The first full day at JazzAscona 2024 offers numerous rendez-vous. Two fixed appointments that you’ll be able to enjoy daily are the traditional jazz concerts at lunchtime on the Blue Llama Terrace (today with Jack in The Box – it’s best to reserve a table) and the free dance workshops in the early evening at Piazzale Elvezia (today with some Lindy Hop).

Tonight is also the opening of Yuri Catania’s New Orleans Journey exhibition at the Museo Comunale di Arte Moderna, which will be featured until September. The exhibition presents a series of works that delve into Jazz Off The Wall, the incredible street art exhibition to be seen on some  40 public and private buildings in Ascona with large-scale works representing musicians that made the festival’s history.  Discover them by strolling through the streets! The exhibit  was created especially for JazzAscona’s 40th edition of.

The evening’s musical highlights are many. Various genres can be discovered on the lakeshore: from Malika Kaita and the young HSLU students’ Afro-jazz of  to the powerhouse swing of SwingRocket from Australia, from the Balkan atmosphere of Mirakolo to the Chicago Stompers’ jazz of the 20s/30s.

Stars of the evening are the American blueswoman Vanessa Collier (10.00 pm at Stage Chiesa), Eliza Sonnenschein & The Sunshine Avenue Band (don’t miss the new soul voice from New Orleans, at Stage New Orleans, 10.30 pm) and at the end of the evening, straight from the Big Easy, the queen of trad jazz Meschiya Lake with The Jungle Jazz Band (Blue LLama Terrace, from midnight).