Tonight (April 24) at 10 p.m. ET on PBS, a new special will bring viewers an inside look at the 2019 All-Star Global Concert from Melbourne, Australia celebrating International Jazz Day (April 30). The concert, which JazzTimes‘ Evan Haga reported from last year, featured performances by jazz artists from nearly a dozen countries, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock, Joey DeFrancesco, Kurt Elling, Ledisi, Jane Monheit, James Morrison, Antonio Sánchez, Somi, Ben Williams, and Lizz Wright, all under the musical direction of John Beasley.
If you can’t watch the concert tonight, go to the PBS website to stream it anytime.
Declared by UNESCO and recognized on the official calendar of the United Nations, International Jazz Day is the one day each year on which jazz is celebrated worldwide, bringing together people of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities in more than 190 countries on all seven continents. At the heart of every celebration is the All-Star Global Concert. This year the concert was originally set to take place in Cape Town, South Africa, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those plans had to be abandoned. However, International Jazz Day is still taking place on April 30, and a full slate of online activities to celebrate it are due to be announced, so watch this website.
