On Stage: International Jazz Day Highlights from Past Years

On Sunday, April 29, KUVO’s archive show “On Stage” features music from previous International Jazz Day global concerts.

International Jazz Day has been celebrated since 2012. It is coordinated annually by UNESCO and its Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock. We’ll share recordings made at Istanbul (2013), Osaka, Japan (2014), Paris, France (2015), Washington, D.C. (2016) and Havana, Cuba (2017).

Music director for the global concert John Beasley puts together a diverse, eclectic ensemble that changes song-to-song, and venue-to-venue. The rhythm section often includes Terri Lyne Carrington on drums and James Genus on bass, but Esperanza Spalding and T.S. Monk are frequent contributors to the new traditional world-class jazz jam. Steve Turre has played his conch shells alongside the Taiko Masters drum ensemble. There’s always a little local flavor, and we’ll play back what the astronauts on the International Space Station thought about the concert one year. According to UNESCO, “partners on the seven continents will celebrate jazz as a universal language of peace on International Jazz Day, celebrated every year on 30 April.”

This early celebration of International Jazz Day comes to you on the next edition of “On Stage,” this Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m., only on KUVO Jazz!