Lanzarote´s former capital Teguise plays host to a top line up of American jazz talent on July 4th. As Jazz Canarias 2008 touches down on the island. All of the action takes place in the Casco Historico in Teguise from 21.30 and is entirely free of charge.
This year’s event features a double whammy of double bass talent, headlined by Esperanza Spalding and Kyle Eastwood – son of the Hollywood legend Client Eastwood.
Esperanza Spalding
Esperanza Spalding is only twenty-three years old but has taken the jazz world by storm. She is the youngest music teacher ever at Berklee College of Music, appointed at the tender age of twenty.
With a pedigree in the classical violin, after years of performing with the Chamber Music Society of Oregon as a child, Spalding diversified at the age of sixteen and began playing the bass. Fusing numerous styles together to create her own sound – her influences include not only jazz, but hip-hop, funk and the blues.
She has played with such prominent musicians as Pat Metheny, Patti Austin and Joe Lovano. And she is not merely a talented instrumentalist either, as she is blessed with a beautiful voice and writes her own material. Small wonder then that she has already established herself as someone to watch on the jazz scene. To hear a sample of her music, visit her website where excerpts from her recently released second album, Esperanza, are featured.
Kyle Eastwood
Kyle Eastwood attributes his love of jazz to an early introduction to the genre, thanks to his father’s love of the music. Such was the enthusiasm for jazz in the Eastwood household, Kyle reached the age of ten before he realised there were any other types of music. Yearly visits to the Monterey Jazz Festival helped to strengthen this passion, where he got to hob-knob with artists such as Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald backstage.
Although he began by learning the piano, at the age of eighteen he started playing the bass and eventually graduated to the double bass. Along the way, he was privileged enough to be taught by some of the jazz greats, such as Ornette Coleman and Ray Brown.
Once his path as a jazz musician was established, he toured the usual round of gigs on both the West and East coasts of the States, eventually striking a deal with Sony to produce his first album accompanied by the vocal talents of Joni Mitchell. A mixture of cover versions and his own material, the album was well received by critics.
His abilities as a composer can be heard not only on his own albums – From There to Here (1998) and Now (2006) – but also in the film scores for numerous movies. Including the Oscar winning ‘Mystic River’ and ‘Million Dollar Baby’ – both directed by his famous father, Clint.
Jazz Canarias 2008
Elsewhere, firm favourites The Crusaders are playing in Tenerife and Gran Canaria during the festival. On July 11th and 12th respectively. Famous for tracks such as Street Life, sung by Randy Crawford, which was an international hit for the band, they have been making music since 1961. Unfortunately Ms Crawford is not included in the line-up performing in the Canaries, but other legendary names such as Ray Parker Junior, Joe Sample and Wilton Felder will be on stage.
Whilst the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura hosts Esperanza Spalding and Kyle Eastwood on July 5th.
Here’s the full event line up:
Tenerife
July 4thThe Pee Wee Ellis Assembly – Kike Perdomo AC&Funk
July 5thLizz Wright – Nguyen Le Quartet
July 6thThe Music of Ivan Lins
July 8thSpyro Gyra – Yul Ballesteros
July 9thToto Bona Lukua – Ramon Diaz Group
July 10th New York Voices – Polo Orti Group
July 11thThe Crusaders
July 12thMadeleine Peyroux
Gran Canaria
July 4thNguyen Le Quartet – Javier Infante
July 5thThe Pee Wee Ellis Assembly – Javier Montero Band
July 6thLizz Wright – Nguyen Le Quartet
July 7thThe Music of Ivan Lins
July 8thEsperanza Spalding – Kyle Eastwood
July 9thSpyro Gyra – Yul Ballesteros
July 10thToto Bona Lukua – Charlie Moreno
July 11thNew York Voices – Travesia Jazz Band
July 12thThe Crusaders
July 13thMadeleine Peyroux
Fuerteventura
July 6thEsperanza Spalding – Kyle Eastwood
La Palma
July 5thEsperanza Spalding – Kyle Eastwood
For more information visit the Jazz Canarias website
