National and Local Premieres, Musical Variety, and Lots of Emotion: The First Artist Announcement of 2024 for Jazz in the Park!
As we’ve come to expect over the last three years, February marks the first artist announcement for Jazz in the Park! The first names confirmed for the 12th edition are: Cymande (UK), Avishai Cohen Trio (IL), Manu Katche (FR), Tigran Hamasyan Trio (AM), Jazzanova Live (DE), Kinga Glyk (POL), KRiSPER (RO), Amphitrio (RO), Oreglo (UK), and Wasted Generation (IT)!
The 12th edition of Jazz in the Park will take place from August 30 to September 1, in the “Romulus Vuia” Ethnographic Park in Cluj-Napoca. With 4 stages in the festival and one night stage, many specially curated activities, and over 40 concerts, the organizers have prepared what promises to be the most special edition yet.
The public can purchase subscriptions at the lowest price available, namely 300 lei, until March 15, making Jazz in the Park potentially the most accessible music festival in Romania!
Audience Favorites: Avishai Cohen Trio, Tigran Hamasyan Trio, and Jazzanova
Following feedback surveys conducted in 2023 by the Jazz in the Park team among festival-goers, it emerged that these three names have many fans in Romania. Also, none of these bands have ever performed in Cluj before.
“We are very fond of the people in the Jazz in the Park community and are grateful to feel their support and involvement in all our efforts. That’s why, I think, the joy is even greater for us when we manage to confirm artists they’ve requested. This year, it happened not with just one, but with three names. It wasn’t easy, given that the Jazz in the Park period is atypical for tours, but we managed. When your motivation is a growing community, things fall nicely into place. Today’s announcement is proof.” – Denisa Dan, festival manager.
Cymande: Funk Loaded with History and an Unprecedented Life Story!
Perhaps the biggest coup this year by Jazz in the Park is bringing the British band Cymande, one of the most important living funk bands. Named by The Guardian as “the classic funk band you didn’t know you knew,” Cymande is among the most sampled bands in history, their music influencing the global explosion of the hip-hop movement. Over time, Cymande’s chords have been used by Fugees, Wu-tang Clan, De la Soul, Gang Starr, and are frequently found on the soundtracks of Guy Ritchie’s films.
“It was a calculated risk to bring Cymande to the festival. Somehow, we expected them not to be as well-known in Eastern Europe, but the final decision was influenced by our responsibility to educate musically. Cymande is a lesson in history and life, a band that pioneered the funk genre in Europe and influenced the birth and expansion of hip-hop globally. Probably, this will be the only time they come to Romania, so this concert is very important to us, and the emotional charge will be very high,” said Alin Vaida, founder and curator of Jazz in the Park.
Starting in 2024, the movie “Getting it back: the story of Cymande,” a documentary about the life and influence of this band, will be screened in cinemas.
Focus on Young Artists
The Jazz in the Park team publicly acknowledges its desire not only to promote the big names of the genre but also to discover and support young bands choosing a career in jazz. Here we find Kinga Glyk, a Polish artist considered to be the successor of Marcus Miller on bass, Wasted Generation, a new project supported by the “Puglia Sounds” Cultural Institute from Italy, Oreglo: the future of jazz in the UK, and KRiSPER and Amphitrio: two Romanian jazz projects, both promising.
Festival Activities: Just as Important as the Music
Over time, Jazz in the Park has built a reputation for producing quality, carefully curated festival content, aimed at enhancing the participants’ experience. It’s the only festival in Romania that encourages practicing music as a hobby and promotes audio equipment for those who want to listen better. To make the festival experience complete, we focus on special culinary moments as well as complementary activities, designed for audiences of all ages.
“One of Jazz in the Park’s greatest strengths is the way it makes you feel. For that, we put every piece together, contributing to this sense of well-being. Even though the musical component is the highlight of the festival, our activities are what complete the audience’s experience at Jazz in the Park.” – said Denisa Dan.
Tickets Available at a Special Price, Limited Quantity
The festival has a limited capacity of 7,000 people per day, including the organizational team and volunteers. Only 5,000 subscriptions are for sale, currently available at the lowest possible price of 300 lei. From March 15, they will be priced at 399 lei, and from July 23, the final price will be 475 lei. “The 2023 edition greatly helped us in growing our community of supporters. We’ve seen an increase in the number of subscriptions sold compared to last year, without yet doing anything special. We hope from the bottom of our hearts to reach a point where we’ll be sold out right after the first announcement. The festival’s growth in recent years has even surprised us pleasantly. Nowadays, it’s not easy to promote a musical niche and have so many fans,” says Alin Vaida.
ABOUT JAZZ IN THE PARK
Jazz in the Park is a manifesto festival that combines good music with the promotion of positive values in the community. The festival has so far hosted over 450 jazz concerts with international artists and is today one of the most important European festivals of its kind. In 2019, Jazz in the Park won the trophy for the “Best Small European Festival” at the 11th edition of the prestigious European Festival Awards, thus becoming the first jazz festival in Europe (and, by extension, Romania) to receive such an accolade at this event. Moreover, the festival was a finalist five times in the same category, with the latest nomination being for last year’s edition.
Jazz in the Park events are organized by Fapte, an association that develops people and communities through cultural events. The 2024 calendar includes:
- Jazz in the Park Competition | “Simion Bărnuțiu” Central Park | July 5 – 7
- Jazz in the Park Festival | “Romulus Vuia” Ethnographic Park | August 30 – September 1
- Music Gallery | The Art Museum of Cluj-Napoca | October 4 – 25
Main Partners: BRD – Groupe Société Générale, Birra Moretti, DIGI
Partners: IQOS, Pepsi, Crush Wine Shop, RMB Inter Auto, Farmec, Brico Dépôt, Daisler Print House, 8×8, Iulius Mall
Institutional partners are the Mayor’s Office and Local Council of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County Council, The Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania, Europe Jazz Network, The Romanian Association of Concert Organizers.
Media partners: Rock FM, Euronews Romania, HAPP.ro, Metropolis Newspaper, Scena9, Radio Romania Cluj, Ziua de Cluj, Visit Cluj.
