Wayne Shorter Receives Gold Medal Award in Barcelona

Wednesday December 02, 2009

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the the Voll-Damm Barcelona International Jazz Festival in 2008, the festival initiated it’s Gold Medal Award. The first recipient was Bebo Valdés. This year’s recipient was Wayne Shorter – in honor of the outstanding impact that he has had in jazz history, and still has with his quartet today. Shorter first played the Barcelona festival during the second edition of the festival in 1967. Miles Davis was slated to play with his quintet but left the city before the concert, leaving Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams to play as the Wayne Shorter Quartet. The award was presented immediately preceding Shorter’s performance on October 28th, 2009.

Spain saw its first professional jazz festival in 1966. It started with a concert at the amazing Palau de la Música in Barcelona, featuring pianist Dave Brubeck with his classical quartet. Despite surviving the hostile times of the Franco dictatorship, the festival ceased operations between the years of 1977 and 1980, which were surprisingly in the first years of democracy. Since the late ’80s, the festival has been organized by The Project, event organizers whose projects reach upwards of 500,000 people annually. In 2009, the festival celebrated its 41st anniversary with a diverse program that, once again, placed it among the pre-eminent fall European jazz festivals.

For more info on the festival click here

Joy Ryder	11:20	Wayne Shorter
Footprints	7:55	Wayne Shorter

[+] open in new window

Watch what's on

Prometheus Unbound
*Over Shadow Hill Way

[+] open in new window

News Archive

IMN - International Music Network