Jazz Day Closes April Sparks Worldwide

International Jazz Day closes April Sparks with celebrations in over 190 countries from around the world. This year’s global host city is St. Petersberg, Russia, which will lead the festivities with a series of educational and outreach programs that culminate in an all-star global concert at the historic Mariinsky Theatre. The concert will be streamed live worldwide via webcast at www.jazzday.com and on facebook.

First established in 2011 by UNESCO in coordination with The Thelonious Monk Institute, each year on April 30th, International Jazz Day recognizes the role of jazz in promoting peace, freedom, creativity and international dialogue — uniting people from all corners of the globe.

Iconic jazz pianist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock (USA) and renowned saxophonist Igor Butman (Russia) serve as co-artistic directors of the global all-star concert. John Beasley (USA) serves as musical director. Nearly three dozen acclaimed artists representing 14 countries will perform. The international roster of artists include Till Brönner, Terri Lyne Carrington, Joey DeFrancesco, Fatoumata Diawara, Kurt Elling, Antonio Faraò, Robert Glasper, Gilad Hekselman, Horacio Hernandez, The Manhattan Transfer, Branford Marsalis, Moscow Jazz Orchestra, Danilo Pérez, Dianne Reeves and Lee Ritenour.

For the full roster of events occuring in the more than 190 countries around the world, visit the Jazz Day website at jazzday.com/events.

The 2018 Global Concert from St. Petersburg, Russia will be webcast on JazzDay.com and Facebook on Monday, April 30 at 16:00 New York, 21:00 London, 22:00 Paris, 23:00 St. Petersburg and 05:00 Tokyo (May 1).

Available on demand today beginning at 19:00 New York, everyone will have access to watch last week’s The International Jazz Day Salute to New Orleans in recognition of the Crescent City’s 300th Anniversary. The free event was held at The Orpheum Theatre and was livestreamed on April 22nd.

International Jazz Day is also the finale to Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) which draws attention to jazz and its extraordinary heritage throughout April. The 2018 theme highlights the dynamic role jazz has played in the transformative role in social justice, musicians rights and equality.

Jazz has Socially Sparked our lives through the centuries and continues to play an important and integral role in the world as messenger of social justice disseminated in brilliant musical artistry. — We are Socially Sparked! Tweet us @sosparkednews