30 April 2011: The Mompou Chair at the Foundation for Iberian Music presents the one-day immersion seminar “Beginnings of Jazz in Catalonia.”  Jordi Pujol Baulenas, Fresh Sound Record, Barcelona will lead the seminar at the CUNY Graduate Center.

THE BEGINNINGS OF JAZZ IN CATALONIA

Saturday April 30, 2011

From 10am to 1pm

The Graduate Center

365 Fifth Ave & 34^th St

Room 3491

Breakfast and Coffee will be provided

From the early decades of the 20^th century, jazz was introduced and established in Catalonia by dance crazes like the Charleston, foxtrot, ragtime, cakewalk, etc.  While some Catalans like Xavier Cugat popularized in the US light jazz and Caribbean music, many American artists performed for extended periods of time in Barcelona (Lou Bennet, L. Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, etc.).  All this resulted in a cultural and musical explosion.  Soon, Catalonia experienced a moment of musical effervescence, and many jazz clubs and associations (Jamboree, Hot Club, Discòfils, Parrilla de Ritz, Salón Amaya, etc.) were established.  In addition to reviewing the early jazz discography of this movement (dating back to 1919), the seminar will provide critical readings of the latest literature, as well as analysis of unpublished materials.

Jordi Pujol Baulenas, Fresh Sound Record, Barcelona

Barcelona native Jordi Pujol Baluenas has been playing and studying jazz since childhood.  His other great interest from adolescence was artistic design.  He earned a bachelor’s in design from the Massana School.  After many years working in textile design, in 1983, he co-founded Fresh Sounds Records a music label that specializes in the reissuing of jazz records.  Pujol has created other labels (El Bandoneón, Tumbao, Alma Latina, Blue Moon) that reissue records from various popular music genres such as tango, afrocuban, bolero, ranchero, and US pop from the 1940-50s.  He is the author of the definitive scholarly study on early jazz in Catalonia, Jazz en Barcelona 1920-1965 (Barcelona: Almendra Music, 2005).

Readings and listening examples found at: eres.gc.cuny.edu (search instructor: piza; password: muspiza)

RSVP: emmy.williamson@gmail.com