An event to mark the 10th annual International Jazz Day, 30 April, is to take place in the UK. The World Heart Beat Music Academy, in partnership with the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy, is to present a concert titled TOGETHER WE GO FORWARD, featuring young jazz musicians from London. The concert will be live streamed on the big day from 7pm.
The organisers promise “wonderful jazz music of the late American composer Chick Corea, American jazz saxophonist and composer Charlie Parker and much more!”
Among those involved in delivering World Heart Beat’s educational programme are pianist Trevor Watkis, saxophonist Tony Kofi and trumpeter Byron Wallen. Julian Joseph’s academy offers players 9-24 the opportunity to develop their skills though “exploring the American roots of jazz”.
International Jazz Day, co-chaired by Herbie Hancock, was declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2011 “to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe.” It comes at the end of Jazz Appreciation Month, introduced by the National Museum of American History in 2001 and in 2021 focusing on “Women’s Impact and Contributions in Jazz”.
