It’s the same every year: we have to wait for the second ten days of July to arrive, ready for Umbria Jazz, the event that came into being in 1973 and is now considered the most important jazz festival in Italy.
For ten days, Perugia becomes a spectacle: music invades the streets; from morning until late into the night, the piazzas are both colourful and resounding with music; many places in the city (the Carducci Gardens, the stadium of Santa Giuliana, teatro Morlacchi, the Galleria nazionale dell’Umbria and others) are involved in the party and in welcoming the floods of people who arrive from far and near. Night turns into day because it seems that the city never sleeps, caught up in the enjoyment of the music and the great weather that warm the heart and encourage the desire to spend hours and hours with other people. Whether Italian or foreign, invited artists are always of the highest calibre. This year, a number of names are star attractions, including Diana Krall, Paolo Conte, George Benson, Chick Corea, Max Gazzè, to mention but a few.
This beautiful event is the brainchild of the Perugino Carlo Pagnotta whose passion for jazz began as a boy and culminated in the realization of his dream to hear his favourite music in his own city. He is now the artistic director of the event and its president is Renzo Arbore, beloved television personality and musician, known to all for his irony, his creativity and love of improvisation, fundamental ingredients of every good piece. Played on whatever instrument, from piano to sax, from clarinet to double bass, jazz in Perugia fills order with fantasy, brings harmony to the balance of the entire band, thus filling our July nights with enchantment.
UMBRIA JAZZ 2019, 12-21 JULY
