April 30th – International jazz day: Yerevan – the sity of jazz lovers
Comment are off
The International jazz day is celebrated annually on April 30th. The event has been organized by UNESCO since 2012, so as to celebrate «the rise of the level of awareness of the international society about jazz as of power, contributing to the peace, unity, dialogue, as well as to the extension of the contacts between people». Jazz originated at the end of 19th – beginning of 20th century in USA as a synthesis of African and European cultures and to this very day unites races and nationalities, blurs the boundaries between people and states. Celebrations include live performances of musicians, master classes and tables with the participation of people who made great contribution to the development of this art. In subsequent years, such kind of events became traditional. The latest festival in 2017 was held in Cuba, for the next two years it will be celebrated in St. Petersburg and in Sydney.
Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, has variety of choices for music lovers, be it an opera, folk music, roch, dance music or especially jazz. Here you can listen to live music in restaurants, parks, concert halls, famous jazz-clubs, bars and nightclubs. Jazz began to be performed in Armenia starting from 1920s. The State Jazz Orchestra of Armenia is considered to be first jazz collective, created in 1938. 
It was headed by the composer and cellist Artemily Ayvazyan, and conductor was Tsolak Vartazaryan. In the 1950s, small jazz bands began to be formed throughout the republic. A quarter under the direction of the pianist Levon Malkhasyan, created at the Linguistic Institute, used to be popular. In 2006, Levon Malkhasayan’s dream came true – the jazz-club «Malkhas» was opened in Yerevan. It immediately became a cult place in musical Yerevan. It is a must-visit place for all the guests of the capital of Armenia. Today the best jazz-clubs in the city are «Malkhas», «Mezzo», «Club 12», «Yans», «Kami», «Ulikhanyan», etc.
