Welcome to Havana, an open-air museum city that can be a jarring collision of historical and modern scenes at times and bursting with spellbinding music for sure. Your jazz festival Cuba tour begins every January! 

The Jazz festival of Havana also known as “Jazz Plaza” dates back from 1963.  The Leonardo Timor Jazz Big Band was at the epicenter of the event which marked an awakening of the Cuban jazz scene at the time. This jazz event has helped to bring attention to many Cuban musicians. Many of the Cuban artists who have performed at Jazz Plaza have gone on to be nominated for and even receive Grammy awards within the Latin Jazz category, with Chucho Valdes certainly remaining among the most globally renowned of them all.

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Cuba has consistently produced legendary jazz musicians like trumpet player Arturo Sandoval and sax player Paquito Rivera, former members of Cuba’s Irakere, a Grammy Award Cuban band founded by Chucho Valdez. Again, no surprise here as Cuba is the birthplace of the Latin Jazz, a combination of the Afro-Cuban clave beat, different Cuban rhythms and jazz harmonies. 

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A Look Back

The 33rd International Jazz Festival of Havana “Jazz Plaza 2018” took place in January. It drew the largest number of US musicians in its 30 plus year history. US jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and Grammy award winning US saxophonist Ted Nash delivered powerful performances. It also broke records of attendance by American jazz fans that were in attendance in record numbers at the numerous prestigious Havana venues that hosted the international jazz event such as the National Theatre of Cuba, the Havana’s Mella Theatre and Casa de la Cultura de Plaza.

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