Annual Tbilisi Jazz Festival to Close Today

Tbilisi Jazz Festival draws to a close today at 7pm at Tbilisi Concert Hall, with young Georgian musician Papuna Sharikadze and his trio concert, plus special guest, famous bass player Eddie Gomez, performing at the final show. The legendary Stanley Clarke and his band will also be performing the same day. Beka Gochashvili, Georgian jazz musician, has been a member of the Stanley Clarke Band for several years now. 

A jazz-themed exhibition of young Georgian artist Irakli Chikovani entitled ‘Jazz Experiment’ will be on display in the Tbilisi Concert Hall foyer, prior to the concert. 

Alongside the concerts of world acclaimed jazz musicians, there were master classes held for Georgian students within the program of the 20th Tbilisi Jazz Festival, which started on November 2 and will finish today. 

The first ever jazz festival was held back in 1978 in Tbilisi; and out of the former Soviet countries, Georgia is said to be among the first to launch such a big musical event, with the second festival organized in 1986 and in 1989. After a hiatus of many years, the Jazz festival was relaunched in 2000. The Eastern Promotion company frequently organized alternative musical nights for jazz lovers, with Ray Charles, Manhattan Transfer, James Brown and many others performing in Tbilisi. 

From 2000 onwards, Tbilisi Jazz Festival has been an annual event, with only one gap due to the war with Russia in August of 2008. 

The Tbilisi Jazz Festival is sponsored by TBC Bank’s Personal Banking Service TBC Status. The Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia and Tbilisi City Hall are supporters of the festival.

By Nino Gugunishvili