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Written by Giavanna Foster

Every year, the International Jazz Day concert is live-streamed on YouTube. This year’s concert was streamed live from 13 international cities including Paris, Johannesburg, Beijing, Rio de Janeiro, Morocco, Honolulu, and New York. Herbie Hancock spoke about the uniting power of jazz while celebrating International Jazz Day. Hancock also performed an honorary tribute to Wayne Shorter. Here is a recap of this year’s global Jazz Day concert:

“International Jazz Day is so important to me because it reminds us that our similarities are stronger than our differences,” Herbie Hancock shared.

The 2023 International Jazz Day concert featured performances from artists including Herbie Hancock, Cyrille Aimée (“Almost Like Being in Love”), Marcus Miller (“Jekyll & Hyde”), Dee Dee Bridgewater (“I’m Beginning to See the Light”), John Beasley (“House of the Rising Sun”, “Peace”), and Sergio Mendes (“Magalenha”). This concert showcased a variety of improvisational techniques and diversity. Before Marcus Miller performed “Jekyll & Hyde” live, he discussed the global movement of International Jazz Day and the power of growing this movement by starting conversations to discuss the rich cultural history of jazz and holding large concerts annually. Here is a quote:

“Hey, you know… Herbie Hancock instituted about 10 years ago every April 30, International Jazz Day… Every country in the world now celebrates jazz on that day in some form. It could be just 14 people getting together just to talk about jazz or a city where they have grand huge concerts. It didn’t start like that but that’s where we are now on April 30th. That’s part of International Jazz Day,” Marcus Miller shared.

Herbie Hancock spoke about the rich cultural tradition and diversity of International Jazz Day. He also paid an honorary tribute to his best friend, jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter. To honor Mr. Shorter’s legacy, Hancock performed a moving rendition of “Footprints” live from Washington, D.C. during the Jazz Day concert. (He added that “Footprints” is one of Mr. Shorter’s masterpieces.) Herbie Hancock spoke about the true power of jazz as a culturally rich genre of music that creates global unity. He also voiced the importance of International Jazz Day while spreading a message of hope to viewers:

“As we come to the close of another spectacular International Jazz Day, I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone who has participated in our mission to make our world a just, equitable, and peaceful place. As you’ve seen and heard, jazz has enormous power to unite us… Please keep the spirit of Jazz Day alive not only today, but every single day of the year. We look forward to celebrating International Jazz Day with you again next year. Until then, we would like to close with a musical message of hope and peace,” Herbie Hancock voiced.