The Festival Canarias Jazz & Más presents the 64 concerts of its 33rd edition
Canary Islands, 19 June 2024. The Festival Internacional Canarias Jazz & Más Músicas Creativas raised the curtain to the concert programme of its 33rd edition with the presentation at a press conference, held at the ‘Espacio La Granja’. The presence of Chucho Valdés & Irakere 50, Potter Mehldau Patitucci Blake & Cécile McLorin Salvant are the main attractions of a programme that features 64 concerts which will be staged at 28 venues on eight islands between 5 & 27 July.
The event was attended by Horacio Umpiérrez, Councillor for Culture, Canary Islands Government; José Carlos Acha Domínguez, Councillor for Culture at the Cabildo (Island Council) of Tenerife; Marco Antonio González, Mayor of Puerto De la Cruz & Councillor for Cultural Action; Carmen Dolores Pérez, Councillor for Employment, Trade and Tourism (Development Society);Santiago Díaz, Councillor for Culture & President of the OAC of Santa Cruz de Tenerife; Adolfo Alonso Ferrera, Councillor for Culture at Adeje Town Hall; José Francisco Socas, Councillor for Culture at Granadilla de Abona Town Hall; Fernando Jiménez, Director of the Autonomous Organization for Musical Activities at La Laguna Town Hall; and Miguel Ramírez, director of the Festival Internacional Canarias Jazz & Más Músicas Creativas.
Going beyond statistics, which gives one an idea of the dimension and organizational capacity of a festival which now celebrates its 33rd edition and with an established public attendance; besides the quantitative, the really important factor of the Festival Canarias Jazz & Más Músicas Creativas focuses on the qualitative element, in the trajectory of an artistic cast that stands out for its stylistic diversity -jazz is an open genre in continuous evolution- for the groups that stand out for their excellent live performances and featuring musicians of great talent & ability, both creative and interpretive. In the list of the 34 ensembles that participate this year, in addition to the three aforementioned artists heading the billing, are the Dave Douglas Gifts Quartet, Estrellas de Buena Vista, Veronica Swift, Knower (formation led by multi-instrumentist Louis Cole and singer Genevieve Artadi), Ana Popovic, Harold López-Nussa, Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet, Theo Croker, Antonio Lizana, London Afrobeat Collective, Roxana Amed, Adèdéji, Rozier / Van de Zaal Group ft. Paul Van Kessel, Aleph Quintet, Loris Tils, Dainius Pulauskas Group, Infante Lemes Colina Trío, Alto for Two, Ernesto Hermida Quintet accompanied by a number of local groups, such as Germán López, Yul Ballesteros Trío, Yone Rodríguez Quartet, Perinké Big Band, Orquesta Jazz de Canarias, Idafe Pérez Quinteto, Fernando Barrios Quartet, D’Local Groove, Mosco Project, GAC Trío, Vanessa Lemoine Quartet, Morgan Hernández vs. Fernikhan backed by Dj Cisco and Sara Lilu & Alesander Peña, as well as the new project by Polo Ortí from Tenerife, who was present at the press conference offering his mastery on the piano.
Opening the procedure was the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Canary Islands, Horacio Umpiérrez, who highlighted the longevity of the festival and the support from institutions it receives, proof of this being the number of representatives of those administrations present at the event, “on cultural matters”, he said, “we must all get together, it’s a responsibility for all and we all ought to be present”. Along the same lines José Carlos Acha, Councillor for Culture at the Cabildo (Island Council) of Tenerife, also expressed “”it evidently shows that there is an audience waiting every year to attend their concerts”, while noting that the celebration of the festival “is an event for the whole island”. He also stressed that “there are musical languages that come and go, but jazz remains”.
As for the municipal representatives, the first to come forward was the Mayor of Puerto de la Cruz, Marco González, also responsible for culture in his municipality, “something non-negotiable” he joked. Furthermore, the alderman began a healthy rivalry boasting of “an incredible programming in our municipality” and of how an incomparable space/venue “the ‘Lago Martiánez unites promotional value of the municipality to the cultural one”.
The remaining councilors present then entered in that healthy competitiveness, starting with Carmen Dolores Pérez, Councillor for Employment, Trade & Tourism of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, who recognised the economic impact of the festival on the capital of Tenerife, “”because it is also economy, commerce, gastronomy and the creation of employment”. The festival generates employment. Her fellow member of the government group, Santiago Díaz, Councillor for Culture, bragged of their programming at the Teatro Guimerá “Cecile McLorin, winner of 3 Grammy awards and 6 nominations. The Guimerá, will get decked out to welcome her”.
Adolfo Alonso Ferrera, Councillor for Culture at Adeje Town hall, emphasized of his municipality that “we are a top level tourist destination, but we also have a lot to offer culturally. With regard to the Festival Canarias Jazz & Más, we have been holding it for years in a strategic place because it is handy for the local public, for tourists and those coming from other parts of the island”. José Francisco Socas, Councillor for Culture at Granadilla de Abona Town Hall, showed his content to be included in the festival programme this year “and be part of all these venues and what they mean, for the visibility & profile it gives the municipality”.
Fernando Jiménez, Director of the Autonomous Organization for Musical Activities at La Laguna Town Hall highlighted the “healthy rivalry between municipalities; it’s amazing how we’re all fighting fairly amongst ourselves for featuring an important part of the festival”. Jiménez recalled that this year a private space/venue is added to the festival, the ‘Aguere Cultural’.
To end the proceedings, the Director of the Festival, Miguel Ramírez, offered his appreciation to “all the support we received” and is back again featuring “top quality artists, from those that we consider to headline the billing, to the local groups, who each year present their projects with us”. He emphasized the need to keep their commitment to a genre that goes “beyond being a style, it’s a universe”. He expressed his thanks to “the support of the attending public, that we have consolidated among our local people”, but also recalled that “we are an international festival, and as such for some years we have been promoting our name and the Canary Islands in leading international jazz media, in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, etc.”…
