Barcelona music lovers can enjoy this Sunday the “most beautiful jazz club in the world”, according to the organizers of an outdoor concert that will be held on the Paseo de Gràcia (between Gran Vía and Plaza Cataluña), and that will serve as a prelude to. Six musical sets, between bands, doubles and trios of different styles of, will be presented from 12, in a recital that will last ten hours and will be free for all attendees. The day will begin with Sant Andreu Meeting Band directed by Joan Chamorro; The organ trio, led by guitarist Josep Traver, Lucia Fumero Trio, and the doubles formed by Andrea Motis and Jurandir da Silva will follow; and Bill Launce and Michael League. They will close with a gold brooch Cucurucho Valdés and Javier Colina, accompanied by the percussionist Inor Sotolongo.
St. Andrew Meeting Band
The Sant Andreu Meeting Band, founded by Joan Chamorro, is formed by a dozen young musicians, among which are èlia Bastida (voice, violin, saxo), Koldo Munné (voice, saxo), Edu Ferrer, Joan Martí, Anna Ndiaye or drummer Arnau Julià. Several of the musicians have trained in Musical Projects in Chamorro such as their Big Band, aimed at the formation of young talents. The band’s repertoire will combine a lifetime jazz classics with a “excursion” to Brazil with songs such as Masked Night, Samba of my land o Gum with banana. Chamorro has participated in some of the most important international festivals and jazz scenarios in the world and was recently invited to participate in the Essentially Ellington Festival for young groups, along with its Sant Andreu Jazz Band orchestra. On Sunday, Chamorro will lead some of the musicians who will travel with him to New York in early May, to the festival organized by the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, as the only European band.
The local talent will continue to present after the recital of the Sant Andreu Meeting Band. Guitarist Josep Traver, accompanied by Esteve Pi and Gerard Nieto, will provide a tribute to Grant Green, one of the legendary guitarists of the genre. In the album Tribute to Grant Green (Live at Aclam)published this year by Sotrack Records, Traver includes topics such as Just a closer walk with thee, I can’t stop loving you, My little suede shoes or some of the slope more influenced by blues as Blues for Willarene o Blues in Maude’s Flatfrom Green. The one born in Sant Louis in 1931 was linked to the Blue Note label for much of his career and collaborated with artists such as Art Blakey, Lou Donaldson, Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner.
Latin American jazz and folklore
The recital will continue during the afternoon by the hand of Lucía Fumero and the musicians Martín Leiton in the double bass and Juan Rodríguez Berbín in the percussion. Fumero will give the public interpretations of its last two albums, Floklore I y Folklore II. The singer, composer and pianist has managed to combine in her work a wide variety of songs of Latin American folklore and other jazz. Daughter of the bassist Horacio Fumero, the artist will perform at the Grec Festival of Barcelona 2025 in July and then travel to the International Book Fair of Guadalajara, in Mexico, to represent Barcelona, which will be the guest city of the Fair.
From 17 in the afternoon, the pair formed by Andrea Motis and Jurandir da Silva; They will allow the attendees a trip to the Brazil of Antonio Carlos Jobim or Chico Buarque. Motis will present its new duo project with the Brazilian guitarist established in Barcelona. Bill Laureonce and Michael League will go to the stage to present their new Keeping Company album to the public.
Tribute to Bebo Valdés
The most emotional moment will surely arrive at the close of the day where the Pianist Cucurucho Valdés, son of the great composer Bebo Valdés, will pay tribute to his father along with Javier Colina in the double bass and Inor Sotolongo in the percussion. Cucurucho Valdés is the heir of one of the most important music dynasties, which started with a drink, continued with Chucho and continues now with Cucurucho. Javier Colina is one of the most prominent Spanish musicians on the current scenario. The Pamplona has collaborated with artists such as Michel Camilo, El Cigala, Tomatito or Bebo Valdés himself.
This weekend and the last three months of the year, Barcelona “will dress in jazz”, with the intention that the city be one of the capitals of the genre, explained the director of the Jazz Festival of Barcelona, Tito Ramoneda. Before finishing the year, the city will receive artists such as Tomatito, Carlos Aguirre, Omar Sosa or Barcelona Jazz Orchestra.
