The 2022 edition of the Plaza de Cuba International Jazz Festival ends today after five days of concerts, theoretical meetings and master sessions by musicians. 

Starting with the opening by Ignacio “Nachito” Herrera, the festival welcomed international exponents of the genre such as Marieke Louix (Belgium), Javier Malosetti (Argentina), Dominic Miller and Haley Gray (United States), Radovan Tariska (Slovakia), Mikedel Ferro (Holland), Pekka Pylkkanen (Finland), Sebastián Carmelo Armas (Spain), among others.

The National Theater of Cuba, the Bertolt Bretcht Cultural Center, the Castillo de la Punta and other venues hosted the presentations that end on Sunday with the concert by Germán Velasco together with José Luis Cortés, César López, Cuban Sax Quintet, Orlando Valle, Javier Zalba, Jorge Reyes, Héctor Quintana, Adel González and the Big Band.

One of the special moments of the event was the concert named “From Blues to Timba-from Timba to Jazz” by the founder of the event Bobby Carcassés with his Big Band Afrojazz, which included musicians Cesar López, Roberto Carcassés, Jamil Shery, Edgar Martínez, Octavio Kotan, Tanmy López, Miguel Ángel García, Belinda Guerra and Laura Valdivia.

The winner of the 2012 National Music Award premiered the song Guajira Blues, accompanied by the voice and violin of Tammy López; Carcásses at the piano, and guests of the stature of saxophonist López and vocalist Zule Guerra.

The event also dedicated a space to theory, with the Leonardo Acosta in memoriam International Colloquium, which consisted of a series of conferences, panels, presentations, audiovisual screenings, master classes, magazine presentations, and record releases, during which tribute was paid to trumpeter José Miguel Crego (El Greco), who recently passed away and whose legendary talent in improvisation was remembered by instrumentalists such as Roberto García, Julio Padrón, Yasek Manzano and Mayquel González.