In Cartagena in November it sounds like jazz and from 3rd to 25th November, the City Council of the port city once again celebrates a new edition, the 37th one of its jazz festival.
November is synonymous of jazz in Cartagena. The port city celebrates the 37th anniversary of one of the longest festivals in our country this 2017, the Cartagena Jazz Festival, which will flood Cartagena with music from November 3rd to 25th. This edition is full of great artists of the genre at international level that was presented September 21st, the Culture of the City of Cartagena town councillor, David Martínez, the festival director, Francisco Martín, and the general director of the Institute of the Cultural Industries and the Arts, Marta López Briones.
“The strength of the female voice” is the protagonist of the poster of this edition, the councillor explained as a sign of admiration for the artists of the genre. A force that will be evident on stage with the performances of Luisa Sobral, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Maria Arnal and Marcel Bagés, Eliane Elias, Cyrille Aimée or Concha Buika. The festival also features performances by jazz legends such as Michael Nyman or Chick Corea, who will be accompanied by Steve Gadd, without detracting from other international greats such as Zenet and Roberto Fonseca, Jay Jay Johanson and José James.
The concerts will be held on Fridays and Saturdays throught the month of November. This Thursday, tickets went on sale at the ticket offices of the two venues of the festival, El Batel Auditorium and Nuevo Teatro Circo, as well as on the website www.jazzcartagena.es. In addition, 200 tickets for the whole festival have been put up for sale at a price of 55 euros, which can be purchased in person at the ticket offices of both venues.
The festival is complemented by the street Jazz and Off Jazz programs, the result of two years’ worth of commitment to take the music to the streets and take it to small rooms in the city by the Department of Culture to take the music to the streets and take it to small rooms in the city, Martinez recalled. Every Saturday at 12:30 you can enjoy free concerts at the Plaza del Ícue, while on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at Mr. Witt, Sala Tantalus, El Cuervo, El Soldadito de Plomo, and the Batel Auditorium; artists such as “Funkystep & The Sey Sister”, Antonio Arias and Dr. Montañés, Santiago Campillo Trio, Carte Noir, Maxi Caballero Trio, Sara Zamora and Fabio Miano perform. The dates and times can be consulted in the program which follows:
THE FESTIVAL
The official program will begin on Friday, November 3rd , with the performances of Luisa Sobral and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Sobral was premiered in our country in 2011, with a performance within the Cartagena Jazz Festival at the New Theater Circus, stage that will host in this edition, where she presented her first piece ‘The Cherry on my Cake’ Six years later, she now presents her fourth album, recorded under the tutelage of renowned California producer Joe Henry. For Luisa Sobral song lovers she is occupying an important space, now the great public knows her after composing for her brother Salvador Sobral the winning song of Eurovisión 2017 “Amar pelo dois”.
After her, Dee Dee Bridgewater, one of the most named vocalists of the current scene, will take the stage. It is, without a doubt, one of the most energetic and relevant voices of jazz, queen of miscegenation and improvisation.
In addition, on Friday November 10th the historic pianist Chick Corea and the great drummer Steve Gadd will go up to the Batel stage together. Corea is a pianist, composer and band leader; the fourth most nominated artist in the history of the Grammy Awards with 22 awards out of 63 nominations, in addition to the Latino Grammys. For his part, Steve Gadd is one of the most influential drummers of contemporary music, considered one of the 10 best drummers in the world. These two geniuses will make a repertoire that will review the joint work of both artists, accompanied by Lionel Loueke on guitar, Steven Wilson on sax and flutes, Carlitos Del Puerto on bass and Luisito Quintero on percussion in Cartagena.
A later, on Saturday the 11th, it will be the turn of Jay Jay Johanson and José James. It’s been almost 20 years since the Swedish singer-songwriter Jay Jay Johanson became known, and he still has an innate facility for melodies, a caressing voice and compositions full of intoxicating and suggestive rhythms that elevate his songs from the subtle to the sublime. He will present his latest album Looking Glass II at the Cartagena Jazz Festival. After him it will be José James’ turn. He is one of the pampered singers of the festival, and who this time will present his latest work` Love in a Time of Madness`, an album where he bets for a luminous and at times danceable sound, full of urban rhythms mixed with soul, without getting away from jazz.
Furthermore, those considered as the most important musical revelation of this 2017 in Spain, Maria Arnal and Marcel Bagès, will be in Cartagena on November 17th. Together they update songs, combine Spanish and Catalan, their own and others’ subjects and incorporate the rescue of field recordings and digitized files belonging to different music libraries throughout the country into their project. After them, the Brazilian pianist, composer and vocalist, Eliane Elias, will be on stage at the Nuevo Teatro Circo, who in March of this year released her new album Dance of Time, where she pays homage to Brazilian jazz and samba, a celebration for the centenary of the samba with which he returns to Cartagena.
On Saturday, November 18th, it will be the turn of Cyrille Aimée and Concha Buika, also at the Nuevo Teatro Circo. The French lady has become one of the new voices that has illuminated the jazz scene of recent years with its naturalness, freshness and personality. It is presented for the first time in Cartagena with her latest album Let’s Get Lost. On the other hand, Concha Buika returns to the port city with `For me´, her latest work where she demonstrates once again that she has plenty of talent and pedigree.
Then in the final leg of the festival, on Friday 24th, Michael Nyman returns to Cartagena accompanied by his band to celebrate his 40 years in the music industry. He is responsible for the application of the term minimalism for the first time in music and is also the creator of the iconic soundtrack `El Piano`, Nyman remains among the most fascinating musical icons of our time.Rhythm will flood the closing night of the festival on Saturday, November 25th, with Zenet and Roberto Fonseca. And it is that Zenet has braided successfully the language of jazz, the Latin sound universe and the resonance of music from around the world and comes to Cartagena to present If it happens, it is appropriate, a job in which it leaves its comfort zone and undertakes new roads accompanied by new rhythms and new genres.
After him it will be the turn of the Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca, who comes to present Abuc. The title is an anagram of Cuba, as if the album were a journey through time, through the musical eras that have marked the island. Fonseca, who is considered one of the best pianists of the moment, will show the best he can do, a jazz fused with Cuban popular music.
FESTIVAL OF RENOMBRE AT NATIONAL LEVEL
Francisco Martín recalled that in the Observatory of Culture 2017 which was published by the Contemporary Foundation, and that produces a ranking of the most outstanding cultural institutions and events of 2016 of the national panorama and by autonomous communities, he pointed the Cartagena Jazz Festival out as the second best festival in the region behind La Mar de Músicas. A great achievement considering its budget of around 200,000 euros, far from other major festivals at national, and even regional.
An importance that has been corroborated Lopez Briones, who has indicated that this festival is already “in the collective imagination as a must for all inhabitants of the Region of Murcia and even outside.” He also thanked Martin for making possible such quality programming, which has highlighted Michael Nyman as a myth of jazz music.
For his part, the councillor has wished that all music lovers move to Cartagena, “live it, discover it” and enjoy the city as a “cultural focus during the month of November”.