Senegal's Jazz Celebration Returns After COVID-19 Health Crisis
2021-06-23
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Last year, the coronavirus pandemic put a stop to Senegal's yearly jazz music festival for the first time in its 29-year history.
2This year the festival returned, bringing much needed life to the island of Saint Louis.
3The island was chosen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage site.
4UNESCO chooses World Heritage sites for having cultural, historical, scientific or other forms of importance.
5Saint Louis is famous for its building styles from the 1800s and light-colored houses.
6Hundreds of jazz fans listened to French-Senegalese singer Awa Ly sing blues music on the island recently.
7Ly said she felt a sense of relief, or ease, with the festival's return.
8"I was relieved, and everybody else was relieved too. It was a beautiful energy, a beautiful vibration and a beautiful link between the stage and the audience."
9African rhythms, funk, gospel and blues music could be heard along the small streets of Saint Louis.
10Music played from restaurants, drinking places and hotels into the early morning.
11Saint Louis escaped the deadliest effects of the COVID-19 disease.
12But a sharp drop in tourism and a weakened economy have left its citizens ready for an emotional lift that only its largest yearly event could provide.
13The festival in Senegal is known as Africa's biggest jazz festival.
14But it has struggled with decreasing crowds since having performers like American pianist Herbie Hancock. He last performed there in 1996.
15Still, the festival gets music fans from across West Africa and Europe, and the city's street performers are happy to have them.
16One of those street performers is 25-year-old Adama Ndaw.
17He told Reuters, "Jazz attracted a lot of tourists so we could play in the streets, so we managed to collect a little money. Nothing was there last year, but today it is good."
18Members of Jamm Jazz, a band from the capital Dakar, were happy as they performed.
19The audience danced or sat closely together around crowded tables.
20"The festival not taking place last year was an economic disaster for Saint Louis," said band leader Moustapha Diop.
21"This year, despite the crisis, the festival was held because if it wasn't, it would be a big blow for the city to come."
22I'm Jonathan Evans.
1Last year, the coronavirus pandemic put a stop to Senegal's yearly jazz music festival for the first time in its 29-year history. 2This year the festival returned, bringing much needed life to the island of Saint Louis. The island was chosen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage site. UNESCO chooses World Heritage sites for having cultural, historical, scientific or other forms of importance. 3Saint Louis is famous for its building styles from the 1800s and light-colored houses. 4Hundreds of jazz fans listened to French-Senegalese singer Awa Ly sing blues music on the island recently. 5Ly said she felt a sense of relief, or ease, with the festival's return. 6"I was relieved, and everybody else was relieved too. It was a beautiful energy, a beautiful vibration and a beautiful link between the stage and the audience." 7African rhythms, funk, gospel and blues music could be heard along the small streets of Saint Louis. Music played from restaurants, drinking places and hotels into the early morning. 8Saint Louis escaped the deadliest effects of the COVID-19 disease. But a sharp drop in tourism and a weakened economy have left its citizens ready for an emotional lift that only its largest yearly event could provide. 9The festival in Senegal is known as Africa's biggest jazz festival. But it has struggled with decreasing crowds since having performers like American pianist Herbie Hancock. He last performed there in 1996. 10Still, the festival gets music fans from across West Africa and Europe, and the city's street performers are happy to have them. One of those street performers is 25-year-old Adama Ndaw. He told Reuters, "Jazz attracted a lot of tourists so we could play in the streets, so we managed to collect a little money. Nothing was there last year, but today it is good." 11Members of Jamm Jazz, a band from the capital Dakar, were happy as they performed. The audience danced or sat closely together around crowded tables. 12"The festival not taking place last year was an economic disaster for Saint Louis," said band leader Moustapha Diop. "This year, despite the crisis, the festival was held because if it wasn't, it would be a big blow for the city to come." 13I'm Jonathan Evans. 14Cooper Inveen reported on this story for the Reuters news service. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 15___________________________________________________________ 16Words in This Story 17festival -n. an organized series of performances 18style -n. a particular way of designing something often linked to a time period 19vibration -n. a feeling that someone has or that something gives you 20stage -n. a raised structure in a theater or auditorium where performers stand 21audience -n. a group of people gathered together to listen to or watch a performance or movie 22tourism -n. the business of providing hotels, restaurants, entertainment and other services to people who are traveling