The Riviera Maya Jazz Festival kicked off with incredible pre-concerts, including a full house on Sunday, November 22. The new Teatro de la Ciudad (City Theater) hosted 4 days of free concerts leading up to the famous festival, featuring well-known local and Mexican jazz-style bands to get the city excited for the huge upcoming event that will take place November 26 – 28 at Mamitas Beach. The festival is celebrating its 13th edition just over a decade after it was created, and it is now listed among the top 5 of its kind in the world.

 

These additional music events allowed the public to be officially introduced to the Playa del Carmen Big Band Jazz, a group made up of 20 musicians who opened on Sunday night. The groups TLS, Julio Espinoza Quartet and the National Jazz Orchestra followed. Famed saxophonist Diego Maroto, one of Mexico’s most renowned musicians, also made an appearance as a special guest.

On Monday, the Teatro de la Ciudad featured a concert with artists Mayita Campos, Footprints Jazz Quartet, The Two, and Rio Funk. On Tuesday, Tigres del Surf, The Mexican Broadcast, Gabriel Palatchi Trio, and Gabo Gonzalez y el Groove Capital made appearances. The pre-concerts came to a close on Wednesday with Cool Reten, Julio Baro Quartet, BBMamut and Francisco Lelo de Larrea.

 

 

Of course, now Playa del Carmen is gearing up for the big event! The Riviera Maya Jazz Festival officially begins on Thursday, November 26 with three nights of live jazz music on Mamitas Beach. The festival will feature artists like Phil Perry, Dirty Loops, Zappa Plays Zappa, Resorte, Torus, Allan Holdsworth, Gino Vanelli and more. Admission is free and the events start at 7pm.

 

For more information, follow the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival on Facebook or visit www.rivieramayajazzfestival.com

See you there!