Chicago to perform at San Javier International Jazz Festival

IF such names as Ramsey Lewis, Wynton Marsalis, Eric Burdon & The Animals, John Pizzarelli, Clayton-Hamilton, Elvin Bishop, Lucky Peterson, Albert Lee, Chris Farlowe, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin and super-group Chicago are your musical taste, then the 14th edition of the San Javier International Jazz Festival has plenty to offer you.

All of the above, plus a few more will be on stage for 11 nights of entertainment spread out from June 25 until the end of July, 2011.

Tickets for the majority of the concerts are a very reasonable €12.00, a festival pass is only €100 for admissions to all of the concerts except for Chicago, which is the festivals premium event, with tickets for this priced at €36.00 and Wynton Marsalis for which you receive a discount.

Tickets go on sale May 16 from the festival box office or you can order online.

This year’s event is dedicated to the memory of Gary Moore and Solomon Burke, and will include some of the best musicians in the current jazz and blues scene.

After all these years, Chicago finally make it to Spain!

The self-described “rock and roll band with horns” had a steady stream of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

They are second only to The Beach Boys in terms of Billboard singles and albums chart success among American bands and according to Billboard, ‘Chicago’ was the leading U.S. singles charting group during the 1970s.

They have sold over 38 million albums and singles in the U.S. alone and over the course of their career they have charted five No. 1 albums, and have had 21 top ten hits. At just €36.00 for tickets, if you’re a fan, order your tickets ASAP.

Other major highlights include the return of ‘Eric Burdon & The Animals’, and two of the world’s most prestigious big bands, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with special guest John Pizzarelli.

The rest of the bill is equally mouth-watering, and includes jazz greats like Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander, Californian guitarist Lee Ritenour, guitarist John Scofield, Danish pianist Niels Lan Doky and the new star of the accordion, Ludovic Beier. The festival also features Spanish jazz musicians: pianist Sergio Monroy from Cadiz, from Mallorca guitarist Biel Ballester and his trio who will perform with Romanian violinist Costel Nitescu, Catalonian pianist Albert Boverand his trio with the Detroit singer Carla Cook, and the also Catalonian pianist Jaume Vilaseca and his quartet with Indian sitarist Ravi Chary.

The line-up of artists does not end there.

There’s the fantastic jazz vocalist Rene Marie; bossa nova singer Leny Andrade and the French group Pink Turtle. Blues and rock will also be featured, as expected in an edition dedicated to Gary Moore, therefore, in addition to the already mentioned performances by Chicago and Eric Burdon, there will be performances by Elvin Bishop whose most memorable single, “Fooled Around and Fell in Love”, peaked at #3 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and 34 in the UK.

Then we have Lucky Peterson, Albert Lee & Hogan’s Heroes and veteran British singer Chris Farlowe, best known for his hit single “Out of Time”, which rose to no. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1966, with the Norman Beacker Band, plus San Francisco bluesman Joe Louis Walker.

Most of the concerts will be recorded for TV and Radio and broadcast throughout Spain thanks to the collaboration of  Televisión Española, Radio 3 and 7 Región de Murcia.

All performances take place at the Parque Almansa Auditorium in San Javier, an outdoor amphitheatre with a capacity for just over 2,000 but for the International artists, tickets sell fast so purchase yours soon.

The line up is as follows:

Saturday June 25:
Biel Ballester Trio and Costel Nitescu plus Albert Lee & Hogan’s Heroes.

Friday July 1:
Sergio Monro plus Lee Ritenour Band featuring Dave Grusin.

Saturday July 2:
Lenny Andrade & Sambop Band plus Monty Alexander Trio.

Wednesday July 6:
Ludovic Beier New Montmartre Quartet plus Ramsey Lewis & His Electric Band.

Friday July 8:
Carla Cook & Albert Bover Trio plus Wynton Marsalis & The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

Saturday July 9:
Jaume Vilaseca Quartet and Ravi Chary plus Elvin Bishop.

Tuesday July 12:
Chicago.

Friday July 15:
Rene Marie and Joe Louis Walker.

Saturday July 16:
Niels Lan Doky Trio plus The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with John Pizzarelli.

Friday July 22:
John Scofield Quartet plus Eric Burdon & The Animals.

Saturday July 23:
Hiromi, The Trio Project plus Lucky Peterson.

Saturday July 30:
Pink Turtle plus Chris Farlow & The Norman Beaker Band.

A festival pass is available for €100 which allows admission to 10 concerts.

Chicago is not included. The ticket price for Wynton Marsalis & The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra is reduced from €25 to €20 for festival pass holders.

For more information about the programme visit www.jazz.sanjavier.es, and for Facebook users, visit ‘XIV ed. San Javier International Jazz Festival 2011 (Spain).’

By Keith Nichol