Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis heads the great week of the Festival

• The Julian Lage Trio; Benavent, Di Geraldo, Pardo; the Fred Hersch Trio; Óscar Peñas and The Buttshakers complete the four-day luxury billing
• Fifteen concerts will be staged from Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 on the islands of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, El Hierro & La Palma
• The programme closes at The Paper Club with a performance by Alba Gil Aceytuno (Sunday, 15.00 hours)

This week the Festival Internacional Canarias Jazz & Mas reaches excellence in its 30th edition with the presence on the Islands of the American ensemble Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra conducted by Wynton Marsalis. But the billing for this third week has many treasures in store, as it also features star figures of the genre in its programme, such as the pianist Fred Hersch with his trio; the excellent guitarrist Julian Lage, with his similar formation; another eminent trio made up of bassist Carles Benavent, percussionist Tino Di Geraldo and saxophonist/flautist Jorge Pardo; the French band of garage soul music The Buttshakers; and the Catalan guitarrist Óscar Peñas. All information regarding entrance ticket sales (sold out at many concerts), on canariasjazz.com.

Two jazz institutions, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) & Wynton Marsalis, join this weekend’s programme of the 30th anniversary of the Festival, with two concerts where they will review an extensive repertoire which they performed in their last two concerts this same week in Barcelona & Madrid, featuring both works composed by members of this solid & reputable big band, as well as classics by artists such as Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk & Duke Ellington.

The line-up of the JLCO is Wynton Marsalis (musical director & trumpet); Ryan Kisor (trumpet); Kenny Rampton (trumpet); Marcus Printup (trumpet); Chris Crenshaw (trombone); Vincent Gardner (trombone); Elliot Mason (trombone); Walter Blanding (tenor & soprano sax, clarinet); Sherman Irby (alto & soprano sax, flute, clarinet); Ted Nash (alto & soprano sax, flute, clarinet); Victor Goines (tenor & soprano sax, clarinet, bass clarinet); Paul Nedzela (baritone & soprano sax, bass clarinet); Dan Nimmer (piano); & Carlos Henriquez (bass).

The concerts by Wynton Marsalis with the JLCO will be held on Saturday 17 July at the Pérez Galdós Theatre  and the following day, Sunday 18 July, at the Tenerife Auditorium, starting at 20.00 hours in both cases. Entrance tickets for these concerts were sold out in a matter of a few hours. In addition to this double performance, on Friday 16 at 11.00 horas, Marsalis will hold a Masterclass for musicians (professionals & students) at the Guiniguada Theatre. Places are limited and those interested can register via  link .

For this third week, the Festival has programmed concerts in La Gomera (Friday, with Benavent, Di Geraldo & Pardo), El Hierro (Saturday, with the Julian Lage Trio) & La Palma (Saturday, with Óscar Peñas and The Buttshakers). And completes its programme with four consecutive nights –from Thursday to Sunday- in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Place of special interest ‘La Granja’ & Tenerife Auditorium) and Gran Canaria (Guiniguada Theatre, Santa Brígida, Pérez Galdós Theatre and The Paper Club), making a total of 15 concerts.

JLCO WITH WYNTON MARSALIS

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) is dedicated to inspiring and growing audiences for jazz. World-renowned and a comprehensive array of guest artists, JLCO advances a unique vision for the continued development of the art of jazz by producing a year-round schedule of performance, education, and broadcast events for audiences of all ages. These productions include concerts, national and international tours, residencies, weekly national radio programs, television broadcasts, recordings, publications, an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, a band director academy, jazz appreciation curricula for students, music publishing, children’s concerts and classes, lectures, adult education courses, student and educator workshops, a record label, and interactive websites. Under the leadership of Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, Chairman Clarence Otis and Executive Director Greg Scholl, JLCO produces thousands of events each season in its home in New York City, Frederick P. Rose Hall, and all over the world.

Wynton Marsalis (New Orleans, Louisiana in 1961), world renowned trumpeter & composer, began his classical training on trumpet at age 12, entered The Juilliard School aged 17, and then joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He made his recording debut as a leader in 1982, and has since recorded more than 60 jazz and classical recordings, which have won him nine Grammy Awards. In 1983 he became the first and only artist to win both classical and jazz Grammys in the same year and repeated this feat in 1984. Marsalis is also an internationally respected teacher and spokesman for music education, and has received honorary doctorates from dozens of U.S. universities and colleges. He has written six books and in 1997 Marsalis became the first jazz artist to be awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in music for his oratorio Blood on the Fields. In 2001 he was appointed Messenger of Peace by Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, and he has also been designated cultural ambassador to the United States of America by the U.S. State Department through their ‘Culture Connect’ programme.

FRED HERSCH TRIO

Every time he sits down at the piano is an act of revelation, discovery, confession and evolution. As an exploratory artist, eloquent composer, outspoken activist, influential educator and possessor of one of the most personal and expressive pianistic styles in improvised music, he has led a singular life that has shaped one of the most acclaimed and influential voices in modern jazz.

JULIAN LAGE TRIO

Hailed as one of the most prodigious guitarists of his generation and “highest category of improvising musicians” (New Yorker), he has spent more than a decade searching through the myriad strains of American musical history by means of impeccable technique, free association and a spirit of infinite possibility.

BENAVENT, DI GERALDO, PARDO PRESENTAN ‘FLAMENCO LEAKS’

Three musicians from different backgrounds; one from Madrid who strived to be a jazz musician, a Catalan involved in progressive rock and another from Asturia raised with punk music. Fortunately ‘flamenco’ crossed their paths and changed their careers. They went from being the best in their own fields to be quite unique.

ÓSCAR PEÑAS QUARTET

He leads his band with harmonic imagination and authenticity, writing his original compositions with minimalist & sensitive lines, interchanging spontaneous creativity with the members of his band. Although his first works were based on bebop, he later began developing a more personal style crossing genres of jazz, Iberian, Brazilian, Argentinean and classical music.

THE BUTTSHAKERS

Led by the bewitching voice and energy of the seductive and charismatic riot-girl Ciara Thompson, this band lays down warm, raw soul music that digs into the furrows of the addictive rhythms and beating blues of the music they love so much. A rhythm’n’blues vibe with a touch of garage rock and a high dosage of sex-appeal.

ALBA ACEYTUNO GIL

In spite of her youth, this young saxophonist from Gran Canaria will present her own musical project featuring all the styles, which have been and are her benchmark influences when composing: jazz, hip-hop, punk and popular Canarian music.

In this 30th edition, the Festival Canarias Jazz & Mas goes to the eight islands for the first time in the same edition (having already staged concerts on all, but not in the same year), a milestone that is due also to the collaboration of all the institutions that have made it possible to celebrate this musical event: the Canary Islands Government; the Island Councils of Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Palma, El Hierro, La Gomera, Tenerife & Gran Canaria (through its Tourist Board); the Town Halls of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Brígida, Teguise, San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, La Laguna, Puerto de la Cruz, Adeje, Los Llanos de Aridane, San Sebastián de La Gomera; and venues such as the Adán Martín Auditorium of Tenerife, the Auditorium & Theatre Foundation of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Theatre Guiniguada, the place of interest ‘La Granja’, and others that have been added this year, like the Elder Museum of Science & Technology, the Convent of Santo Domingo in La Laguna, the Convention Centre of ‘ExpoMeloneras’ and the Tenerife Nature & Archeology Museum (MUNA).

PROGRAMME:

Thursday 15:

Teatro Guiniguada (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), 20.00 hours.

Benavent, Di Geraldo, Pardo present ‘Flamenco Leaks’.

Place of Interest ‘La Granja’ (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), 21.15 hours

Julian Lage Trio.

Friday 16:

Municipal Park of Santa Brígida (Gran Canaria), 20.00 hours.

Julian Lage Trio and Fred Hersch Trio.

Espacio La Granja (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), 21.15 hours

Óscar Peñas and The Buttshakers.

‘Torre del Conde’ Park (San Sebastián de La Gomera), 20.00 hours

Benavent, Di Geraldo, Pardo present ‘Flamenco Leaks’.

Saturday 17

Pérez Galdós Theatre (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), 20.00 hours.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Tenerife Auditorium (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), 20.00 hours

Benavent, Di Geraldo, Pardo present ‘Flamenco Leaks’ and Fred Hersch Trio.

Marquee ‘Juan Pablo II’ (Los Llanos de Aridane, La Palma), 21.00 hours.

Óscar Peñas and The Buttshakers.

Cultural Centre ‘Ana Barrera Casañas’ (Frontera, El Hierro), 21.00 hours.

Julian Lage Trio.

Sunday 18:

Tenerife Auditorium (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), 20.00 hours

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis 20.00

The Paper Club (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), 15.00 hours

Alba Gil Aceytuno.