United Nations celebrated the
International Jazz Day with Serbian and Brazilian artists and a global audience
The fifth annual International Jazz Day (IJD) was
celebrated at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on May 3rd
with a jazz concert and a photo exhibit.
April 30th was first introduced
as IJD in 2011 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), on the initiative of one the jazz greats, pianist and
composer Herbie Hancock, and has become a global tradition ever since.
Organized by Danijela Milic, a UN staff member and an avid supporter of IJD, in
partnership with LeitmotivArts and the Portuguese Language Society with the
support of the Permanent Mission of Serbia to the UN, this unique event
combined two different art forms for one great cause.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Milic
quoted Herbie Hancock that "jazz is about being in the moment" which
was chosen as the theme for the event. Artists
from Brazil and Serbia illustrated this with "MOMENTS &
MOVEMENTS" combining the beautiful sounds of Brazilian and world jazz with
breathtaking photography.
Aleksandra
Denda from
Serbia and Sergio Pereira from Brazil
teamed up to bring world-class jazz to the UN. Aleksandra Denda is an internationally
recognised, New York-based vocalist, bandleader and songwriter. She released
her debut album “Dreamer” in March 2016 and took part in the IJD celebration on April 30th in
Washington D.C., the IJD Global Host City for 2016. Sergio Pereira is a
long-serving UN employee and also a talented guitar player and composer. After
making a guest appearance at the UN IJD celebration in 2014, he took the
stage to perform some of his original compositions from the upcoming album "Swingando"
featuring Brazilian jazz sounds.
https://aleksandradenda.
In the true spirit of improvisation, these two musicians hit the
stage together for the first time, delighting the audience with their
performance. The versatile repertoire
included “Save your love for me” by
Buddy Jonson, Jobim’s “Chega de caudade”
and Djavan’s “Flor de Lis”. The audience
was also treated to the original compositions which they masterfully performed
together: Pereira’s “My Girls” and
Denda’s “Willow Tree” which the
audience rewarded with long applauses.
Perfect accompaniments to the soulful music were the moments
captured by lenses of internationally published photographers Lazar
Zarupski from Serbia and Ana Cortez and Wagner Santiago, UN
employees
from Brazil. They presented a selection of nature shots taken in the
Balkans, North America and the Amazon, showing their own take on jazz: improvising and composing what's in the frame in
order to capture the moments and movements in nature and convey the emotion.
In thanking the artists for participating in this special event, Danijela
Milic said that she saw jazz as a form of dialogue that knows no boundaries and
unites people across the globe. This beautiful
experience of sights and sounds was enjoyed by UN officials and staff from
various world cultures, attesting to the true global character of jazz and arts
in general.
“Tonight in
this global house, these artists, who met for the first time, beautifully united
strings, voices and snapshots delighting the audience and capturing the true
spirit of the International Jazz Day” Milic said.
The photo exhibit will remain on display at the United Nations
through May 6th.
Photo 1: From left to right: Sergio Pereira, Aleksandra Denda, Ana
Cortez, Danijela Milic, Wagner Santiago. Lazar Zarupski's photographs in
the background.
Photo 2: Lazar Zarupski's "floating=jazz" (Montenegro, 2014)
