The 18th annual Jazz Canarias festival gets underway with two free concerts taking place in Lanzarote this week. On 3rd July Mezzoforte and guests will be performing in the former island capital of Teguise. Whilst Lanzarote born guitarist Diego Barber headlines at the Teatro de San Bartolomé on Saturday July 4th.
Mezzoforte, the Icelandic group that has been playing jazz funk fusion since the late 70’s, will be headlining the gig in the historic centre of Teguise, which starts at 21.00 on 3rd July. The group of four friends have performed at over 1,000 international concerts and have released eleven albums during their musical career. The best known is probably still ‘Garden Party’, which was released in 1983. Their influences cover a wide range of musical styles, including Miles Davis, Earth, Wind and Fire and Weather Report.
Alongside Mezzoforte, the duo Okou will be appearing. Featuring the vocal skills of Tatiana Heintz and the guitar mastery of Gilbert Trefzger, the duo are accompanied by Andrew Borger on percussion. Tatiana, who hails from the Ivory Coast originally, has collaborated in the past with Mick Jagger and Keziah Jones. Whilst Gilbert’s previous repertoire includes projects with Nitin Sawhney and the Jamaican vocalist Roy Ellis. They formed Okou as a result of meeting in Paris and now write and perform their own music together, which spans modern rhythm and blues and acoustic guitar.
At 21.00 on Saturday 4th July, the evening’s entertainment at the Municipal Theatre in San Bartolomé begins with a performance from the Diego Barber Quartet. This sees the triumphant return of a local boy, in that Diego Barber was actually born in Lanzarote. The talented guitarist, who originally trained in classical playing at Madrid and Salamanca, has now branched out into jazz. And will be playing from his first composition, entitled ‘Calima’, which brings together influences from traditional flamenco guitar with jazz elements. He will be accompanied by Ari Hoenig on drums, Seamus Blake on sax and Johannes Weidenmueller on the bass.
Supporting Diego Barber will be the Patricia Kraus Quartet. Formerly more involved in composing and performing pop music, in recent years, Patricia has diversified into jazz, soul and blues. Along the way, she has developed her skills as a vocal trainer, assisting aspiring opera singers to hone their voices and even appearing on ‘Operación Triunfo’ (Spain’s version of X Factor). Her performance in Lanzarote will cover some of her most recent compositions which are distinctly jazz and soul oriented. Accompanying Patricia will be Daniel Assante on drums, Gherardo Catanzaro on keyboard and Enrico Barbaro on the bass.
The highlight of this year’s festival is the fiftieth celebration of the legendary recording ‘Kind of Blue’ by Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly and Bill Evans. Often regarded as the definitive jazz album, the five tracks were reputed to have been recorded all in one take, with no rehearsal and all the musicians, except Davis, having little clue about what they would be playing. Its reinterpretation at the Canarias Jazz festival will be brought to audiences in Tenerife and Gran Canaria by Jimmy Cobb’s So What band.
The full programme of events over the ten day festival is as follows:
La Palma
4th July
Francesco Cafiso/The Italian Jazz Quartet and Okou
Free – 21.00 in Los Llanos de Aridane, Plaza de España
Tenerife
3rd July
Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet
Ticket required – Masterclass from 12.00 – 14.30 at Conservatorio Sup. De Música in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet and René Glez Sextet
Free – 21.00 in Plaza de Europa, Puerto de la Cruz
4th July
James Taylor Quartet and ST Fusion
Free – 21.00 in Puerto de la Cruz
5th July
Mezzoforte and Diego Barber Quartet
Ticket required – 21.00 at the Teatro Leal in La Laguna
6th July
Christian Mcbride & Inside Straight and Okou
Ticket required – 21.00 at the Teatro Leal in La Laguna
7th July
Fra Fra Sound and Mayra Andrade
Free – 21.00 in Plaza la Concepcion in La Laguna
8th July
Chris Potter’s Underground and Viktoria Tolstoy
Free – 21.00 in Casa de la Pólvora in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
9th July
Steve Lukather & Band and Martín Leiton
Free – 21.00 in Casa de la Pólvora in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
10th July
Kind of Blue at 50
Ticket required – 21.00 at the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
11th July
The CTI All Stars
Ticket required – 21.00 at the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Gran Canaria
3rd July
James Taylor Quartet and Link
Free – 21.00 in Playa de Melenara, Teide
4th July
Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet
Ticket required – Masterclass from 12.00-14.30 at the Escuela Yahama in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Mezzoforte and Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet
Free – 21.00 at the Centro Cultural, Santa Brígida
6th July
Francesco Cafiso/The Italian Jazz Quartet and Diego Barber Quartet
Ticket required – 21.00 at Paraninfo ULPGC in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
7th July
Christian Mcbride & Inside Straight and Okou
Ticket required – 21.00 at Paraninfo ULPGC in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
8th July
Fra Fra Sound and Mayra Andrade
Free – 21.00 at Plaza de Santa Ana in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
9th July
Chris Potter’s Underground and Viktoria Tolstoy
Free – 21.00 at Plaza de Santa Ana in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
10th July
Steve Lukather & Band and David Quevedo Trio
Free – 21.00 at Plaza de Santa Ana in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
11th July
Kind of Blue at 50
Ticket required – 21.00 at Teatro Cuyás in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
12th July
The CTI All Stars
Ticket required – 20.00 at the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Fuerteventura
5th July
James Taylor Quartet and Francesco Cafiso/The Italian Jazz Quartet
Free – 21.00 at the Auditorio in Puerto del Rosario
Lanzarote
3rd July
Mezzoforte and Okou
Free – 21.00 in the Historic Centre of Teguise
4th July
Diego Barber Quartet and Patricia Kraus Quartet
Free – 21.00 in the Municipal Theatre in San Bartolomé
