Jazz lovers to convene to Amman Jazz Festival

AMMAN — The seventh edition of Amman Jazz Festival will kick off in Amman on Thursday, with different variations of the music genre expected to be performed during the festival.

The director of the festival Lama Hazboun said this year’s festival will present “heavy jazz music”, with troupes coming from Spain, Switzerland, France, Germany, Hungary and Sweden taking part in the event.

“We are going to showcase European, American, classical, modern and Latin jazz,” she told The Jordan Times on Monday, noting that six performances will be held at Haya Cultural Centre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

“After that, the activities will continue in informal venues until May 1,” she added.

Commenting on the limited number of activities planned for this year, Hazboun noted that a number of other festivals are going on at the same time.

“Even though this will be the smallest festival of them all, it is the only one specialised in jazz music,” she pointed out, noting that the new generation has started to embrace music in all its genres. 

“Jordan is now open to all kinds of music, especially those taught at public schools,” Hazboun added.

A number of workshops will also be held on the sidelines of the festival, according to the director, who said “this will help further promote the jazz festival in the Kingdom. We will be holding activities in Azraq and Um Qais so that people outside Amman can benefit from it.”

Funded by the EU and the EU National Institutes for Cultures, the event is organised in partnership with the embassies of Hungary, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Institut Francais, Goethe Institut and Instituto Cervantes.