Ascona Jazz Festival, or Jazz Ascona, is an annual jazz festival held in
Ascona
300px, Ascona
Ascona ( ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore.
The town is a popular tourist destination and holds the yearly Ascona Jazz Festival.
...
, Switzerland. The 10-day festival takes place from late June to early July on the Swiss shores of
Lake Maggiore
Lake Maggiore (, ; ; ; ; literally 'greater lake') or Verbano (; ) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest lake in Italy and the largest in southern Switzerland. The lake and its shoreline are divided be ...
and is devoted to historical styles of jazz, particularly
New Orleans jazz.
Under the direction of Nicolas Gilliet, Jazz Ascona features more than 200 concerts, 300 musicians, and events such as
gospel choirs,
jam sessions
''Jam Sessions'' is a guitar simulation software title and music game for the Nintendo DS that was originally based on the Japan-only title ''Sing & Play DS Guitar M-06'' (''Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06'') originally developed by Plato and relea ...
,
exhibits
An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...
,
conferences
A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...
, and
films
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...
.
Ascona Jazz Award
Established in 2006, the
Ascona Jazz Awards recognizes individuals from the jazz world who distinguished themselves during the previous year or during their career. The award is presented annually during the Jazz Ascona festival and is supported by the municipality of Ascona.
* 2006
Pepe Lienhard, big band director, Switzerland;
Lillian Boutté, singer and World Ambassor of New Orleans Music (Special Award)
* 2007
Red Holloway, saxophonist, U.S., Father Jerome Ledoux (Special Award)
* 2008
Donald Harrison, saxophonist and
Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief
* 2009
Rossano Sportiello, pianist, Italy
* 2010
Shannon Powell and
Herlin Riley, drummers, U.S.
* 2011
Lionel Batiste
"Uncle" Lionel Batiste (February 11, 1931 – July 8, 2012) was an American jazz and blues musician and singer from New Orleans. He began his music career at the age of 11 playing bass drum with the Square Deal Social & Pleasure Club. He was the ...
, singer, Grand Marshal and bass drummer, U.S., and
Paul Kuhn, singer, pianist, Germany
* 2012
Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas ( Lee; born February 18, 1941) is an American singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans".
Thomas is a contemporary of Aretha Franklin and Etta James, but never experienced their level of commercial succ ...
, singer, U.S.
* 2013
Gerald French, drummer, U.S.
* 2014
Stephen Perry, president and CEO, New Orleans Visitors & Convention Bureau, U.S.
* 2015
Irvin Mayfield, trumpeter, composer, band leader, U.S.
* 2016
Davell Crawford, singer, pianist, band leader, U.S.
* 2017
Jon Cleary, pianist, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter, U.S.
See also
*
Estival Jazz
References
{{reflist
Jazz festivals in Switzerland
Ascona
Tourist attractions in Ticino
Summer in Switzerland
Culture in Ticino