Results of JoJazz 2018
by Bill Tilford, all rights reserved

Regretfully, I was unable to attend JoJazz this year and therefore must rely upon other sources regarding the results.  Based upon what I observed during last year's competition plus this year's results, a couple of items are worth mentioning:

1.  Okan Jazz, from Santiago de Cuba  mentioned below, also distinguished itself last year. They (or someone on their behalf) has posted videos of them in YouTube:



2.  For persons not familiar with how the JoJazz jury (composed of Cuba's Jazz elite) functions, some of these results may look a little unusual - for example, there is a category with two thrid place winners but no first or second place.   This is most likely a tacit editorial comment by the Jury that none of the contests in that category rose to a level desired for a first or second place award.

3. The Ministry of Culture's message notes that Arturo O'Farrill's foundation contributed to the awards given.  Kudos to Arturo, as JoJazz has been an extremely important incubator for the careers of new Jazz artists in Cuba. 

For the results, we share two different sources: 

1. By María Regla Figueroa Evans
Date: 2018.11.20
Source: Radio Cadena Habana

In the 21st Edition of JoJazz 2018, whose award gala was held on November 18 in the Cuban capital, the following interpreters and groups were awarded:

In the category of Composition: 1st place, Alberto Luis Cuenca González, and 2nd place Andrés Enrique Cabrera Valois.

Soloist performance awards, minors: 1st place Carlos Javier Alcántara Díaz; 3rd Place, Kadir González López; Mention, Ariel Enrique Cabrera Valois.

In Interpretation Senior Soloists  only a third place was awarded, this time shared for Indira Pérez Valdés and Jessica Rivero Altarriba.

The groups awarded in Small Format Interpretation were: Okan Jazz (1st Place), All Inclusive (2nd Place), Ecstasy (3rd Place) and Confluence (Mention). In Large Format Interpretation, the prizes were taken home by the José Marín Varona Youth Chamber Orchestra, from Camagüey (1st Place); Jazz Band Armando Romeu, from the National School of Music (2nd Place); Jazz Band José María Ochoa, of the Professional School of Art of Holguín (3rd Place), and a Mention for D'Pinar Jazz.

The jury of the contest decided to grant a special recognition for the good taste, the tuning and exquisite interpretation to the singer Laura Rodríguez Echemendía. A special prize was also awarded for the interpretation of Cuban music to Carlos Javier Alcántara Díaz.

Source: Mincult (Ministry of Culture)

The twenty-first edition of the JoJazz 2018 International Youth Jazz Festival brought together more than 140 musicians who competed in composition and interpretation in four categories: minors (comprised between ages 16 and 20), older (between 21 and 35), Small and Large Format. This time the territories of Holguín, Santiago de Cuba, Pinar del Río, Camagüey and Havana were represented.

The Closing Gala held this Sunday in the Sala Tito Junco of the Bertolt Brecht Cultural Complex featured the performance of the Influencia group, previously awarded in the JoJazz. During the evening the winners were announced. In the section of Composition, hosted by the Cuban Agency of Musical Copyright (ACDAM) with a prize in cash, the winners were Ariel Enrique Cabrera with the second place and Alberto Luis Cuenca with the first. The latter also received a special award sent by the foundation of the prestigious musician Arturo O'Farril.

In performance in the category Minor Soloists Ariel Enrique Cabrera deserved a mention, while Kadir González and Carlos Javier Alcántara won the third and first place, in that order.

Also, in the Interpretation category, Senior Soloists Indira Pérez and Jesica Rivero obtained the third place shared and in Small Format Performance the group Confluencia was awarded with a mention, while the group Éxtasis won the third prize, consisting of the recording of a CD with the Company of Recordings and Musical Editions (Egrem). The second place was for All Inclusive, an award given by Abdala Studios and also consists of the recording of a CD. The first prize went to the group Okán Jazz who will also record a CD with the Bis Music label.

Another one of the  categories was Interpretation, Large Format, in which D'Pinar Jazz obtained a mention, the Jazz Band José María Ochoa of the Professional School of Art of Holguín won with the third place, the Jazz Band Armando Romeu of the National School of Music with the second place and the Orquesta de Cámara Juvenil José Marín Varona from Camagüey with the first place. This group also received an award from the record label Colibrí consisting of the recording of a CD. The jury decided to give a special recognition to Laura Rodríguez for her exquisite interpretation, tuning and good taste.