CLASSIC JAZZ

– music from Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker

The Creative Director of Baltic Jazz, legendary Finnish jazz musician Antti Sarpila, defines the Classic Jazz-style played at the festival as: “music that was born in New Orleans at the beginning of the last century, spread along the Mississippi River, flourished during the roaring 20s in a Chicago dominated by the Prohibition-era and gangsters, culminated in New York during the swing era of the 1930s and 1940s, and finally shifted to a bebop-style virtuoso art form after World War II”. During this short period of time, an invaluable cultural heritage emerged and it is not possible to sufficiently emphasize how important it is to nurture this heritage.