Does one need to explain the Jazz Fest Wien? All know that Vienna is a music capital, all year around, many musicians play in Vienna throughout the year, either as single act or as part of one of the main festivals, of which the Jazz Fest Wien is one.

2010 is the 20^th anniversary of the Jazz Fest Wien, and again the organization was able to bring international top stars, in order to present a music which performance is increasing year after year. Jazz music is lived through and by personalities and one can view how jazz music performed with these personalities, bringing a list of new talents through the past few years. Also the oldest but also newest music of the 20^th century gets highlighted by the fact that it integrates other music arts, to create new music and on the other hand influence other music arts again.

Top acts of the Jazz Fest Wien 2010 that show this performance are Jamie Cullum, the young british musician that combines piano with punk and pop-appeal, the legendary Jeff Beck, a “jazz artist” who combines blues, pop, rock and jazz to a unique kind of music. Also a very warm welcome to Gilles Peterson, an artist that brought back jazz into danceable music in the eighties, called “Acid Jazz”, and during the Jazz Fest Wien he will work together with a young Cuban artist, someone who inspired the listeners of the Bueno Vista Social Club as much as many piano players did: Roberto Fonseca. British meets Cuban spirit … as much exciting as the music of the French electro-specialist AIR or the new choir project of the voice acrobat Bobby McFerrin. A famous legend is definitely Herbie Hancock, his act will definitely be a highlight and again place itself among the legends that performed at the Jazz Fest Wien, legends like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis or Santana. Besides male acts Jazz Fest Wien also focuses on women. The Canadian singer and guitar player Terez Montcalm will raise the female quote, and Juliette Greco and Melody Gardot will show that the French “chanson” is not far away from celebrating jazz. We should also not forget Randy Crawford. With Al Green a soul legend will perform in the Vienna State Opera and with the Austrian artist Wolfgang Muthspiel, who won the European Jazz Prize, we will see a European art of playing jazz. More to come and more to see, that is for sure, all artists, legendary or not, creative or traditional, all will again raise the importance of not only jazz in general but also the Jazz Fest Wien, this year again with a huge and interesting program.

Grand Hotel Wien & The Ring Hotel, Vienna´s Casual Luxury Hotel, are the official partners of Jazz Fest Wien and support the organization since 2006.