Jazz festival: Headlining artists on 2011 line up revealed

Théâtre de Verdure, with its 800 seats and 1,400 standing places

Under this loose theme, a number of exceptional contemporary jazz artists are set to pay tribute to one of the genre's greatest artists of all time.

Famous British guitarist, John Mclaughlin will be a main attraction in 2011. Along with his musical entourage, he will spice up proceedings with an amazing mix of ‘jazz fusion’. A further six artists have been confirmed for the summer festival's line up: blues harmonist Jean Jacques Milteau; pianist Ahmad Jamal; the Mike Stern trio featuring Didier Lockwood; the trumpeter Winton Marsalis; and Nigerian singer Asa.The official programme will be published in full towards the end of next week.

The festival takes place from the 8th to the 12th of July. After an initial buzz that global superstar Prince was to take over the directorship of the festival, it was announced in January that the event's new Artistic Director was in fact Harry Lapp, founder of Strasbourg Jazz Festival and previously in charge of the programme at Jazz à Juan.

Moving for the first time this year from its famous home in Cimiez to the city centre, Estrosi also used the press conference to reveal the new locational logistics of the event. The main stage, the Scène Masséna, is to be found in the heart of the Jardin Albert Ier and has capacity for 6,000 people. The second stage will be at the Théâtre de Verdure, with its 800 seats and 1,400 standing places.

Another change in 2011 is that the festival will run for five days instead of its normal eight. “We try to avoid clashing with other major events,” the mayor explained before continuing and that the new timescale is perfect as “the festival will be more intense.”

As well as offering jazz fans the chance to see some of the scene's most celebrated stars, Nice Jazz Festival also gives a new generation of young artists the opportunity to shine: in the streets of Nice as part of the fringe festival, Off . This unofficial event will light up the Mediterranean metropolis during the same period as the main event; and the most talented street musicians performing at Off will have the additional bonus of possibly being selected to stand on the main stage in Jardin Albert next to some of the biggest names in the business.

AA