Festival Internacional de Jazz de Angra do Heroísmo

The 19° ANGRAJAZZ – Festival International de Jazz de Angra do Heroísmo, takes place in Terceira Island in Azores, October 04th to 07th , 2017.  Terceira is a small and beautiful island, with a population of 55 000 people.  The city of Angra do Heroísmo is classified as World Heritage Patrimony by UNESCO.

Angrajazz is organized by a non-profit association – Associação Cultural Angrajazz – with the support of Angra’s City Council, the Regional Departments of Culture and Tourism, Tourism of Portugal, and many private sponsors.  For the last eighteen years, a great number of the world’s most important jazz musicians have played at Angrajazz –  please click in Gallery.

This year takes place the 19th edition of Angrajazz.  It is a festival which is a reference in Portugal, one of the main cultural events of the Azores Islands, and one important way to promote the city of Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira Island, and Azores Autonomous Region.

Angrajazz takes place at the Centro Cultural e de Congressos de Angra do Heroísmo, which is prepared as a big jazz club – 550 persons.  This year the festival occurs in four nights – double concerts in three of them and a single concert in the second night.  There will be musicians from Azores, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Cuba, Argentina and USA.

The program opens on Wednesday 04th, with the Angrajazz Orchestra celebrating the “2017 Five Jazz Centennials”, followed by the French pianist Baptiste Trotignon with the Argentinian percussionist Minimo Garay.

The second day, Thursday 05th, there will be a unique concert, dedicated to celebrate Thelonious Monk’s Centennial.   The American veteran trumpet player Charles Tolliver, leading his tentet, will have that responsibility.  The Charles Tolliver’s Tentet will reenact the historic Thelonious Monk’s 1959 Town Hall concert.  The Tentet will play Tolliver’s definitive transcription of the lost scores of arranger Hal Overton’s orchestrations of Thelonious’ music, exactly as it was performed and recorded at the original 1959 concert.

The third day, Friday 06th, will begin with the Portuguese octet – Ensemble Super Moderne. This ensemble brings together some of the most interesting values of the new generation of Portuguese jazz.  The octet will be followed by one of the leading contemporary jazz quartets – The Matt Wilson Quartet – whose leader is recognized for his musical and melodic drumming style, as well as being a gifted composer, bandleader, producer, and teaching artist.

On the fourth day, Saturday 07th, the singer/violinist Yilian Cañizares – revelation of the year by French weekly Le Novel Observateur – will open the night with her Switzerland/Cuba Quintet, followed by the excellent quartet of Jon Irabagon, winner of the Rising Star Alto Saxophone and the Rising Star Tenor Saxophone categories in the DownBeat Magazine Critics’ pool.  This will be an exciting night, closing the 19º edition of Angrajazz.

During the festival, at the foyer of the Centro Cultural, there will be a CD fair with the presence of two of the main Portuguese distributors, a selling desk of Angrajazz merchandizing, and an exposition dedicated to the “2017 Five Jazz Centennials”, responsibility of the Biblioteca Pública Luis da Silva Ribeiro (the Public Library of Angra do Heroísmo).

Besides the seven main concerts at the Centro Cultural e de Congressos, there will be nine other concerts starting from September 29th to October 07th.  This concerts – JAZZ NA RUA  (Jazz on the Street) – will happen at different hours and places in the city, and will feature two local jazz groups – Wave Jazz Ensemble and Sara Miguel Quartet – and the Portuguese guitar duo Mano a Mano (Bruno e André Santos).  There will also be two workshops dedicated to students – one at Biblioteca Pública Luis da Silva Ribeiro and another one at Escola EBS Tomás de Borba.

Beginning of October is certainly a great time to visit Terceira Island – enjoy the best jazz and (re)discover a very singular and beautiful Island.

We will wait for you.