Every concert has a script. Songs are carefully ordered, setlists prepared, hours of rehearsals put in, and every entrance and exit worked out in advance. The singer takes to the stage knowing what they will sing and, more or less, what will happen over the next hour and a half. But some musicians choose to throw that script out the window. That is when a different side of the artist can emerge, more spontaneous and less rehearsed: a familiar song played in a new way, a track that was never part of the original setlist, or an unexpected collaboration. These are the moments when musicians step outside their comfort zone and see what happens when they do things differently.
That spirit of stepping off-script is at the heart of the new chapter for JazzSí, the iconic Raval music venue, which is reopening after several years closed and an extensive renovation to bring the space up to date and soundproof it. The new venture is being led by saxophonist Liba Villavecchia, together with Guim Cifré and Clara Conill, the former managers of Sala Milano, one of Barcelona’s best-known jazz venues, which also closed its doors in 2023.
The reopening is about more than simply bringing the venue back to life. The aim is to recapture the spirit that defined JazzSí when it first opened in 1992: a venue connected to the Taller de Músics where jazz and flamenco shared the bill with rumba, students could take the stage alongside established musicians, and jam sessions were a regular fixture.
That is the ethos the new JazzSí wants to bring back: making room for projects that do not fit neatly into a particular label or genre, and for emerging artists still finding their voice, as well as established musicians looking to explore a different side of their work, experiment with new sounds or simply try something unexpected.
Behind the project is a broader conviction: that Barcelona needs small, independent music venues, especially at a time when there are fewer of them and many have closed in recent years. “Many of the city’s iconic venues are losing the licences they need to stay open. Faced with this situation, we felt it was worth taking the risk of opening a music venue at a time when doing so is more challenging than ever — a project that can nevertheless make a meaningful contribution to the city and its music scene,” says Guim Cifré in a conversation with The New Barcelona Post.
For this reason, the new managers also want to place an open program at the center of the project, capable of bringing together different ways of understanding music. "The city needs a place that brings together different styles. Limiting ourselves too much would be a mistake," defends Liba Villavecchia. A space, in short, for "music that seeks, that tries and that twists," as the motto of this new stage summarizes.
A small venue with decades of history
This spirit, however, does not start from scratch. Inaugurated in 1992 at Requesens street, 2, JazzSí has been for more than three decades a small but important meeting point for live music in Barcelona, offering live music programming every day, from Monday to Sunday. Several generations of musicians have passed through its stage, including Enrique Morente, Carmen Linares, Miguel Poveda or Mayte Martín. And within its four walls, a young Rosalía, then a student at the Taller de Músics, also made her debut.
But JazzSí was not just a concert hall. Its connection with the Taller de Músics also made it a learning space, where students and teachers could share the stage with musicians with consolidated careers. An unusual mix of school, concert hall and meeting point that survived for decades, but suffered the full effects of the pandemic, especially harsh for small venues and live music.
The venue gradually lost regularity until it closed in 2023. Since then, that space accustomed to having live music every day of the week has remained silent. A silence that now breaks with the new stage, which has required more than a year of works to carry out a deep renovation that has allowed the venue to be adapted to current needs, renew all its technical equipment and soundproof it. With the venue already renovated, JazzSí is preparing to break the silence, open its doors and resume daily activity from September 18.
The new JazzSí does not want to be pigeonholed into a single genre, but rather to bring together different ways of understanding music. There will be jazz, but also free improvisation, flamenco, electronic, rock, song and experimental proposals.
JazzSí, yes to everything
The new JazzSí will focus on live music, but it won't be just a concert hall. During the day, it will function as a cultural bar, with tapas, appetizers, and vermouth, but also with books, records, vinyls, and tapes. The idea is for it to be a place to drop by, browse, listen to music, or meet other musicians without having to wait for a concert. There will also be a small selection of records and self-published works from local independent labels, with the aim of giving visibility to projects that don't always have easy distribution channels.
The relationship with Taller de Músics, with whom it shares history and neighborhood, will also be an important part of this new stage. JazzSí wants to maintain its vocation as an informal learning space and, at the same time, open up to emerging projects that are just starting. But it doesn't want to be just a space for young projects: the idea is for students from Taller and other schools to be able to meet musicians with consolidated careers, listen to them up close, share experiences with them, and participate in the jam sessions that will also be part of the program, to accommodate improvisation and exchange among musicians.
This desire to mix styles will also be reflected in the programming. The new JazzSí, in fact, does not want to be pigeonholed into a single genre, but rather to bring together different ways of understanding music. There will be jazz —as a tribute to its own name—, but also free improvisation, flamenco, electronic music, rock, song, and experimental proposals, as well as projects that don't easily fit into any label. "We are especially interested in projects that seek and mix languages," Xifré points out. The objective, in short, is "not to talk about styles or genres, but about quality projects."
This programming freedom, however, does not mean renouncing quality. "The motto of 'JazzSí, yes to everything' does not mean accepting everything," warns Villavecchia. The goal is not to close the door prematurely to proposals that escape the usual circuits, but without sacrificing quality. In this sense, the promoters look for inspiration to small European venues such as Café OTO, in London; Sowieso, in Berlin; l'Alchemia, in Krakow, or Les Instants Chavirés, in Paris, references of a way of understanding clubs that shies away from labels and opts for a mix of genres, experimentation, and improvisation.
A philosophy that the promoters want to make visible from the very beginning. To celebrate the reopening, they have prepared a three-day program, from September 18 to 20, under the name of Manifest, which summarizes in three days the spirit with which JazzSí reopens its doors. With free admission on the first day and a surprise concert, the program will combine local proposals such as the avant-pop duo Damoridemort, formed by Blanc Nua and Rikamichie, and Behenii II, the improvisation project by Vasco Trilla, Don Malfon and El Pricto, with international artists such as American saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, who will perform with drummer Chad Taylor.
Music that demands proximity
For all these reasons, the promoters understand the small size of the venue more as an ally than as a restriction. This format allows programming artists and proposals that might have a harder time fitting into large spaces and, at the same time, favors a closer relationship between musicians and audience. A commitment that makes even more sense in a city where finding small spaces to improvise, experiment, and grow musical projects is increasingly difficult.
In recent years, in fact, some of these local venues have been closing. However, it is true that the city still retains venues with a long history, such as Jamboree or Harlem Jazz Club, and has seen new ones appear, such as Aclam Club or La Perla del Born, also featured in El Radar a few weeks ago for its decisive commitment to flamenco. Between one and the other, a still fragile network is drawn, but one that allows emerging artists and more experimental proposals to find spaces to exhibit themselves and build their audience.
Add The New Barcelona Post as your preferred Google source for free
Stay informed with the latest news.
