Festival de Jazz Vitoria-Gasteiz
The Festival de Jazz Vitoria-Gasteiz is an international jazz festival in Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Spanish Basque Country that has existed since 1977 and takes place every year in July .
At first it only took place for two days, since 1995 a full week. The festival grew from small beginnings - Oscar Peterson and Muddy Waters performed as early as 1981 , with Ella Fitzgerald (with Joe Pass ), Dizzy Gillespie (who performed with Stan Getz ), Sarah Vaughan , Jaco Pastorius (with Mike Stern ), Chick Corea , Bobby McFerrin (with Herbie Hancock ), Benny Carter , Wynton Marsalis (with Paco de Lucía ), Al Jarreau (with Randy Crawford ), Pat Metheny (with John Scofield ), Esbjörn Svensson , Jamie Cullum (with José James ) and others followed.
Musicians like Joe Pass, Herb Ellis , Ray Brown , Wynton Marsalis and Pat Metheny not only performed but also taught.
The venue is the Mendizorrotza sports arena (with 4000 seats) and the Antzokia theater.
At the request of the festival, Wynton Marsalis composed the first movements of his Vitoria Suite for its 25th anniversary , which he performed in its entirety on the festival's 30th anniversary. In 2009 the suite was played with the Lincoln Center Orchestra for the first time with Paco de Lucía as a dress rehearsal for the recording at the festival.
In 2012 Sonny Rollins , Stefano Bollani , Joshua Redman and The Bad Plus , Joe Lovano with the Dave Douglas Quintet, The Soul Rebels, Gilberto Gil , Esperanza Spalding , the Fred Hersch Trio and the Pat Metheny Unity Band performed.
In 2013 Chick Corea (& The Vigil), Paco de Lucía , the Big Sur Sextet by Bill Frisell , Jacky Terrasson , Melody Gardot , Branford Marsalis Tete Montoliu , Francesco Tristano , Ben Williams and Ibrahim Maalouf performed .
It belongs to the festival organization IJFO (International Jazz Festival Organization).
Discographic notes
Recordings of some concerts at the festival have been released on audio media:
- Linda Sharrock Live in Vitoria-Gasteiz (1995, with Wolfgang Puschnig , Arto Tunçboyacıyan )
- Danilo Rea Lost In Europe (2000)
- Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra / Wynton Marsalis feat. Paco de Lucía Vitoria Suite (2009)