JazzAscona 2024, between high emotions and weather alerts
Between windstorms, flashes of lightning and under a leaden, threatening sky, the 40th edition of JazzAscona came to a close on Saturday evening. The edition has been successful without a doubt. The bad weather and uninviting temperatures tried to spoil the party, but failed to do so.
The organisers are more than satisfied, with President Guido Casparis in the lead. The new formula with free access to all shows, introduced in 2022, has proved its worth, Casparis observes, as the festival no longer needs to finance itself with revenue from the public. “The bad weather tried to get in our way, keeping us constantly alert and with one eye on the forecast radar, we were challenged on several occasions, particularly on the first Saturday, when wind and rain battered the stages, forcing us to cancel the Swiss Army Big Band performance on the main stage as well as other concerts. With so many rainy and cloudy days, the turnout clearly fell short of expectations and we also had to compete with the European Football Championship. It is clear that when there are matches like Switzerland-Germany or Switzerland-Italy at the same time, the competition is fierce” says Guido Casparis.
“Having said that,” the president emphasises, “the festival works and holds its full potential, as demonstrated by the crowd attending on Thursday and Friday evening, when we were graced by warm, summery weather”. Casparis’ optimism is reinforced by the public’s positive feedback regarding the music programme, by the sponsors, by the strengthened ties with the authorities of our sister city New Orleans and last but not least the success of the many collateral activities proposed for the first time, such as the well-attended daily dance workshops on the piazza, the jazz cruise on the lake, the late concerts at the festival lounge or the extra muros Locarn’Orleans event, in collaboration with Casinò di Locarno.
Among the many projects that have positively marked this 40th edition, we’d like to mention also Jazz Off The Wall, with its forty murals created by Yuri Catania throughout the old town, starting with the large-scale artwork on the Library wall, which has meanwhile become one of Ascona’s favourite photo spots. A great promotional initiative for the festival, with long-lasting effect, thanks also to the exhibition hosted at the Museo Comunale d’Arte Moderna (Ascona’s Museum of Modern Art) until September.
The programme shaped by Matt Zschokke and Nolan Quinn, offered a rich menu, probably the richest so far, with over 300 concerts, 400 artists and some 60 bands taking turns on the lakefront stages, in public venues and in alleyways throughout the old town.
This year’s edition confirmed and strengthened a trend that had already manifested itself aver the last few years, namely the festival’s desire to broaden JazzAscona’s stylistic and musical range. In addition to the always well-represented jazz-related genres (from 1920s jazz to swing, up to mainstream and more contemporary forms), the audience was able to hear – even on the main stages – flamenco, Caribbean music, Balkan-inspired music, as well as Latin, world music and even hip hop, not to mention plenty of funk, blues and soul. This variety appealed to the festival’s diverse audience and particularly to the younger public, which was noticeably on the rise especially in the second half of the evenings.
In addition to the quality of the music to be heard during 10 days, the festival will also go down in history for the massive support given to the very well represented Swiss music scene and to the numerous opportunities given to younger bands and musicians, on which the festival management continues to focus decisively thanks to the Groovin’Up programme.
Among the many groups that particularly stood out were the very elegant straight ahead jazz of the Claus Raible Trio, two exceptional big bands such as the Swiss Jazz Orchestra (winner of the Swiss Jazz Award 2024) and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, the Scottish funk band Tom McGuire & the Brassholes with its overflowing energy, the ORGANIC BREW ensemble with the two hammond organ players Andi Appignani and Alberto Marsico (truly a great project), the flamenco of La de Triana, without forgetting the exciting soul voice of Nnavy (truly a name to keep on your musical radar) and Meschiya Lake & the Jungle Jazz Band, who demonstrated during ten days, that trad jazz remains a very enjoyable and appealing genre, that is very much appreciated also by the younger audience when played and sung at these levels.
The organizers would like to wholeheartedly thank the artists, audience, sponsors, supporters and all of the festival staff and look forward to the forty-first edition, which will take place from June 26 to July 5, 2025.