The coming festival will be dedicated to bass player, composer and arranger Clarence Martin Sr., one of the historic figures of the Panamanian jazz scene starting in the 1940s, whose work directly affected several generations of musicians. Sitting in the front row at the press conference was trumpeter Vitín Paz, one of Martin's band mates and fans in decades gone by, and now the head of the University of Panama's big band project. Paz told The Panama News that whether or not the University of Panama plays an official role in the festival, he's always personally involved.

That part of the jazz festival that most of the fans know about and see, the performances, happen between January 14 and 17. There will be the fundraising gala in the ornate and acoustically excellent Teatro Nacional on January 14, two nights of music at the ATLAPA convention center on January 15 and 16, and, as in the past, a concluding all-day and late into the night free concert featuring all of the festival's many musicians at Parque Catedral in the Casco Viejo.

(You folks from temperate climes who are already making your travel arrangements for the festival shouldn't forget your sunscreen and hats if you're going to be in the park that afternoon --- the sun can get brutal.)

It's early yet and most of the artists who will perform have not been announced. Cuba's jazz pianist Chucho Valdes will, however, definitely be one of the headliners, as will two of the musicians who play along with Danilo Perez and Wayne Shorter in the Grammy-winning Wayne Shorter Quartet, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade.

The shows are what bring in the visitors and bring Panama's jazz fans out of the woodwork, as you might understand from listening to and watching the videos above. But it really is one of the ways that Pérez, who has enjoyed great success in music as a performing and recording artist and as an educator, gives something back to Panama, the world and a younger generation. But although they call it the Danilo Pérez Foundation, it's hardly his effort alone. Businesses and embassies pitch in with financial and in-kind support, and so do individuals. Pérez pointed out, for example, that some of the 21 kids studying on scholarships granted during jazz festivals past needed to learn English to take advantage of their opportunities, and that people stepped forward and volunteered to tutor them so that they could overcome the language barrier. People with help of any sort to offer to the festival or to the young musicians should contact the foundation.