On the first day of the Koktebel Jazz Party, the US jazz band Sasha’s Bloc will perform for the audience. Dmitry Kiselev called this jazz band a discovery for himself and KJP.
Having learned about this, frontman Alexander Gershman noted that these words meant a lot to him, since he respects Dmitry Kiselev as a person with a refined taste.
“We are delighted that he liked our music. He did something incredible by bringing us here – we understand that very well. But this does not put responsibility on us, because jazz cannot have responsibility. We want our music to reach people – that's all we care about,” he said during a news conference at the Koktebel Jazz Party festival.
Alexander Gershman also mentioned that he and Dmitry Kiselev are working on a new project – a feature film about jazz.
“We want to make it a brilliant film. It seems to me that, as I know Soviet cinema well enough, since the time of classic films like "Circus" or "Funny Guys" (maybe I'm missing something), there have not been any good musical films with an interesting plot,” said the jazzman.
The Koktebel Jazz Party international festival is taking place in the artistic village of Koktebel on August 20-22. According to the organizing committee, in order to access the venue guests are required to provide a negative PCR test dated no earlier than August 18, 2021, test of antibodies to COVID-19 S-protein dated no earlier than May 25, 2021, or a COVID-19 vaccination certificate. Performers, VIP guests, the festival’s personnel and journalists are also required to provide one of the three documents: a vaccination certificate, test of antibodies or a negative PCR test.
This year, Koktebel Jazz Party performances will be held in a new format: the shows will be filmed. The festival streams can be found on its website and social media accounts. The number of spectators will be limited.
Koktebel Jazz Party was established in 2003 and it was the idea of journalist Dmitry Kiselev. In different years, the festival was attended by jazz drummer Jimmy Cobb (US), winner of a Grammy Award for the best Latin Jazz album Gonzalo Rubalcaba (Cuba), many-time Grammy winner trumpeter Randy Brecker (US), best baritone saxophonist of the last decade Gary Smulyan (US), nu-jazz stars Club Des Belugas (Germany), and one of the most talented representatives of the modern world blues scene, guitarist Selwyn Birchwood (US).
Vladimir Putin was a guest of KJP-2017. The festival is organized by the Krasny Kvadrat (Red Square) media group.