Fijazz makes a welcome return
ALICANTE international jazz festival (Fijazz) is making a strong return this July following last year’s cancellation due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The title of this year’s festival is Rituals, highlighting the event’s principal theme, which is music’s ‘origins and diversity’.
The event takes place at Alicante provincial auditorium (ADDA) from July 1-24 and gets underway on the first two nights with an all-star Chick Corea Symphony Tribute, featuring the ADDA•Simfònica orchestra conducted by Josep Vicent, accompanied by the acclaimed Cuban-American clarinettist and saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera and the pianist Emilio Solla and his trio.
This is followed on July 4 with a performance by the Dutch multiple-awardwinning pianist Michiel Borstlap and his trio.
On July 7 the singer and cellist Nesrine Belmokh, also known as NES, will take to the ADDA stage for concert of pop and north African-influenced jazz.
The music of Astor Piazzolla is the main protagonist on July 8, when the bandoneon player Orlando Dibelo teams up with guitarist Mariano Gil and percussionist Oscar Jareño for a night of ‘tangos, vals criollo (Creole waltzes) and milongas’.
July 9 sees the Spanish flamenco pianist Dorante present his latest album, Identidad.
Supergroup Snarky Puppy’s leader, composer and bass player Michael League presents his new project, Bokanté, which is described as a hybrid of jazz, blues and world music, with a particular focus on Cuba, Jamaica, the Mississippi Delta and West Africa, at a concert on July 10.
On July 11 Valencian culture comes
to the fore with a concert entitled Sons de Rapsoda, by the group Auròctone, led by the trumpeter Pepe Zaragoza.
The Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan will be performing music from his latest release, the acclaimed The Call Within on July 14.
When people think about jazzfusion, in particularly drummers, invariably Billy Cobham comes straight to mind. These people could do a whole lot worse than get down to the ADDA on July 15 when the maestro, who has
recorded with a ‘who’s who’ of legendary artists, including Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, Peter Gabriel, McCoy Tyner, and many more, gets the opportunity to woo the crowd with his percussive dexterity.
On July 16 it is the turn of one of Spain’s favourite rock royalty, Miguel Ríos, who will be presenting his new band, The Black Betty Trio, and first new musical releases in 12 years.
Following the opening two nights of the festival, the ADDA•Simfònica orchestra will be making a welcome return to the stage when they give a concert alongside the ‘visionary and innovative’ jazz bass player, singer and composer Avishai Cohen, whose ‘compositions and original arrangements reflect an expansive musical universe and cover a vital blend of traditions, cultures, languages and styles’.
El camino de los vientos (the way of the winds) is the most recent release by the French cellist Matthieu Saglio. The cellist made a name for himself as a member of Trio NES. El camino de los vientos is his debut album as a band leader. Music fans will be able to enjoy the diversity of this beautifully understated album when the Matthieu Saglio Quartet performs on July 22.
The penultimate concert is on July 23 and features a musician who is described as ‘one of the brightest and most expressive saxophonists of his generation’, Kiko Berenguer, who will be bringing his Flamenco Jazz Quartet to the ADDA stage.
Bringing the curtain down on Fijazz 2021 on July 24 is a performer who is the undisputed king of afro-latin soul and the father of Ethio-jazz, Mulatu Astatke. For the ADDA concert the composer and vibraphonist will be performing tracks from his highly respected 2013 release, Sketches of Ethiopia that could well have many of the audience facing social distancing problems when the urge to get up and dance to the infectious funk overtones gets just a little too much for them.
All concerts start at 21.00 and tickets, which vary in price from €10€30 depending on the performance, are available through https://addaalicante.es/adda/fijazz-ritual/