Tangiers, the Moroccan city known for its rich history as a hub for American jazz musicians, is set to host UNESCO’s International Jazz Day for the first time on Tuesday. Over the years, jazz legends like Randy Weston, Idrees Sulieman, and Max Roach have been drawn to this North African port city, located on the Strait of Gibraltar.
Philippe Lorin, the founder of an annual Tangiers jazz festival, highlighted the city’s magnetic appeal to intellectuals and musicians, quoting a writer who once said there was always a cruise liner in New York preparing to sail for Tangiers. This year’s Jazz Day will span four days, featuring talks and open-air performances leading up to an “All-Star Global Concert” on Tuesday headlined by jazz icon Herbie Hancock.
Tangiers’ cosmopolitan artistic reputation is attributed to its unique location between Africa and Europe, as well as its colonial history from 1923 to 1956. The city’s melting pot of influences has attracted international writers, poets, and African American musicians seeking to connect with their roots.
One pivotal moment in Tangiers’ musical history was in 1959 when jazz promoter Jacques Muyal recorded a session with American jazz musicians, which later gained recognition as “The 4 American Jazzmen In Tangier” album. The city’s musical legacy was further enriched by the presence of US pianist Randy Weston, who settled in Tangiers for five years and played a key role in building its musical reputation.
With a history of jazz-gnawa fusion and the establishment of the African Rhythms jazz club, Tangiers continues to be a vibrant hub for musical creativity. Weston’s collaboration with Moroccan legend Abdellah El Gourd paved the way for the city’s first jazz festival in 1972, inspiring the creation of the annual Tanjazz festival three decades later.