Kazan to bring together more than 150 jazzmen from BRICS+ countries

“This is an immersion into the jazz atmosphere of the entire capital,” this is how head of the Investment Development Agency of Tatarstan Taliya Minullina described the upcoming congress of *dixieland jazz players from BRICS+ countries in Kazan. The event began on 26 August and will last three days, until 30 August. Read about where you can listen to jazz from foreign performers and what gift the guests will present to Tatarstan residents for Republic Day in a report of Realnoe Vremya.

152 jazz performers from 12 countries will attend the congress

The congress of Dixieland jazz players from BRICS+ countries Jazz Unites Us was included in the calendar of events within the BRICS during the Russian chairmanship. The organising committee of the event is headed by the Investment Development Agency of Tatarstan. This choice is not accidental. According to Minister of Culture of the republic Irada Ayupova, the investment agency acted as the ideologist of the event from the very beginning, considering it as an element of promoting the image of the republic and the country in the world. Such events are a good way to attract a business tourist who is interested in doing business in the cultural sphere, explained head of the agency Taliya Minullina.

She said that 152 jazz performers from 12 countries were expected at the festival. Musicians from Brazil, India, China, Egypt, Turkey, Cuba, Ecuador, Nigeria, Colombia, Iran and others will play for the city residents. As for Russian performers, orchestras from Moscow, St Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod and Chelyabinsk will come to Kazan.

The organisers are confident that the festival will help representatives of all these nations establish connections with each other. After all, as Taliya Minullina noted, music is the shortest path to spiritual unity.

The festival locations are distributed throughout Kazan

Dixieland Jazz Parade will be one of the central events of the festival, which will take place on 29 August on Bauman and Peterburgskaya streets. On the same day, a festive concert will take place on the square near the Kamal Theatre, which will last for five hours, and on 30 August, there will be a jazz marathon, which was included in the general programme of the concert for the Day of Tatarstan and Kazan. On the last day of the festival, jazzmen will also perform at the Kazan Family Centre.

A special gift awaits Tatarstan residents in honour of Republic Day. A joint orchestra will play the folk song Ay, Bylbylym in a jazz arrangement, and the children's big band (Editor’s note: a type of large jazz ensemble) will the famous Min Yaratam Sine, Tatarstan. This was reported by author of the project and head of the production group Mikhail Freidlin.

In general, the festival will cover all Kazan, the organisers assured the audience. Film screenings about jazz will be held in Aksyonov Square, Fisherman's Garden and on the embankment of Lake Kaban. The congress participants will perform live music in a number of locations in the city. Among them are the Krylya Sovetov Park, Uritsky Park, Gorkinsko-Ometevsky Forest, the park near the Ekiyat Puppet Theatre, points near the monuments to Gumilev and Shalyapin and also near the clock on Bauman Street.

“The message was to try to experiment, to bring these groups to new venues. Many venues are very close to where people live, so that ordinary people can go out, maybe even from the windows of their houses, to listen to music,” Irada Ayupova commented on the choice of venues.

The jazzmen will play in a boat on Lake Kaban, and on a pleasure boat, and even in a tour bus.

“It’s not just about music. It’s also an accompanying event about the history of jazz. It’s cinema in parks, cinema in movie theaters, a tourist double-decker bus that will create a mood for both Kazan residents and guests of the capital, and a motor ship, and a boat. And radio stations will be tuned to the jazz frequency,” said head of the Culture Department of the Kazan Executive Committee Azat Abzalov.