Jazz fans all over the world are excited as April 30 approaches for another celebration of International Jazz Day (IJD).

In Accra, the Ghana Jazz Foundation in collaboration with the +233 Jazz Bar & Grill at North Ridge, will host a show to mark the day at +233. American musicians, trumpeter Bruce Harris and singer Jackie Ribas will be around with their interpretations of Jazz. The GHJazz Collective will also be in the house.   

April 30 was declared by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 2011 to raise awareness of Jazz and its unique role as a force for uniting people all over the world. Concerts have been held at +233 since 2012 to observe the day.

Bruce Harris hails from the Bronx in New York City. He grew up listening to a wide variety of music but settled on Jazz as his main love.

He was in Ghana in mid-January this year and featured at +233 where he was warmly received for a repertoire that embraced his own pieces and renditions of material by other composers like Victor Dey Jr, Eddie Harris and Donald Byrd.

“We are happy to get him back,” a member of the +233 management team said. “He is a great guy on his horn. Those that didn’t get to hear him the last time he was here, now have another chance to do so.”

Bruce Harris has featured with acts like Lady Gaga, Rhianna, Babyface, Toni Braxton, Wynton Marsalis, Tony Bennet and  Patti Labelle in the past and knows how to hold audiences down with his trumpet.

Read also: Jazz Foundation, +233 bring on ‘Jazz In January’

Jackie Ribas is of Brazilian origin but lives and works from the United States. What she offers is an exciting blend of melodies sourced from South America, the United States and the other places around the world where she has performed. 

She’s an actress as well so her stage appearances are more than just belting songs into a microphone. She knows how to make audiences treasure every moment with her and is ready to make Jazz lovers in Accra know how blessed they are to experience her. 

 The GHJazz Collective of Bernard Ayisa (saxophone), Victor Dey (piano), Frank Kissi (drums) and Gaddiel Amoah (electric bass), has long established itself as an intense, flexible music unit that handles all shades of Jazz with extreme competence. Guests should be ready to taste some of their recently recorded re-workings of Highlife and Ghanaian folk tunes.

Players from elsewhere that GHJazz Collective has featured with at previous IJD concerts at +233 include singer Pilani Bubu (South Africa), saxophonist Godwin Louis and guitarist Colter Harper (United States), trumpeter Nicholas Genest (France) and bassist Manu Falla (Benin).  

Representatives from UNESCO and the Ghana Jazz Foundation are expected to make remarks at the +233 IJD concert that takes off at 8.30pm. The 2024 edition of IJD will be celebrated in more than 190 countries.