The third edition of the festival Algarve Jazz Gourmet Moments starts tomorrow, the 24th, its concerts at the Centro Cultural de Lagos, with the performance of Benny Goldson, the «must-have name» of the world jazz scene, who starts his tour of Europe in the Algarve city.
Until May 26, the New Yorker Peter Cincotti and the Brazilian Ed Motta will also pass on the stage of CC Lagos.
In the first concert, Benny Goldson is also joined by pianist and singer Dena DeRose, candidate for a Grammy, and also by the Orquestra de Jazz do Algarve, conducted by Hugo Alves.
If you are one of those who haven't bought a ticket yet, know that just for Peter Cincotti's concert there are still some available. Benny Goldson and Ed Motta's performances have long been sold out.
Hugo Alves, responsible for the organization and artistic direction of the festival, guarantees: «we have a program good gourmet food across the board', with 'world-class' programming.
It's that quality - that extends to the strand good gourmet food of the festival, as we will see later on – which guarantees that the public has «more foreigners than Portuguese», with spectators coming «from various parts of the country», but also «many Spaniards, Andalusians, from near the border to Seville». and “many resident foreigners and, of course, tourists”.
«We have a Marketing Plan aimed at all these target audiences», says Hugo Alves, who, along with the quality of the programming, explains that «within fifteen days of the first concert, everything was almost sold out».
One of the «strategic pillars» of the marketing campaign of the Algarve Jazz Gourmet is the Mezzo channel. "We have one spot, produced entirely by Mezzo, which broadcasts eight to twelve times a day on this channel and reaches 63 countries. This spot it alternates images from Lagos, with others from the festival itself, making it an extraordinary visiting card abroad. I have no doubts that it also brings us spectators and customers».
And why choose Lagos for this Festival, which had even started three years ago in Albufeira? «We tried to understand, in the region, where this festival could work best. Lagos had special conditions: it is a more condensed city, has a beautiful historic centre, a high-quality offer in terms of catering and also technical conditions for concerts at the Centro Cultural de Lagos», responds Hugo Alves, who does not hide that the first bet, in Albufeira, it didn't go "nothing well".
In addition, adds the musician, «Lagos is a city very connected to jazz and not only because it was the foundation of the Orquestra de Jazz do Algarve. It had had jazz clubs for many years, the first one appeared in 1971».
Furthermore, the Centro Cultural de Lagos, with its 300 seats, is a room with «the adequate size for this kind of concerts».
And if jazz is obviously the main thing, what does the good gourmet food of the name of the initiative? Hugo Alves replies that the «concerts and restaurants linked to the festival all have the same line», since this «is not a mass event, but one of great quality». What the organization wants, with the support of 365Algarve and Câmara de Lagos, is to guarantee «an offer to increase the quality of tourism, in a setting of great quality that is Lagos».
It's just that, stresses the festival's artistic director, «there is a real concept here good gourmet food: Lagos has hundreds of restaurants, but we went to choose who could suit our project and be interested in participating». In all, there are 17 of the best restaurants in the county that have joined and have already started working on the good gourmet food of the festival in the two weeks preceding the three days of concerts.
Participate «chefs of international level, Portuguese or not, that value national and regional products and particularly the Algarve wine», which are mandatory in the purposely prepared menus (and with special prices) for the Algarve Jazz Gourmet. To ensure the connection between the strand good gourmet food and the musical, throughout this week, all the restaurants hosted "an intimate concert" by smooth jazz.
As to the concerts of tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, Hugo Alves reveals that, to prepare the program, he used the «line common to all the festivals in which I have been artistic direction, not only Lagos Jazz, but in Spain or Italy: go looking for different things that show different views on this music doesn't have to be pure hard jazz, it can be fusions»
In such a way that, says Hugo Alves, "if someone goes to see the three concerts, they won't get bored, because they'll always see different things".
As already seen, the Algarve Jazz Gourmet starts this Friday night, with Benny Goldson, on his 90th anniversary tour. «Benny has this tender age, but continues to do amazing things». About a month ago he was «at an American university giving a workshop and playing with them».
Benny Goldson will be accompanied by the Orquestra de Jazz do Algarve, which has required a lot of previous work on the part of the musicians from the Algarve formation. “With Benny, we need a different kind of attention. He is the father of all of us jazz musicians», says Hugo Alves, with reverence.
On the second day, Peter Cincotti arrives, who, despite being a New Yorker, "is purposefully coming from Miami for this festival." Your concert – the only one for which there are still tickets – will go through «standards, traditional American songbook and also footprints in more modern sounds, more pop, fusion». In Portugal, Cincotti only performed "once or twice". And he will bring with him «a great band», so Hugo Alves invites people to go to Lagos to listen to him.
Finally, on Sunday, the 26th, the stage at the Centro Cultural de Lagos will be stepped on by the great Ed Motta, whom the festival's artistic director presents as «an unavoidable name in Brazilian music, without being MPB».
«Considered a cult musician, inexhaustible composer, a tireless discoverer of forms, a creator who recognizes no limits», this is the first time that Ed Motta has performed in the Algarve.
In short: three days of good “Music with a big M”, well accompanied by a gastronomic aspect, attracting hundreds of people to Lagos, mostly foreigners, in one of the initiatives that close this third season of programming with the 365Algarve seal.
Photos: Rodrigo Damascene | Sul Informação
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