Readers of The Syncopated Times may be familiar with the remarkable Sant Andreu Jazz Band of Barcelona, which has been the focus of several articles here in recent years. Since 2006, the band, created and directed by Joan Chamorro, has been giving aspiring young musicians in the Barcelona area an opportunity to learn, perform, and record classic jazz, while earning a worldwide reputation for performing and sounding like seasoned professionals, even with some of the band members joining even before reaching their teens, and leaving as they turn 21.
September (photo by Bo Sybrandt Hansen).
They have performed all over Europe, have 1,000 videos on YouTube, and in 2020 received the honor of being invited to the Essentially Ellington festival for high school bands, created by Wynton Marsalis and hosted by the Jazz at Lincoln Center ensemble. The SAJB participated remotely that year due to the pandemic, and have just announced their invitation to play in the 2025 event in May. However, bringing as many as 30 people from Barcelona to New York for a week is a major expense.
“A dream that, in order to fulfill it, will need economic support,” Chamorro says. “The organization provides us with a considerable amount for trips, but moving 30 people, for one week in New York, is not easy at all.”
While the gears are being put in place for a specific fundraising campaign, Chamorro asks that any donation of any amount be sent to the band’s PayPal account.
left): Luc Martin, Marti Costalogo, Sander Theuns, Pere Company.
(photo by Garry Berman)
“We are working urgently on all this,” he says. “For the moment, until we have the page for contributions, inviting people to collaborate through our PayPal account (which is directly related to our bandcamp page, with all our albums, where you can buy them in mp3 and download the booklets): santandreujazzband.bandcamp.com.
He continues, “In this PayPal account, directly related to the SAJB, there have been some patrons who have been contributing over the years, with small amounts of money, but added together, the income has been really generous and has allowed us to pay for albums, reissues of albums, etc.
Andrea Motis, Magali Datzira (photo by Lili Bonmati).
“I will keep you up to date in the coming days, when we have decided and well thought out the way we will use to help people who want to do so. For the moment, our PayPal: hola@santandreujazzband.org.
“Thank you so much once again for your wonderful articles in this iconic jazz magazine.”
For over twenty years, Garry Berman has written books and articles related to pop culture and entertainment history. He has contributed articles to Beatlefan magazine, Nostalgia Digest, and History magazine. In addition to his non-fiction work, he also writes comic novels and screenplays.He is also co-administrator of the Facebook group page Friends of Sant Andreu Jazz Band. Visit him online at www.GarryBerman.com.
