Jacob Collier and Woman to Woman, two star attractions to open the second week of concerts

•  The first is the young British musician, heralded as jazz music’s new messiah, with two Grammy awards for his debut album, ‘From My Room’
•  The second group, made up solely of women artists, performed at the International Womens’ Day 2016 celebrations at the ‘Philarmonie de París’ 

The 26th edition of the Festival Internacional Canarias Jazz&Más Heineken enters its second week following an extraordinary start, which featured thirteen concerts staged in two days that far exceeded the expectations of the demanding yet loyal Canarian public. And it does so with two top groups, with performances by Jacob Collier and Woman to Woman on the nights of Wednesday 12 & Thursday 13 July in La Laguna (Tenerife) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

The concerts by Jacob Collier, one of the great up-and-coming stars of contemporay music, will be held at the Leal Theatre in La Laguna (Wednesday 12, starting at 21.00 hours) and the Guiniguada Theatre in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Thursday, 13, at the same time). In both cases, entrance tickets may be obtained on the web page http://www.entrees.es. Woman to Woman stages its performances on Wednesday 12 at the Pérez Galdós Theatre at 21.00 hours in LPGC ( tickets at entradas.com), and the following day at the Leal Theatre in La Laguna.

Jacob Collier is recognized as one of the world’s most distinctive, inventive and prodigious young (twentytwo years old) musicians. Based in London, Jacob has been inspired by many sounds – his music combines elements of jazz, a cappella, groove, folk, trip-hop, classical music, Brazilian music, gospel, soul and improvisation; an authentic cocktail of genres, which culminate to create his own world. Collier plays the ukelele, mandolin, keyboards, drums, guitar, bass, Bengali ektara & balafon. He studied piano for two years at the Royal Academy of Music in London, but abondoned it because he felt he learnt more listening to music on the way to school than in the actual classes.

Jacob grew up in a family of musicians, and has honed his musical ideas from a very young age. He has embraced the world of the Internet to share his uniquely creative talent, becoming best known for creating his trademark multi-faceted YouTube videos, wherein he sings all the parts, plays all the instruments, and visualises every component with a mosaic of screens.

Since his first YouTube upload in December 2011, Jacob’s online social channels have garnered over 200,000 international followers and more than nine million YouTube views. One of his videos which was his rendition of the Stevie Wonder classic, Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing, became a viral hit.

Collier has awakened and gained the admiration a global following, of some of the elite Jazz community, including Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Steve Vai and Take 6, to name a few.

Jacob has spent the last year collaborating with Ben Bloomberg at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, designing and building a groundbreaking solo live performance vehicle, which brings his one-man, multi-instrumental, multi-visual format of music making to the stage.

Jacob recently debuted this show at the Montreux Jazz Festival, opening for Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. The Guardian heralded Collier as “jazz music’s new messiah”.

After witnessing the pre-debut run at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London, the magazine ‘Jazzwise’ named him “The Future of Music.” Collier concurrently works on commissioned arrangements for high-calibre orchestras and bands around the world, travelling to give masterclasses at various schools and universities.

He has collaborated with many different musicians, including Snarky Puppy’s and a special with Cory Henry. His first album, titled In My Room, was released on 1 July 2016, and went to number 1 on iTunes Jazz in 23 countries. This year he received two Grammys for his arrangements for Flintstones and You And I, which both feature in his debut album.

Female Supergroup

Woman to Woman is a group composed exclusively of women, authentic stars of jazz music, who will present a novel & eclectic show.  This jazz supergroup performed at the celebration of International Women’s Day at the “Philarmonie de París”. “There’s nothing radical in reclaiming equality, whether in jazz or elsewhere. It’s the least we can do”, states Cécile McLorin Salvant, considered to be one of the best jazz vocalists of the last decade.

The compelling voice of Cécile McLorin Salvant, pianist Renee Rosnes, bassist Noriko Ueda, a potent wind section featuring Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, clarinetist Anat Cohen & Melissa Aldana on tenor saxophone with well-known drummer Allisson Miller to complete this superband.

Born & raised in Miami, Cécile McLorin Salvant began her relationship with music at an early age, until during her stint at university she came across Edward Walker, vocal teacher at the University of Miami. In 2007, Cécile moved to Aix-en-Provence, France, to study classical and baroque voice at the Darius Milhaud Conservatory. It was there, with teacher Jean-François Bonnel, that she started learning about jazz, and sang with her first band. In 2009, after a series of concerts in Paris, she recorded her first album, titled Cécile, with the Jean-François Bonnel’s Paris Quintet. A year later, she won the Thelonious Monk competition in Washington D.C. Over the years, she has developed a curiosity for the history of American music, and the connections between jazz, vaudeville, blues, and folk music. In 2014 she released her second album,  WomanChild (Mack Avenue Records), which was nominated for a Grammy award. Her third album, For One To Love (Mack Avenue Records), was recorded in 2015 with musicians Aaron Diehl (piano), Paul Sikivie (bass), and Lawrence Leathers (drums); and the following year, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

Allison Miller engages her deep roots in improvisation as a vehicle to explore. Described by critics as a charismatic percussionist, Miller has been jazz ambassador of the US State Department on three occasions. Her disc Otis Was a Polar Bear with her band Boom Tic Boom, was named best disc of 2016 by jazz critics at National Public Radio (NPR). As drummer, she has played alongside musicians of the calibre of Ani DiFranco, Natalie Merchant, Brandi Carlile, Toshi Reagon, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Patricia Barber, Marty Ehrlich, Ben Allison, The Meredith Vieira Show, and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Allison gives classes at the New School of Jazz & Contemporary Music in NYC.

Born in Vancouver, Ingrid Jensen has been hailed as one of the most gifted trumpet players of her generation. After graduating from Berklee College of Music she recorded three highly acclaimed CDs on the prestigious ENJA label thus becoming one of the most in-demand trumpeters on the global scene. More recently, Ingrid has been performing with the Grammy-winning Tri-Lyne Carrington and her Mosaic Project. She has played alongside many jazz legends, from Clark Terry to Esperanza Spalding, Corine Bailey Rae & Sarah McLachlan. She is also a dedicated jazz educator and gives classes at the University of Míchigan. During a recent tour she performed with the legendary Herbie Hancock. One of her closest collaboratores is her sister, saxofonist Christine Jensen. She also currently works with keyboard player Jason Miles in a group that plays electric music.

One of the most acclaimed saxophonists on the scene is Melissa Aldana, especially after her 2014 release with her group Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio, titled Back Home, on the ‘Wommusic’ label. Pablo Menares on bass and Jochen Rueckert on drums contribute to explore & project an uncommonly full orchestral sound, rich in spiritual intensity. The title of the album might seem to evoke the feeling of returning to Chile; having moved to Boston in 2007 to enrol at Berklee, and above all, her memories of listening to discs by Sonny Rollins for the first time, an artist who had a great effect on her life. Rollins is one of the main reasons that made her decide to form a trio, because of “the freedom you have within the music, the interaction, the opportunity you have to express yourself and communicate with the other musicians”. Daughter of saxophonist Marcos Aldana, there were other great artists who influenced her career, namely Don Byas, Gene Ammons, Lucky Thompson, Chris Potter & Mark Turner.

Japanese Noriko Ueda began her relationship with music at a very early age studying classical piano and then at the age of sixteen began playing electric bass. She later graduated from Berklee College in 1997. She has played & recorded with numerouis artists & groups, including Frank Wess Quintet & Nonet, Ted Rosenthal Trio, Harry Whitaker Band, Grady Tate Band, DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Five Play & Diva Jazz Trio, and leads her own big band Noriko Ueda Jazz Orchestra, interpreting her own compositions.

Renee Rosnes is one of the best jazz pianists & composers of her generation. Having relocated from Vancouver to New York in 1986, she rapidly established a reputation as a major talent. She has recorded & toured with some veritable jazz legends, like Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, JJ Johnson, James Moody, Bobby Hutcherson, Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Buster Williams & Foursight (Ron Carter). She was a founder member of the all-star octet, SFJAZZ Collective, and toured with them for a period of six years. Renee has released a series of 15 albums and featured on a number of recordings with other musicians. Renee also performs frequently with her husband, acclaimed pianist Bill Charlap, and together they recorded four tracks on an album with famed singer Tony Bennett.

Anat Cohen (Tel Aviv, Israel) is a great clarinetist as well as saxophonist and bandleader. She studied & graduated at Berklee College, and comes from a family of musicians; the most outstanding among them being her brothers Avishai (trumpet) and Yuval (alto & soprano sax), with whom she has also recorded. Her debut album, titled Place & Time, was released in 2015 on the Anzic Records label, and her latest disc Luminosa was also released in that same year. She regularly performs at the most prominent jazz festivals (Montreal, Newport, North Sea), and has received many awards of recognition by the Jazz Journalists Association. In July 2013 she received the ‘Paul Acket Award’ at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam.