Havana Jazz Festival is an annual music event taking place every January in downtown Havana, Cuba. The week-long festival is focused on Latin jazz, based on Afro-Cuban rhythms and popular dance music. The festival features about 120 established and emerging performers from Cuba and other countries. Concerts take place in 15 venues, ranging from concert halls, like Casa de la Cultura de Plaza, Teatro Nacional de Cuba, Teatro Amadeo Roldán, Teatro Karl Marx, to smaller clubs and restaurants. Visitors can also enjoy improvised street jam sessions along the coast on bustling Malecon Street.
Havana International Jazz Festival was founded in 1978 by Bobby Carcasses and other Cuban Jazz musicians. Over the years, the lineup of the festival has included renowned artists, like pianist Chucho Valdes. Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Charlie Haden, Roy Hargrove, Jack DeJohnette, Arthur O'Farrill, Joe Lavano, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ted Nash, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. Tank and the Bangas, The Soul Rebels, Cimafunk, Los Brujos, Big Energy Ensemble, CaboCubaJazz, the Cords Quartet, Bellita y Jazztumbata, Habana d' Primera, Cesar Lopez y Habana Ensemble, Habana Sax and other well-known bands performed at the festival.
