About BAJ

As in every one of the previous editions, during the preparation of this new Buenos Aires Jazz I ask myself again about the sense and the reason for being of a jazz festival in our city.

Buenos Aires enjoys jazz and has a public that has been compatible with the genre for many years, long before a public festival organized by the City Government was even imagined. This is a sign of health. Every healthy artistic movement grows vertically. There is no exception to this rule.

Our role, then, is still determined by the same guidelines of the first day: not to be mere witnesses of a spontaneous growing phenomenon or get into this ride to obtain a benefit. But try to be available to collaborate and give strength to that construction.

In what sense?

Mainly, not competing with private entities, but complementing their offer.

Inviting artists that, beyond their greater or lesser popularity, can assure excellence and originality, far from the speculation of inviting the one that has a captive and assured public from previous performances.

Thinking of artists that are willing to share the stage with our local musicians and to share their knowledge giving clinics and workshops.

Avoiding a ghetto mentality. We need more and more new people to get closer to this music with no fear or prejudices so that the other 359 days of the year without festival, the circuit can stock up anyway. That is why a key point is a varied and accessible programming, not only as regards names and styles, but also as regards places and moments in which the festival is carried out: theaters, clubs, cultural centers, outdoors, during the day and night…

This year The Classroom, with more clinics and open classes than other years, grew, as well as the offer of outdoor concerts and the percentage of local artists in the programming. This is something to be noted, since important jazz festivals from around the world save for their local artists only a few unimportant and low visibility spaces.

There is a stage for the repatriated; those Argentine musicians that carry out their work abroad. It is our wish to help them recover, maintain and strengthen their bond with the city that will always be theirs.

Finally, we dedicate one night to the presentation of the Real Book Argentina Ensemble. A private initiative that is clearly in the line of our best aspirations: the circulation of music between colleagues and the belief that the creation of a local jazz tradition, based on an original music repertoire, is a guarantee of durability.

As usual, our wish is for Buenos Aires to vibrate jazz during these six days and for the rest of the year.