Jazz à Ouaga, a shared passion

Founded in 1992 by some jazz lovers, the Jazz à Ouaga Association aims to improve the culture of jazz, the music born of black and now universal exile, through training and organization each year jazz festival in Ouagadougou.

The Association Jazz à Ouaga benefit of continued support from Government of Burkina Faso and I am delighted to support this worthy structure that knows both combine dynamism and passion to musicians and music lovers in Burkina Faso.

Jazz à Ouaga has always remained faithful to quality programming. The craze increasingly growing public and Burkinabe musicians is proof. Initially considered as a festival” elitist” Jazz à Ouaga has changed since several years as musical rendezvous fixture in the Burkinabe cultural landscape. This is why actions such as decentralization festival in Bobo-Dioulasso, the program of shows in other places (Roundabout Patte d’Oie, House of the People) were conducted with more or less success .

In addition, sharing the festival in recent years by new partners and sponsors (Intergovernmental Agency of the Francophonie, Africalia-Belgium-France SPEDIDAM, SCIP, …) allowed him to better internationalize and establish themselves.

Many Burkinabe musicians scheduled to Jazz à Ouaga have opportunities for exchange and programming in other festivals.

For its 13th edition to be held from April 29 to May 7, 2005 Jazz à Ouaga would demonstrate that music is an integration between peoples factor.

That is why the theme of this year’s “Jazz and world music, integrating factors of peoples.”

Convinced of this, we in August 2004, in association with the Jazz Festival Guinea and the Holy Louïs Jazz Senegal, established the Conventional Network Jazz Festivals in Africa.

The purpose of this network is to promote the knowledge and practice of jazz music in all its forms, by all means sound and consistent reproduction in various African countries, at regional tours organized or held festivals.

Jazz à Ouaga 2005 would also expand its horizons to other audiences. Thus for the first time, we will explore the music lovers and jazz lovers in Northeast Burkina programming two concerts Ouahigouya. This in conjunction with local authorities, very committed to the promotion of music.

Objectives

The Burkinabe music is going through a good period where new talents won over the favors of a public increasingly demanding.

But problems persist because most bands who are doing research grossly underfunded and especially contacts and openness.

Since its creation, the Festival Jazz à Ouaga strived to organize margin concerts, outreach activities, such as courses and workshops to provide a framework for professional meeting for musicians artists living and working in Burkina Faso and in particular Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso.

For this edition, the approach adopted is to allow the artists to mix their guests directly from fellow African countries but also from Europe around master classes and provide the results directly every night during the jam sessions at the village festival.

Training Burkinabe artists and raising their standards through its various activities is an important goal that prevailed in the creation of the association.

Generally, the Festival aims to:

Increasing the jazz culture of government in Ouagadougou and Burkina through outreach such as conferences, exhibitions, video sessions,
Hold an annual jazz festival to provide the public with jazz music and the world
Contribute to the training of musicians in Burkina Faso by the encounter and confrontation with other musical practices.
Main Activities

Annual festival of jazz music and the world with concerts and jam sessions.

Open to careers in music (musicians, singers, sound technicians …) with Master Class course.

Exhibitions on the Jazz, video screenings and lectures.