III International Jazz Festival was a big success! T his
year the festival was held under the patronage of the RA Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. The RA Ministry of Culture, the Yerevan City Council, the US Embassy, the general partner of the festival – “ArArAt” Yerevan Brandy Company, the general
The end of the year in Yerevan was marked by the concert of the famous bass player and composer Marcus Miller that opened the III International Jazz Festival, organized by the Armenian Jazz Association.
sponsor of the festival – “Ardshinbank” CJSC, “Gazprom Armenia” CJSC, “Rosgosstrakh Armenia” Insurance CJSC, “Yerevan Travel”, the main information partner “H1” Public TV Company, the “Armenia Tourism” magazine also had their significant involvement in the festival. Yerevan music lovers got the opportunity to listen not only to Miller, but also to the famous Cuban pianist, the multiple Grammy winner Gonzalo Rubalcaba, the French saxophonist Alexis Avakyan, the remarkable saxophonist Igor Butman, Senegalese Pako Sarr, the Armenian Navy Band and Arto Tunçboyacıyan, Vahagn Hayrapetyan, the State Jazz Orchestra of Armenia and many
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other Armenian musicians. And more importantly, the performances were held both in Yerevan and partially in Gyumri. When asked how it was possible to invite Miller, the honorary president of the association, jazzman Levon Malkhasyan said, “This is, of course, due to the outstanding contribution of the president of our association, the founder of the “Mezzo” holding, Kamo Movsesyan and his remarkable “Mezzo Production” team. It all started when my friends went to the concert of Marcus in Tbilisi and after his performance, they wanted to meet him at the afterparty. They turned on the GPS to determine the coordinates of the local jazz club, and it speci-
fied the nearest jazz club as “Malkhas” at 300 kilometers from the given point. At first, it all made us laugh, then it was forgotten ... Perchance, and then, as a result of the coordinated efforts of the Kamo’s team and with the support of our good friends it became possible to invite the star of world jazz to the capital of Armenia! “By the way, this year Marcus Miller, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Igor Butman became the honorary members of the Armenian Jazz Association. The president of the association Kamo Movsesyan granted the certificates to them personally. The expectations of the organizers with a view to a tangible cultural amusement in the form of jazz fans from abroad were also met. A large group of “fans”, our compatriots from Russia came with Igor Butman, we also had guests from the US and Europe. In a word, the festival was a big success, not only expanding the “geographical scope” of the participants and fans, but also rising to a new qualitative level. We hope that the festival will continue to thrive, and wish the organizers strength and patience for the upcoming April World Jazz Day that Armenia was among the first to celebrate, and, of course, for the 80th anniversary of Armenian jazz. We are expecting pleasant surprises!