SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, June 7. (EUROPA PRESS) –
More than 60 concerts distributed in 26 scenic spaces on the eight islands make up the offer of the 31st Festival Internacional Canarias Jazz & Más, in which 35 musical projects will participate, 14 of them originated in the Archipelago.
Nearly 200 musicians will travel between July 1 and 24 for this cultural meeting, which once again has the support of the Government of the Canary Islands through the Vice-Ministry of Culture and Heritage.
Marcus Miller, winner of two Grammys; Gregory Porter, who has won two other awards, and the San Francisco Jazz Collective (SFJAZZ Collective) project, directed by saxophonist Chris Potter, also winner of a Grammy, will be some of the main attractions of the program, presented today at a press conference in the La Granja Space in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Juan Márquez, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands, acted as host at an event that was also attended by Enrique Arriaga, Vice President of the Cabildo de Tenerife and Minister of Culture; Marco González, Mayor and Councilor for Culture of Puerto de la Cruz; Tatiana Brito, Minister of Culture of the Cabildo of El Hierro; Gladys de León, Councilor for Culture of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council; Yaiza López Landi, Councilor for Culture of the City Council of La Laguna; Adolfo Alonso Ferrera, Councilor for Tourism of the Adeje City Council, and Miguel Ramírez, director of the Canarias Jazz & Más Festival.
Márquez expressed the importance for the cultural fabric of the islands of “the celebration of a festival that is already 31 years old and that continues to bet on excellence in its poster, with the presence year after year of the best artists of the genre” and pointed out that “we feel that this festival is ours, it forms part of the cultural landscape of the islands and has consolidated its presence throughout the Canary Islands, something that we set out to do since we agreed to be the main supporter of the event”.
For his part, Miguel Ramírez thanked the “presence and firm commitment of each of the institutions that are present for yet another year as promoters of this project through which great figures in music continue to pass”. He recalled that despite these last two hard years “in which we had to adapt to the covid protocols, the festival has not failed, because we understood that people need to meet, recover a certain normality.” Now “we will do it again in the best conditions” but without stopping betting on “safety in the environments in which the festival will be held”.
Ramírez advanced that this year “we have a Ukrainian group in the poster, we hope they can be with us because right now they are there, living the war, one of them is even fighting.” The director of the festival proclaimed his “total rejection of the war in Ukraine.”
He also provided more figures generated by the festival, “which becomes not only a cultural engine, but also an economic one during its celebration.” Ramírez stressed that this year about 70 public and private external companies are participating (hotels, security, sound, lighting, transportation, etc.) and “some 300 direct and indirect jobs” are generated. And he added that this year there will be a foreign promotion campaign “in specialized magazines from countries that send tourists to the Canary Islands.”
Among the projects added to those already mentioned are also the trumpeter Avishai Cohen Big Vicious, Nate Smith + Kinfolk, Ben Wendel Quartet, Immanuel Wilkins, Samantha Fish, Kadri Voorand in Duo with Mihkel Mälgand, Septeto Santiaguero, Ángela Cervantes and Pepe Rivero Quartet, Trio Corrente, Philip Lassiter, Yusan, Barencia, Pokaz Trio (Ukraine), Lucía Fumero Trio, Jesús Prieto ‘Pitti’, Pepe Bao Sextet, Berta Moreno, Sumrrá and 14 Canarian projects: Gran Canaria Big Band, Carlos Meneses Trio , Ernesto Montenegro Quintet, Gabriela Suárez Trío, La Local Jazz Band, Rayko León Quartet, JC Machado, Anna Rodríguez & Eliseo Lloreda, Jonay Martín Trío, Los Jinetes del Groove, Projeto Brasileiro, Javier Montero Jazz Band, Alexis Alonso Ensemble and JM Churchi & They are from Earth.
