Cool Notes in Lanzarote

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July 3rd sees the return of the annual Jazz Canarias Festival to Lanzarote, now in its eighteenth year. With performances organised on five of the seven islands in the Canary Island archipelago, many of which are free and open to tourists staying in hotels, apartments and villas in Lanzarote.

The island will be hosting two free concerts, one on Friday 3rd July and the other on Saturday 4th. The first date will feature the Icelandic jazz-funk fusion band, Mezzoforte, who have been making music since 1977. Taking their inspiration from a diverse range of artists, from Miles Davis to Earth, Wind and Fire, they are best known for their 1983 album, ‘Garden Party’.

Mezzoforte will be followed by the duo Okou. Formed in Paris, the singer Tatiana Heintz actually hails from the Ivory Coast, whilst guitarist Gilbert Trefzger is a Swiss born Egyptian. Tatiana’s vocal skills have already resulted in collaborations with Mick Jagger and Keziah Jones. And Gilbert has played with Nitin Sawhney and Roy Ellis, the Jamaican singer.

Okou’s sound includes acoustic guitar numbers and explores modern interpretations of rhythm and blues. The duo will be accompanied by percussionist Andrew Borger. Their appearance will be after Mezzoforte’s, which begins at 21.00 in the historic quarter of Teguise.

Saturday’s concert sees the return of a locally born musician, Diego Barber, who began his musical studies in Lanzarote. Trained in classical guitar, there are elements of flamenco as well as jazz to be heard in Barber’s first composition ‘Calima’. After receiving his training in Madrid and Salamanca, Barber went to live in New York, which is where he began to experiment and diversify into jazz guitar.

The Diego Barber Quartet comprises Ari Hoenig on drums, Seamus Blake on sax and Johannes Weidenmueller on the bass and of course, Diego Barber himself on guitar. With compositions entitled ‘Calima’ and ‘Lanzarote’ it is clear that some of his inspiration is taken from the volcanic island of his birth.

Appearing at the same concert will be the Patricia Kraus Quartet. For some years Kraus made forays into the world of pop music, but she has recently developed a sound that owes more to soul, jazz and blues, musical styles which suite her vocal skills. Such is her vocal pre-eminence, she also teaches aspiring opera singers and has coached participants on ‘Operacion Triunfo’ (the Spanish version of X Factor).

Kraus will be performing some of her own more recent songs and will be accompanied by Daniel Assante on drums, Gherardo Catanzaro on keyboard and Enrico Barbaro on the bass. The concert at which the Diego Barber and Patricia Kraus Quartets will be appearing is at the Municipal Theatre in San Bartolomé from 21.00.