDY JAZZ WITH THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS SCHOOL IN THE WORLD
Umbria Jazz in not only about listening to music, and while the festival is taking place it also has another dimension, dedicated to the study of music; the Clinics, held by Boston's Berklee College of Music from 7 to 19 July. They attract more than 250 students each year from all over the world, and thousands of students have attended the courses since they began.
This year on 14, 15 and 16 July there will be a special seminar dedicated to percussion with percussion masters Giovanni Hidalgo and Horacio “El Negro" Hernandez.
There will also be a free concert at the Oratory of Santa Cecilia featuring the Berklee/Umbria Jazz Clinics 2008 Award Group, a line-up consisting of the best students attending this summer's Berklee Clinics.
For the students who achieve the best results, Berklee offers grants and help with continuing their studies at the College in Boston.
UMBRIA JAZZ TOGETHER WITH AMREF ITALIA, DULCIMER FOUNDATION POUR LA MUSIQUE AND FONDATION ALTA MANE PRESENTS JUAKALI DRUMMERS
Juakali Drummers is a musical project involving 20 children from the Kawanguare slum area of Nairobi, and Umbria Jazz has great pleasure in presenting them on the stage in Piazza IV Novembre. The project was started in July 2005 by AMREF Italia and the Dulcimer Foundation pour la Musique, part of the AMREF “Children in need" project which deals with the social rehabilitation of street children in Nairobi, Kenya.
EVENING CONCERTS AT THE SANTA GIULIANA ARENA
The first of the evening concerts at the arena is with Paolo Conte, one of the most original singer-songwriters in Italy, and certainly the most scholarly one. Then there are Steely Dan, famous above all for their unmistakeable and unclassifiable musical style and sound that comes from a fusion of jazz, rock, funk, country music and blues.
Pop-soul sounds from Great Britain are provided by Mick Hucknall and Simply Red. Chick Corea, one of the great pianists of contemporary jazz and a master of the art of the musical encounter, will be appearing with international star Stefano Bollani.
Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, with special guest Francesco Cafiso, will be performing the concert they gave on 19 January to celebrate the inauguration of the new President of the United States.
Maceo Parker will be opening for Solomon Burke, back after his great success in 2006 when he shared the bill with no less a figure than James Brown.
And Umbria Jazz is also the perfect setting in which to hear one of the greatest composers of all time, Burt Bacharach.
Then there is George Benson, guitarist and singer, who over the years has managed to create a synthesis of soul, pop, jazz and funk .
Plus James Taylor, without doubt one of the great songwriters.
And Umbria Jazz could not miss out on an evening with one of the most important artists on the black music scene: B.B. King.
This year, prior to all the concerts at the main stage in the Santa Giuliana Arena, there will also be a concert with Tuck & Patti at 19.30 on the stage near the refreshment area of the Arena.
JAZZ AT THE MORLACCHI THEATRE AND AT THE ORATORY OF SANTA CECILIA, CONCERTS NOT TO BE MISSED.
AACM Great Black Music Ensemble with Gorge Lewis, directed by Mwata Bowden, in a series of six concerts exclusive to Umbria Jazz, and undoubtedly one of the main events at this year's Festival.
Cecil Taylor, born in 1929, one of the pioneers of free jazz.
Roy Haynes, quite simply one of the greatest jazz drummers of all time.
McCoy Tyner, another historic figure of jazz, accompanied by Bill Frisell, an acclaimed master of contemporary jazz guitar.
Ahmad Jamal, making a very welcome return to the Festival.
Richard Galliano plus Cuban jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba. The other members of their quartet are Richard Bona and Clarence Penn.
Dave Douglas, presenting his most recent project, “Brass Ecstasy".
John Scofield with the “Piety Street Band": an encounter with New Orleans and its religiousness, a funky, soulful interpretation of classic gospel.
Mingus Dynasty, playing on the final evening and presenting the musical legacy of the great Charles Mingus.
Many important Italian artists will also be appearing, including Enrico Rava and his new quintet, and Enrico Pieranunzi.
Roberto Gatto with a tribute to progressive rock.
Gianluca Petrella, with the “Cosmic Band" accompanied by Paolo Fresu.
Gino Paoli and Danilo Rea with their project “Cinema Songs- Canzoni nel Cinema".
Quintorigo with “Quintorigo Plays Mingus".
Fabrizio Sferra with two talented young musicians: pianist Giovanni Guidi, and bassist Francesco Ponticelli.
Brazilian Guinga presents “Dialetto Carioca", accompanied by Umbrian clarinettist Gabriele Mirabassi and by Lula Galvao.
And at the Santa Cecilia Oratory there is music with a very special trio: Joe Locke, Dado Moroni and Rosario Giuliani.
MUSIC, AND NOT ONLY MUSIC, AT THE BOTTEGA DEL VINO, THE TAVERNA AND AT THE HOTEL BRUFANI. THE FREE CONCERTS: PIAZZA IV NOVEMBRE, THE CARDUCCI GARDENS AND THE STREET PARADE.
Fine food and great music for all tastes with classic evergreen musician Renato Sellani; Freddy Cole, brother of celebrated pianist and singer Nat “King" Cole; singer and guitarist Chip Wilson; Allan Harris with his quintet performing a tribute to Nat King Cole; and singer-guitarist K.J. Denhert and her very own blend of folk-jazz.
As always, there are free concerts at the two outdoor stages in the historic town centre, where American and Italian artists will be performing from lunchtime until late at night. Vaneese Thomas & The Soul Spinner; soul music is their forte.
Ezra Charles, a pianist and keyboard player from Texas, making his first appearance in Perugia following his debut in Orvieto.
Bobby Johnson & Austin De Lone R&B Band, providing captivating music that follows in the groove of classic Black Music.
King Pleasure & The Biscuits Boys, with their very own unique and original musical mix. Guido Pistocchi, a trumpeter from Italy's Romagna region, with his Dixieland Band, and the Perugia Jazz Orchestra, conducted by Mario Raja.
This year's street parade will see the welcome return of Funk Off.
And following the festival tradition, a part of the programme is dedicated to youth orchestras and this year features the Garfield High School Band, the Wheeling Big Band, the State College Area High School Jazz Band and the Bradley College Big
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