US President Barack Obama has hosted a jazz concert at the White House to celebrate International Jazz Day. Performers at the event on 29 April included Aretha Franklin, Sting and Diana Krall.
It speaks to something universal about our humanity, the restlessness that stirs in every soul, the desire to create with no boundaries, said the outgoing President.
Obama also quoted Duke Ellington, who once said: Jazz is a good barometer of freedom. The US president also added: No wonder it has such an outsized imprint on the DNA of global music. It has spread like wildfire across the world, from Africa to Asia.
Obama joked that he wanted to turn the White House into the Blues House, in honour of jazz great Dizzy Gillespie. Gillespie ran for president in 1964.
International Jazz Day has been running for five years, and has been marked across the world. This year it is being hosted in Washington DC, with more than 50 performances happening in the US city.
Aretha Franklin thanked Obama before her performance at the White House. She said, Mr President in your departure from the Oval Office, I just wanted to say I appreciated you so much and thank you so much for your leadership of the people. All of the people.
International Jazz Day has been hosted in Istanbul, Osaka and Paris in previous years.
