July 30, Wednesday
Oleg Akkuratov-Kate Davis Trio/USA-Russia
Till Brönner (trumpet) and his band/Germany
Cassandra Wilson (vocal) and her band/USA
July 31, Thursday
Igor Butman (saxophone)/Russia, Fantine (vocal)/Australia and Moscow Jazz Orchestra/Russia
Lee Ritenour Band feat. Dave Grusin/USA
Gino Vannelli Band/USA
Igor Butman Music Group and Arkady Ukupnik Producing Center present the First international World Jazz Festival in Riga!
Everybody knows that Riga, the European capital of culture’2014, became the cultural epicenter of Europe! The World Jazz Festival will be one of the highlights of the year’s cultural program in Latvia, that will draw attention of many jazz admirers from all over Europe and prove that Riga is one the most important jazz centers of the world. The festival will be an important step towards building up tighter cultural contacts between Baltic States and Russia too: The World Jazz Festival will feature Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian and Russian jazzmen on one stage!
The World Jazz Festival thrills with its line up: among the headliners of the festival are an outstanding Grammy award winning singer Cassandra Wilson, jazz rock and fusion legends guitarist Lee Ritenour and pianist Dave Grusin, superstar of European jazz, trumpet player and vocalist TIll Bronner, legendary American vocalist Gino Vanelli, Australian diva Fantine and world famous saxophone player Igor Butman and his Moscow State Jazz Orchestra!
On July 30 and 31, 2014 Riga will live a real jazz life! Free open air concerts will feature Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, Russian and US jazz musicians and will take place on the largest city’s square – Dome Square. Сoncerts of the headliners will be held at Riga Arena, and you can also get to the festival’s night jam sessions at “Studio 69”.