As per tradition, the festival was opened by its founder, Dmitry Kiselev. Against all odds, Koktebel Jazz Party has shown extraordinary resilience, and for the 19th year in a row, jazz musicians from all over the world have come to the festival to play exquisite jazz on the seashore, he noted.
“Thank you for coming; you are strong-willed, and you are the best. Now you feel like passengers aboard a plane: people will come up to you and remind you that it is necessary to wear masks at all times. We are following Rospotrebnadzor’s recommendations, and we are doing this in an intentional way,” Dmitry Kiselev stressed.
This year, Koktebel Jazz Party can only seat 300 spectators due to the health restrictions.
“You all have a duty: to applaud three times louder than usual. Our musicians deserve this,” Kiselev concluded.
The Koktebel Jazz Party international festival is taking place in the artistic village of Koktebel on August 20-22. According to the organizing committee, in order to access the venue guests are required to provide a negative PCR test dated no earlier than August 18, 2021, test of antibodies to COVID-19 S-protein dated no earlier than May 25, 2021, or a COVID-19 vaccination certificate. Performers, VIP guests, the festival’s personnel and journalists are also required to provide one of the three documents: a vaccination certificate, test of antibodies or a negative PCR test.
This year, Koktebel Jazz Party performances will be held in a new format: the shows will be filmed. The festival streams can be found on its website and social media accounts. The number of spectators will be limited.
Koktebel Jazz Party was established in 2003 and it was the idea of journalist Dmitry Kiselev. In different years, the festival was attended by jazz drummer Jimmy Cobb (US), winner of a Grammy Award for the best Latin Jazz album Gonzalo Rubalcaba (Cuba), many-time Grammy winner trumpeter Randy Brecker (US), best baritone saxophonist of the last decade Gary Smulyan (US), nu-jazz stars Club Des Belugas (Germany), and one of the most talented representatives of the modern world blues scene, guitarist Selwyn Birchwood (US).
Vladimir Putin was a guest of KJP-2017. The festival is organized by the Krasny Kvadrat (Red Square) media group.