A great long way

Antigua Jazz Band is an orchestra dedicated to the performance and spreading of African-American traditional jazz. It was founded in 1968 by eight members of the legendary Guardia Vieja Jazz Band, which in turn was established in 1948 and played a fundamental role in the introduction of African-American Jazz in Argentina. Antigua Jazz Band made its debut on April 26th, 1968, in a concert helded at the Cine Arte of Capital Federal and inmediately became part of the crew of La Botica del Ángel, one of the most prestigious nightclubs in Buenos Aires in the 60s decade. From then on, an uninterrupted activity was initiated, which can be divided in three main fields: concerts, shows and didactics/spreading of Jazz music. Antigua Jazz Band is frequently invited to share stage with well-known figures, such as: Julio Bocca, Diego Maradona, Ballet Argentino directed by Julio Bocca, Eleonora Cassano, etc. In the shows field, Antigua Jazz Band took part in the audio-visual documentaries Un Camino de Ida, Jazz Humor, Black and Blue, Spirituals, Blues & Jazz, A Tango y Jazz and Nice & Easy. This broad range of activities was complemented by TV and radio shows, parties, series of performances at unions and cultural events, in which the five seasons at the Camping Musical Bariloche deserve special mention. By its own characteristics, Antigua Jazz Band‘s stage layout is always dynamic, and the whole orchestra can be unfolded into soloists, duos, trios and small ensambles, linking the music with stories in orther to properly introduce the audience into the fundamental features of African-American music. Antigua Jazz Band’s style is inspired in the works of great jazz creators like Joe King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington. The band also has performed abroad, several times in the República Oriental del Uruguay, as well as in Chile, Peru and Brasil, and had the privilege of being one of the popular music ensembles to be presented by the argentinian Mozarteum, a prestigious institution of worldwide renown. Antigua Jazz Band’s work is registered in eight long plays, one cassette and two CDs. In the year 1971, the french critic Charles Delaunay considered Antigua Jazz Band as the best example of revival of traditional Jazz, even better to the ones founded in the United States and Europe; the critic Rafael Grezzi, from Uruguay, considered Antigua Jazz Band as the best traditional orchestra in the world, and the famous saxophonist Harry Carney stated, after listening to its music: “We had to travel all over the world to listen to our music again”.