On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, (March 17, 18 and 19) Avenida Chapultepec and environs will rev up with a music festival initiated 12 years ago by the government of France and continued every year since then by Guadalajara City Hall.
But for 2012 there are a couple of unusual twists — a focus on jazz and the spring date, chosen this year to avoid the midsummer rain.
“The festival has an eminently French spirit,” said Guadalajara Alianza Francesa’s Gabriel Martin. The French cultural organization is involved this year by bringing the group P18, which, incidentally is not classified as jazz, but as World Music, one genre featured Saturday, before the days of pure jazz Sunday and Monday. (Other genres Saturday will be Latin rhythms, children’s, classical, reggae, ska and rock.)
But the two days of pure jazz are what have a lot of people talking. “The program is more interesting this year because there are new genres,” said Martin.
“Jazz is evolving in Guadalajara, at least from the musicians’ point of view,” said young singer Monica Zuloaga, who will perform Monday, 4 p.m. with the Klaus Mayer Big Band. The group is known for its Frank Sinatra and Glenn Miller repertoire.
“There are many jazz musicians in Guadalajara,” she emphasized, counting more than 20 good, local jazz groups. “There is a public too, but we need places to play. I can see more and more people interested, and they are from every age and economic level. The public is still growing into jazz. I played in the middle of Plaza Galerias recently. Children and young people were coming up to us and getting into it.”The singer, whose mother and grandparents are American, said her mother was a classical pianist and her grandmother used to sing jazz songs to her when she was a little girl.
“Unfortunately, there is no music education here in any school. But once people are exposed to jazz, even if it’s not the easiest music to listen to, they fall in love with it, even without knowing it’s jazz per se.”
Clubs that specialize in jazz, Zuloaga said, are Primer Piso (corner Pedro Moreno and Escorza) and Andre Breton (Juan Manuel near Teatro Degollado). Another well known venue that often has jazz is Rojo Cafe (Guadalupe Zuno near corner Chapultepec). Zuloaga will sing with Smoke Rings at Rojo Cafe on Friday, March 23, 9 p.m., for a cover of 80 pesos.
“These are eclectic places, where people of different ages come and sit down and get a glass of wine and nothing else,” she said.
This weekend’s festival starts off Saturday, March 17, with 40 multi-genre bands playing on six different stages near Chapultepec, Avenida Mexico and Avenida Americas, from 3 p.m. to midnight. The high-profile performers tend to play later in the evening, such as the French “world music” group P18 at midnight at Avenida Mexico and Pedro Buzeta, preceded by San Pascualito Rey at 11 p.m.
As for the jazz performers Sunday, highlights are Sara Valenzuela at 7 p.m., Troker at 11 p.m. and Los Dorados at midnight (on the corner of Avenidas Chapultepec and Justo Sierra).
Saturday’s highlights are Klaus Mayer Big Band with Monica Zuloaga at 4 p.m., Sherele at 9 p.m. and Señor Mandril at 11 p.m.
See http://www.cultura.guadalajara.gob.mx/node/742. Contact Monica Zuloaga at www.soundcloud.com/monicazuloaga. Rojo Cafe: www.rojocafe.com.