Joaquín Betancourt, a Brief Stop Along the Way

January 17, 2024

The Amada Música concert will celebrate the maestro's 50 years of artistic life and the 15th anniversary of the founding of his Joven Jazz Band

Amada Música is the title of the concert that maestro Joaquín Betancourt Jackman, 2019 National Music Prize winner, will offer this Sunday the 21st, at 6:00 p.m., in the Covarrubias Hall of the National Theater, as part of the 39th edition of the International Jazz Plaza Festival 2024.

With this concert, the Event Organizing Committee will celebrate the 50 years of artistic life of the also Master of Youths, and the 15th anniversary of the founding of his Joven Jazz Band.

A group of important artists, who will perform works by this outstanding musician, composer, arranger, and music producer with an extensive trajectory in Cuban music, will accompany him that day. Among them are: Myrlla Muñiz, from Brazil; Theonita Valentine, from the U.S.; and Cubans Dagoberto González, Zunilda Remigio, Michel Herrera, El Noro, Emir Santacruz, and Jorge Reyes.

–What do these 50 years of artistic life mean to Joaquín Betancourt?

–They give me the impression that I have arrived at one of my desired destinations, after a long musical journey, from which I feel fortunate, and which has allowed me to meet and share with many great artists from Cuba and other parts of the world. This journey has made it possible for me to give the best of myself to the following generations. I feel blessed to have been able to do, as a musician, much of what I have yearned for, and if destiny allows it, the journey continues. For now, it is only a brief stop.

"I'm glad they remembered me and, above all, the Joven Jazz Band, which I direct with much love; a group in which many young musicians trained by our system of artistic education participate."

–You were among the first to promote the Festival…

–When the Jazz Plaza festivals began, I was still a student and they gave me, along with my classmates, the opportunity to participate. From then on, with our presence, year after year, we defended the event and attended with immense enthusiasm.

–At what moment do you think the genre is at in Cuba?

–Jazz experienced something like what is called classical music did—from being danced, it became a heritage. Perhaps this will be the future of part of our popular music, since it's already almost happening with the danzón, appreciated, respected, and preserved, which you cannot force new generations to dance as one more option for enjoyment, but rather as an expression of conservation of our culture.

"Our jazz musicians increasingly acquire level and international recognition, which fills us with pride and satisfaction."

–What weighs more in your life, composition, music production, direction, or arranging?

–I chose music as my profession and companion for life; I cannot imagine myself without it, I feel very well in any role. What is vital for me is to be making it. My dream continues to be to achieve being a musician.