Israeli Jazz Musician Ilan Bar Lavi performed the closing act at the 14th Polanco Jazz Festival in April at the Angela Peralta Amphitheater in Mexico City. The Polanco Jazz Festival is one of Mexico’s most important jazz festivals. Every year, experienced musicians join with emerging local performers and internationally known artists to bring great jazz to the public. More than 1,000 people were in attendance for each day of the two-day festival.
On the Festival’s final day, Israeli guitarist and composer Ilan Bar-Lavi, accompanied by local musicians, performed to great acclaim. Bar-Levi’s appearance was coordinated with the support of the Embassy of Israel in Mexico.
Guitarist and composer Ilan Bar-Levi was born into a multicultural Mexican-Israeli family and lived in Mexico City and Jerusalem. He currently lives in Israel and is regarded as one of the most talented and outstanding musicians of his generation, mixing the sounds of New York, Mexico and the Middle East. The young Israeli guitarist’s music is deeply rooted in jazz, Mexican bolero, Son jarocho (The “Veracruz Sound,” a regional Mexican folk style) and Middle Eastern tradition with a touch of pop/rock.
In 2021, the Embassy of Israel in Mexico held several virtual events in conjunction with important festivals. In cooperation with the Jazz Festival, the Embassy produced a special program about Ilan Bar Lavi that received 17,000 views on social media.
