In 2011 Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art celebrates the 20th edition of Jazz in the Park, a summer jazz festival that takes place in Serralves 18 ha Park. To commemorate this 20th anniversary, Serralves presents some great musical moments. The concerts will take place on July 10, 16, 23 and 30, at 6 p.m.
For Antonio Curvelo, responsible for programming the festival, “the 20 years of Jazz in the Park that are celebrated in 2011 are not only one more anniversary but they mark an enviable maturity that few jazz festivals can claim. Jazz in the Park grew in terms of programme and audience. From a strictly national fist edition, it became an international showcase dedicated to the intersection of various trends in contemporary jazz. A glance at the several programmes that make the history of Jazz in the Park throughout the years shows that a large part of the most creative Portuguese, European and American musicians played at Serralves Park. The 20th edition of Jazz in the Park wants to be equal to this legacy and to celebrate it festively.
This 20th anniversary will be marked by a coherent musical programming whose identity has been built over the years—an intersection of the best national jazz and first rate jazz protagonists from the US and Europe. This commemorative edition includes performances by Charles Lloyd New Quartet, Portuguese celebrated Mário Laginha (with an absolute premiere concert), American trumpet player Dave Douglas and bassist Chris Lightcap."
July 10th, Sunday, 6 p.m.
CHARLES LLOYD NEW QUARTET
Charles Lloyd: saxophone / Jason Moran: piano / Reuben Rogers: Double bass / Eric Harland: drums
Charles Lloyd was born March 15, 1938 in Memphis, Tennessee. From an early age, he was immersed in that city's rich musical life and was exposed to jazz. He began playing the saxophone at the age of 9. Pianist Phineas Newborn became his mentor, and took him to Irvin Reason for lessons. Lloyd worked in Phineas Sr's band, and from the age of 12 worked as sideman in the blues bands of B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Johnnie Ace, Bobbie “Blue" Bland, and others. His closest friend in high-school was trumpeter, Booker Little.
In 1956 Lloyd moved to Los Angeles and earned a Master's degree from the University of Southern California. During this period Lloyd played in Gerald Wilson's big band and he also had his own group that included Billy Higgins, Don Cherry, Bobby Hutcherson, and Terry Trotter. Lloyd joined Chico Hamilton in 1960, though the band was known for playing “chamber jazz" at the beginning of Lloyd's tenure. His influence as a composer and a player quickly pushed it in a more progressive post-bop direction especially after Hamilton asked him to be the group's music director. Lloyd's key musical partner in the band was Hungarian guitarist, Gabor Szabo. In 1964 Lloyd left Hamilton's group to join alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderly. During this period he recorded two albums as a leader for Columbia Records, “Discovery" and “Of Course, Of Course"; his sidemen were other young musicians including Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams
Through 1965-1969 Lloyd led a quartet with pianist Keith Jarrett, bassist Cecil McBee (later, Ron McClure), and drummer Jack DeJohnette. The quartet's music was an interesting fusion of straight-ahead post-bop, free jazz and world music, which quickly caught the attention of both jazz fans and critics. They also achieved a fair amount of crossover success with young rock fans and became the first jazz group to play at The Fillmore. Lloyd's album “Forest Flower, Live at Monterey" became a big commercial hit, largely on the strength of the title track.
In 1970, after the quartet disbanded, Lloyd moved back to California and entered a state of semi-retirement. He practically disappeared from the jazz scene, but can be heard on recordings with the Doors, Canned Heat, and the Beach Boys. Occasionally during the 1970s Lloyd played with The Beach Boys, both on their studio recordings and as a member of their touring band.
Upon his recovery from a near death experience in 1986, Lloyd decided to rededicate himself to music. He started performing occasionally in 1987 and 1988. In 1989, Lloyd reestablished an active touring schedule and began recording for ECM Records. The first ECM release was “Fish Out of Water" with Bobo Stenson, Palle Danielsson, and Jon Christensen. The ECM recordings showcased his sensitivity as a ballad player and composer.
Lloyd maintains an active recording and tour schedule. His “new" quartet with Jason Moran on piano, Reuben Rogers, bass and Eric Harland, drums is well matched with Lloyd's creative and adventurous spirit.
July 16th, Saturday, 6 p.m.
MÁRIO LAGINHA and GUESTS
Mário Laginha: piano / Julian Arguelles: saxophones / Helge Norbakken: percussion
AN ABSOLUTE PREMIERE
Mário Laginha's testimony: “Throughout the last twenty years I had the opportunity and good fortune of meeting and playing together with some of the most inspired and original musicians that I have ever listened to. Aside from strong bonds of friendship, I developed with some of them a tremendous musical complicity that has evolved and manifested in various groups and in the most disparate contexts. These are musicians for whom the act of playing must always be an act of pleasure and possibly much, much more than that: a moment of happiness.
This group of men, which is sacred to me, includes Julian Arguelles and Helge Norbakken. For them, the risks of playing in such an unusual group (piano, saxophone and percussion) are always minor when compared to the expectation of the result. For them, such risks are rather a stimulus that makes them feel alive when stepping on stage.
Me too, I like to feel alive. What about you?"
July 23rd, Saturday, 6 p.m.
DAVE DOUGLAS “TEA FOR 3"
Dave Douglas: trumpet / Enrico Rava: trumpet / Avishai Cohen: trumpet / Uri Caine: piano, keyboards / Clarence Penn: drums / Linda May Han Oh: bass
Two-time Two-time Grammy-nominated musician Dave Douglas is probably the most prolific and original trumpeter-composer of his generation. From his New York base, where he has lived since the mid 1980s, Douglas has continued to earn lavish national and international acclaim including prizes from such organizations as the New York Jazz Awards, Down Beat, JazzTimes, Jazziz, and the Italian Jazz Critics Society. His solo recording career began in 1993 with “Parallel Worlds" on Soul Note Records, and he has since released more than 30 recordings. In 2005, after seven critically acclaimed albums for Bluebird/RCA, Dave Douglas launched his own record label, Greenleaf Music. The same year, he was honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship. On Greenleaf, Douglas has released albums with his long-standing quintet, the electronic sextet Keystone, and the mixed chamber ensemble Nomad. In 2009, he released “Spirit Moves" with his new brass quintet, Brass Ecstasy, and his first big band recording, “A Single Sky," a collaboration with Jim McNeely and Frankfurt Radio Bigband. The year 2011 brings a new collection of work by Keystone, entitled, “Spark of Being," a retelling of the Frankenstein myth in collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Bill Morrison.
Dave Douglas is currently the artistic director of the Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music at The Banff Centre in Canada and the co-founder and director of the Festival of New Trumpet Music. As a composer, Douglas has been commissioned by the Trisha Brown Dance Company, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Essen Philharmonie, Library of Congress, Stanford University, Walker Arts Center, and Turning Point Ensemble.
July 30th, Saturday, 6 p.m.
CHRIS LIGHTCAP'S BIGMOUTH
Chris Lightcap: Bass/ Tony Malaby: tenor and soprano saxophone / Andrew Bishop: tenor Saxophone / Gary Versace: piano / Gerald Cleaver: drums
Born in 1971 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Chris Lightcap debuted as leader with “Lay Up" (released in 2000 in the series New Talent of label Fresh Sound), a recording that drew the attention of international critics. Leader of a quartet in the style of Ornette Coleman (bass, drums and two saxophones), Lightcap immediately conquered a place among the new generation of contemporary jazz.
He started out on the piano at age eight, switched to violin at nine and began to teach himself the electric bass at fourteen. He studied with jazz bassists Cameron Brown, composers Robert Suderburg, David Kechley and Alvin Lucier, trumpeter Bill Dixon, and the late master bassist Milt Hinton and with drummer Ed Blackwell, a faithful accomplice of Ornette's.
After moving to New York, Lightcap consolidated his curriculum by playing or recording with such names as Mark Turner, Ravi Coltrane, Rob Brown, Dave Liebman, Paquito D'Rivera, James Carter; Joe Morris, Marc Ribot, John Scofield, Ben Monder; Craig Taborn, Regina Carter, Matt Wilson, Sheila Jordan; Terrel Stafford, Tom Harrell and Butch Morris. He was a member of the Cecil Taylor Big Band (1995), played in Paris with Archie Shepp and Sunny Murray (1996) and was part of the George Garzone Trio (1997-1998). A mosaic of names that clearly shows an aesthetic pluralism that seems to increasingly lack in new generations of jazz musicians.
His second record as leader was released in 2003 (again in the series New Talent of label Fresh Sound) marking the premiere of his Bigmouth quartet with drummer Gerald Cleaver and tenor saxophonists Tony Malaby and Bill McHenry. However, “Bigmouth Deluxe" (released by Portuguese label Clean Feed) was the definitive confirmation of Chris Lightcap's singular and evolutionary stature as composer, leader and player. True catalyst of one of the most creative groups in contemporary jazz, with his reformulated Bigmouth Lightcap has produced one of the best records of 2010.
For Antonio Curvelo, responsible for programming the festival, “the 20 years of Jazz in the Park that are celebrated in 2011 are not only one more anniversary but they mark an enviable maturity that few jazz festivals can claim. Jazz in the Park grew in terms of programme and audience. From a strictly national fist edition, it became an international showcase dedicated to the intersection of various trends in contemporary jazz. A glance at the several programmes that make the history of Jazz in the Park throughout the years shows that a large part of the most creative Portuguese, European and American musicians played at Serralves Park. The 20th edition of Jazz in the Park wants to be equal to this legacy and to celebrate it festively.
This 20th anniversary will be marked by a coherent musical programming whose identity has been built over the years—an intersection of the best national jazz and first rate jazz protagonists from the US and Europe. This commemorative edition includes performances by Charles Lloyd New Quartet, Portuguese celebrated Mário Laginha (with an absolute premiere concert), American trumpet player Dave Douglas and bassist Chris Lightcap."
July 10th, Sunday, 6 p.m.
CHARLES LLOYD NEW QUARTET
Charles Lloyd: saxophone / Jason Moran: piano / Reuben Rogers: Double bass / Eric Harland: drums
Charles Lloyd was born March 15, 1938 in Memphis, Tennessee. From an early age, he was immersed in that city's rich musical life and was exposed to jazz. He began playing the saxophone at the age of 9. Pianist Phineas Newborn became his mentor, and took him to Irvin Reason for lessons. Lloyd worked in Phineas Sr's band, and from the age of 12 worked as sideman in the blues bands of B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Johnnie Ace, Bobbie “Blue" Bland, and others. His closest friend in high-school was trumpeter, Booker Little.
In 1956 Lloyd moved to Los Angeles and earned a Master's degree from the University of Southern California. During this period Lloyd played in Gerald Wilson's big band and he also had his own group that included Billy Higgins, Don Cherry, Bobby Hutcherson, and Terry Trotter. Lloyd joined Chico Hamilton in 1960, though the band was known for playing “chamber jazz" at the beginning of Lloyd's tenure. His influence as a composer and a player quickly pushed it in a more progressive post-bop direction especially after Hamilton asked him to be the group's music director. Lloyd's key musical partner in the band was Hungarian guitarist, Gabor Szabo. In 1964 Lloyd left Hamilton's group to join alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderly. During this period he recorded two albums as a leader for Columbia Records, “Discovery" and “Of Course, Of Course"; his sidemen were other young musicians including Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams
Through 1965-1969 Lloyd led a quartet with pianist Keith Jarrett, bassist Cecil McBee (later, Ron McClure), and drummer Jack DeJohnette. The quartet's music was an interesting fusion of straight-ahead post-bop, free jazz and world music, which quickly caught the attention of both jazz fans and critics. They also achieved a fair amount of crossover success with young rock fans and became the first jazz group to play at The Fillmore. Lloyd's album “Forest Flower, Live at Monterey" became a big commercial hit, largely on the strength of the title track.
In 1970, after the quartet disbanded, Lloyd moved back to California and entered a state of semi-retirement. He practically disappeared from the jazz scene, but can be heard on recordings with the Doors, Canned Heat, and the Beach Boys. Occasionally during the 1970s Lloyd played with The Beach Boys, both on their studio recordings and as a member of their touring band.
Upon his recovery from a near death experience in 1986, Lloyd decided to rededicate himself to music. He started performing occasionally in 1987 and 1988. In 1989, Lloyd reestablished an active touring schedule and began recording for ECM Records. The first ECM release was “Fish Out of Water" with Bobo Stenson, Palle Danielsson, and Jon Christensen. The ECM recordings showcased his sensitivity as a ballad player and composer.
Lloyd maintains an active recording and tour schedule. His “new" quartet with Jason Moran on piano, Reuben Rogers, bass and Eric Harland, drums is well matched with Lloyd's creative and adventurous spirit.
July 16th, Saturday, 6 p.m.
MÁRIO LAGINHA and GUESTS
Mário Laginha: piano / Julian Arguelles: saxophones / Helge Norbakken: percussion
AN ABSOLUTE PREMIERE
Mário Laginha's testimony: “Throughout the last twenty years I had the opportunity and good fortune of meeting and playing together with some of the most inspired and original musicians that I have ever listened to. Aside from strong bonds of friendship, I developed with some of them a tremendous musical complicity that has evolved and manifested in various groups and in the most disparate contexts. These are musicians for whom the act of playing must always be an act of pleasure and possibly much, much more than that: a moment of happiness.
This group of men, which is sacred to me, includes Julian Arguelles and Helge Norbakken. For them, the risks of playing in such an unusual group (piano, saxophone and percussion) are always minor when compared to the expectation of the result. For them, such risks are rather a stimulus that makes them feel alive when stepping on stage.
Me too, I like to feel alive. What about you?"
July 23rd, Saturday, 6 p.m.
DAVE DOUGLAS “TEA FOR 3"
Dave Douglas: trumpet / Enrico Rava: trumpet / Avishai Cohen: trumpet / Uri Caine: piano, keyboards / Clarence Penn: drums / Linda May Han Oh: bass
Two-time Two-time Grammy-nominated musician Dave Douglas is probably the most prolific and original trumpeter-composer of his generation. From his New York base, where he has lived since the mid 1980s, Douglas has continued to earn lavish national and international acclaim including prizes from such organizations as the New York Jazz Awards, Down Beat, JazzTimes, Jazziz, and the Italian Jazz Critics Society. His solo recording career began in 1993 with “Parallel Worlds" on Soul Note Records, and he has since released more than 30 recordings. In 2005, after seven critically acclaimed albums for Bluebird/RCA, Dave Douglas launched his own record label, Greenleaf Music. The same year, he was honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship. On Greenleaf, Douglas has released albums with his long-standing quintet, the electronic sextet Keystone, and the mixed chamber ensemble Nomad. In 2009, he released “Spirit Moves" with his new brass quintet, Brass Ecstasy, and his first big band recording, “A Single Sky," a collaboration with Jim McNeely and Frankfurt Radio Bigband. The year 2011 brings a new collection of work by Keystone, entitled, “Spark of Being," a retelling of the Frankenstein myth in collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Bill Morrison.
Dave Douglas is currently the artistic director of the Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music at The Banff Centre in Canada and the co-founder and director of the Festival of New Trumpet Music. As a composer, Douglas has been commissioned by the Trisha Brown Dance Company, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Essen Philharmonie, Library of Congress, Stanford University, Walker Arts Center, and Turning Point Ensemble.
July 30th, Saturday, 6 p.m.
CHRIS LIGHTCAP'S BIGMOUTH
Chris Lightcap: Bass/ Tony Malaby: tenor and soprano saxophone / Andrew Bishop: tenor Saxophone / Gary Versace: piano / Gerald Cleaver: drums
Born in 1971 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Chris Lightcap debuted as leader with “Lay Up" (released in 2000 in the series New Talent of label Fresh Sound), a recording that drew the attention of international critics. Leader of a quartet in the style of Ornette Coleman (bass, drums and two saxophones), Lightcap immediately conquered a place among the new generation of contemporary jazz.
He started out on the piano at age eight, switched to violin at nine and began to teach himself the electric bass at fourteen. He studied with jazz bassists Cameron Brown, composers Robert Suderburg, David Kechley and Alvin Lucier, trumpeter Bill Dixon, and the late master bassist Milt Hinton and with drummer Ed Blackwell, a faithful accomplice of Ornette's.
After moving to New York, Lightcap consolidated his curriculum by playing or recording with such names as Mark Turner, Ravi Coltrane, Rob Brown, Dave Liebman, Paquito D'Rivera, James Carter; Joe Morris, Marc Ribot, John Scofield, Ben Monder; Craig Taborn, Regina Carter, Matt Wilson, Sheila Jordan; Terrel Stafford, Tom Harrell and Butch Morris. He was a member of the Cecil Taylor Big Band (1995), played in Paris with Archie Shepp and Sunny Murray (1996) and was part of the George Garzone Trio (1997-1998). A mosaic of names that clearly shows an aesthetic pluralism that seems to increasingly lack in new generations of jazz musicians.
His second record as leader was released in 2003 (again in the series New Talent of label Fresh Sound) marking the premiere of his Bigmouth quartet with drummer Gerald Cleaver and tenor saxophonists Tony Malaby and Bill McHenry. However, “Bigmouth Deluxe" (released by Portuguese label Clean Feed) was the definitive confirmation of Chris Lightcap's singular and evolutionary stature as composer, leader and player. True catalyst of one of the most creative groups in contemporary jazz, with his reformulated Bigmouth Lightcap has produced one of the best records of 2010.
