[Dixielandjazz] JazzAscona in New Orelans

[Luca Martinelli]

JazzAscona in New Orleans  

 

>From April 14 to April 21, the Ascona (Switzerland) Jazz Festival will be in New Orleans with a group of 34 enthusiasts on a study trip arranged in collaboration with Monte Verità di Ascona. The trip takes place in occasion of the festival's 25th anniversary and was organized to underline the historical connection between the Ascona event and the City on the Delta. 

 

The Swiss delegation comprises JazzAscona artistic director Nicolas Gilliet and the director of the Monte Verità Foundation, Claudio Rossetti. The trip will be a dense one and will include official meetings with local institutions. Noteworthy are the meeting with the Jazz & Heritage Foundation, and the gospel mass which Father Jerome LeDoux will celebrate, on April 19, in the historical St. Augustin Church. Father LeDoux is a charismatic figure well-known to the JazzAscona audience and will be officially nominated Ambassador of Utopia by Monte Verità di Ascona. The nomination is "a symbolic acknowledgement of his exemplary commitment and accomplishment of seemingly impossible objectives." The ambassadors are chosen for their cultural and humanitarian contributions, and the project's aim is to create a worldwide web of symbolic ambassadors of utopia that will also function as inspiration for future generations. 

 

During the New Orleans trip, JazzAscona will also officially close its post-Katrina SOS New Orleans fundraiser, through which it raised 266'000 francs (approx. US$ 235'000, at today's low(er) exchange rate). The funds were given entirely (i.e. with no administrative costs involved) to schools, foundations, and aid groups, as well as to about 70 musicians, both as financial aid and as cachet during five concerts organized in New Orleans in 2006, 2007, and 2008 in support of the local musical scene. 

JazzAscona will use the last of the proceeds to sponsor one of the stages at the French Quarter Festival, the "JazzAscona 25th Anniversary stage", which will feature six concerts on April 17-19. Additionally, JazzAscona will contribute financially to the New Orleans Parade 2009 show, which will bring seven New Orleans musicians to Switzerland (Juanita Brooks, Wendell Brunious, Lars Edegran, Ronell Johnson, Seva Venet, Gerald French, and James Singleton), in addition to Sammy Rimington. 

 

Ciao! Luca Martinelli 

 

For more information www.jazzascona.com 

http://www.monteverita.org/monteverita/content.cfm