The 15th edition of the Vittoria Jazz Festival “Music & Wine” kicks off: three days of great music and fine wines.
The 15th edition of the “Music & Wine” Jazz Festival was officially presented in the “Ubaldo Balloni” Hall of Mirrors at Palazzo Iacono. The event celebrates the extraordinary encounter between the excellent wines of southeastern Sicily and great jazz music. The event—promoted by the Enoteca Regionale della Sicilia Sud-Est and the Municipality of Vittoria , with the support of the Sicilian Region (Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Mediterranean Fisheries)—will take place on June 26, 27, and 28, confirming itself as one of the most anticipated cultural and tourist events in the area. This edition, too, is under the artistic direction of Maestro Francesco Cafiso , who has curated a program packed with internationally renowned artists, in the spirit of quality and the valorization of local identity.
The concert program
All shows are free and will be held in the splendid setting of Piazza del Popolo. The festival opens with the energy of Max Ionata & Hammond Groovers. On Saturday, June 27th , a packed evening will feature the Francesco Cafiso 4et feat. Jeff Ballard , followed by performances by the Conturband and the Giuseppe Asero Trio . Finally, on Sunday, June 28th, the festival closes in style with the overseas sounds of the Aaron Goldberg Trio . All these musicians, as artistic director Francesco Cafiso emphasized in the press conference, have a contemporary vision of music. ” I’m delighted to be able to say that some of the most important musicians in the world will be here,” emphasized Francesco Cafiso, artistic director of the Jazz Festival. “The first concert will be performed by Max Ionata, one of the leading saxophonists on the Italian scene, along with Hammond Groovers. The second concert is a special production for the Vittoria Jazz Festival.” It’s my band with a special guest, Jeff Ballard, a drummer who has played with many influential names in the international jazz scene and beyond, such as Ray Charles. That same evening, there will be a traveling marching band through the streets of the historic center, naturally enlivening the entire city, transporting us somehow back to a dimension that has much to do with both Sicily and its band tradition, but also with New Orleans, a fundamental element in jazz music. After my concert, Giuseppe Asero’s band will be at the Chiostro delle Grazie, opening the show, as other musicians will arrive to share this moment of music: the jam session will begin, so anyone who wants to can come on stage and perform alongside Giuseppe and the rest of us. The final evening will be performed by Aaron Goldberg, a renowned American pianist, who will present a special project for Vittoria in a trio with Gabriele Evangelista on double bass and Jeff Ballard on drums. All that remains for me to do is invite you. I look forward to seeing many of you, and this too will be a very important event in the name of great music .”
Masterclass at the Sicilian Regional Wine Shop, South East branch
Wine, the heart of the festival, will be the focus of three unmissable in-depth masterclasses led by industry experts. The meetings will be held at the Enoteca Regionale della Sicilia Sud-Est, located at Via dei Mille, 131 in Vittoria. ” This new edition of the Jazz Festival Music & Wine sees the inevitable combination of wine, highlighted by the highly anticipated opening of the Enoteca Regionale ,” said Enoteca Regionale President Silvio Balloni . ” The official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the South-East branch will take place on the afternoon of June 26th and will be graced by the presence of Nino Aiello of Gambero Rosso. Following this, thanks to the collaboration with AIS Sicilia, we will offer a focus on Grillo and Frappato. It will be a unique opportunity to combine the discovery of the region’s excellent wines with the great jazz music curated by maestro Francesco Cafiso .” The event will begin on Friday afternoon, immediately after the inaugural opening of the Enoteca Regionale, with a masterclass on Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG led by Nino Aiello , a esteemed journalist from Gambero Rosso . On Saturday, June 27th (6:30 pm), the tasting will focus on ” Grillo di terra e mare – L’anima bianca del territorio del Cerasuolo di Vittoria” , led by Fabio Gulino , delegate and speaker for AIS Ragusa. On Sunday, June 28th (6:30 pm) , the masterclass will focus on “Frappato: il volto veramente del sud-este Siciliano” , led by Gioele Micali , delegate and speaker for AIS Taormina.
Culture, between music and wine, in Vittoria
Master artist Giovanni Robustelli is responsible for the event’s graphic design, capturing the vibrant surface of a constantly evolving city on paper through lines and colors. A visual palette across which, like urban graffiti, the names of the great artists who will enliven Vittoria flow. ” The writing emerges with the bold strokes of a brush, almost as if to send a genuine message of love for the region, just like the messages lovers leave on walls ,” explained the Vittoria-born artist at the press conference. The Jazz Festival thus confirms itself as a great opportunity to promote and showcase the winemaking culture and heritage of southeastern Sicily through the universal language of jazz music, creating a unique blend of culture, great entertainment, and food and wine tradition. ” This is a high-profile cultural event born in our region, an expression of the energy, economic strength, and passion for the history of the city and the wine culture that characterize our community,” emphasized Mayor Francesco Aiello . The Jazz Festival becomes the ideal stage for Vittoria to celebrate its identity and its agricultural tradition, which ranges from wine to the excellence of greenhouse cultivation. We are a capital of Sicilian agriculture, capable of both expressing and producing cultural events of the highest caliber .