Friday at A Barraca, located in Cinearte, performances will feature the trio Mopoke and UM/Welt, a developing musical research project created by bassist and composer Marco Centasso. The ensemble includes Sarra Douik (vocals and oud), Manuel Caliumi (alto saxophone), and Riccardo Sellan (electronics). The day will also see performances from pianist Federico Nuti and the Simoni Teolis Duo, consisting of Lorenzo Simoni on alto saxophone and Iacopo Teolis on trumpet.
The “Jazz nos Bairros” project includes Tatiana Lima (guitar), Razy (bass), Jery Keys (keyboards), and Filipe Padrão (drums), performing across three venues: on the 15th at Renovar a Mouraria, the following day at the Centro de Recursos de Desenvolvimento Local de Base Comunitária in Carnide, and on the 17th at the Junta de Freguesia da Misericórdia, Palácio Cabral.
The day before the start of the Festa do Jazz, the book “Jazz: Panorama Portugal” will be presented at the Imprensa Nacional library. This English-language publication aims at international agents to promote Portuguese jazz globally.
The Festa do Jazz opens on the 19th with a stage debut by João Barradas and the Sara Serpa Quartet. “This event highlights the role of the National Meeting of Schools, which returns this year to discover and showcase the best Portuguese jazz musicians,” stated Carlos Martins, artistic director of the Associação Sons da Lusofonia (ASL), which organizes the Festa, in an interview with Lusa agency.
This year’s National Meeting of Schools includes musicians from the Professional School of Performing Arts of Jobra, Sociedade Musical Capricho Setubalense, the Artistic School of Music of the National Conservatory, the Porto Music Conservatory, the Professional Instrumental Jazz Course of the Artistic School of the Coimbra Conservatory of Music, the Évora University School of Arts, the Jazz School of Barreiro, Hot Clube School, Lisbon School of Music, School of Music and Performing Arts, the Jazz Academy of Music, and Lusíada University of Lisbon.
The meeting takes place in the Freitas Branco Hall of CCB on the 20th and 21st, where the Best Combo and Best Instrumentalist awards will be presented.
“The central idea of Festa do Jazz is to continue, within the scope of improvised music made in Portugal, to seek sonorities and, ultimately, sonic atmospheres that relate to us, our past, present, and the artistic experiences of each artist and group,” Carlos Martins said.
This year, the Festa features Jazzopa, a creation and performance workshop covering jazz, hip hop, and ‘spoken word’. This project by ASL will have its final presentation this year, as noted by the organization.
Other acts include the Mateus Saldanha Quartet, comprising Mateus Saldanha (guitar), Hugo Lobo (piano), Carlos Barreto (double bass), and Gabriel Moraes (drums), as well as French composer Robinson Khourry with his trio Mÿa, and multi-instrumentalist Brian Jackson.
The last day of the Festa will feature performances by the German quartet Hilde, making their Portuguese debut, and Analogik, consisting of Zé Almeida (double bass), Mariana Dionísio (vocals), Adèle Viret (cello), and Samuel Ber (drums).
This edition’s programmers are Eduardo Morais and Cristiana Morais from ASL.
Carlos Martins acknowledged a “remarkable change” in the national jazz landscape in recent years, noting that “the level of students, musicians, and professionals has risen significantly,” but lamented that “there are fewer places to perform and musicians are being paid less than ever, indicating a lack of sustainability in the Portuguese jazz scene.”
The organizer described the situation as “lamentable, allowing musicians to professionalize only if they work both in Portugal and abroad.”
Martins stated, “Most jazz musicians live with their parents or are financially dependent on them,” which is why ASL established the Portuguese Jazz Network. “It’s necessary to internationalize Portuguese jazz, given its artistic dimension far exceeds its employability,” he noted.
He emphasized, “Something needs to be done without waiting for a government decision. We all need to come together, and therefore it’s essential that musicians unite, reviving the community spirit we launched over twenty years ago with the Festa do Jazz.”
