– CARTAGENA CITY COUNCIL
The second week of the Cartagena Jazz Festival will feature the «great bass player» Ron Carter, who will come to the port city on his farewell tour of the European stages, and the creator Steve Coleman, according to municipal sources in a statement.
A musician with Miles Davis and one of the most prolific musicians in the history of music, Carter will be at the Nuevo Teatro Circo this Friday, 10 November, at 20.30 hours.
A day later, the festival will host one of the «most interesting» avant-garde creators of contemporary jazz, Steve Coleman.
In addition, the Cartagena Jazz Festival will feature performances by Traffic Jam, Steam Brass Band and Núria Graham, according to the event organisers, who have pointed out that those interested have all the information and can buy tickets on the website ‘jazzcartagena.es’.
RON CARTER
Carter, the famous American double bass player and one of the most prolific musicians in the history of jazz, is bidding farewell to the stage. A musician with Miles Davis, and a member with him of that golden jazz combo of the 1960s along with Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Wayne Shorter, he is retiring at the age of 85.
His farewell tour will include the 42nd edition of the Cartagena Jazz Festival, after having suspended his tour last year following a fall.
Carter, who is considered «an institution» of 20th century Western music, was signed by Miles Davis in 1963 and, since then, has been one of the most sought-after musicians on the jazz scene. The Guinness Awards crowned him in 2015 as the jazz bassist with the most recordings in history, listing 2,221 at the time.
The event’s organisers have recalled that Carter «has played almost everything, from classical music to rock, soul or hip hop» and «his recordings with Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack or The Rascals in the late sixties, or his accompaniment to the rhymes of the rapper Q-Tip are already mythical».
He will be in Cartagena in quartet formation with ‘Ron Carter Foursight’. His performance will be on Friday, 10 November, at 20.30 at the Nuevo Teatro Circo.
STEVE COLEMAN
Composer and alto saxophonist Steve Coleman is considered one of the «most influential» artists in modern music, according to the same sources.
He has received numerous awards, including the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, which recognises his influence by incorporating a lifetime of research into the culture of the African diaspora and the cycles of nature and astronomy into his musical methods.
Pianist and composer Vijay Iyer told the Wall Street Journal that «it’s hard to overstate Steve’s influence. He has affected more than a generation, as much as anyone since John Coltrane».
He has been leading his main group, Steve Coleman and Five Elements, for more than 40 years and has released 30 albums as a leader. He will perform at the Cartagena Jazz Festival with the trio ‘Reflex’, which is a true concentrate of Coleman’s music.
His appearances in this format are «very rare», according to the organisers, who have reminded us that, together with Rich Brown on bass and Sean Rickman on drums, Coleman will play «metropolitan rhythms, with metrical and melodic structures of complex geometries».
All of this «forms a genuine sound that shows a vision that goes beyond the frontiers of Western music», according to the same sources, who reminded us that Coleman will be performing on Saturday, 11 November, at 8.30 p.m. at the Nuevo Teatro Circo.
NÚRIA GRAHAM
On the other hand, the talented Irish-Catalan singer Núria Graham has conquered the international music scene with her fifth album, ‘Cyclamen’, a name that emanates from Mediterranean flowers. The album is the fruit of a decade-long career, which began in 2013 when she was just 16 years old with her debut album ‘First Tracks’.
Núria Graham’s latest album, released through American labels, is a mixture of «dreams and fables that embraces the warmth of home», as the organisation points out.
On this album, Graham explores a «tender and jazzy» approach, weaving a musical world with «resonant piano chords, serene guitars and a mix of instruments such as double bass, bassoon, harp, flute and saxophone». «Each song is like a story in its own right, with Graham’s unmistakable voice as a guiding light between jazz and folk,» adds the organisers.
Núria Graham will be performing on Sunday, 12 November, at 7 p.m. in the Antera Baus Hall of the El Batel Auditorium.
TRAFFIC JAM
Traffic Jam is a quartet of Cartagena-born musicians formed in 1997 with a common passion for jazz. In 1998, they released their first album, ‘Traffic Jazz’, composed of original jazz songs. They have taken their music to various cities in Spain and have participated in renowned events, including the Cartagena Jazz Festival.
The group also won third prize in the First Jazz-Blues-Fusion Competition organised by the Sala Organ Jazz in Granada. After a period of hiatus, the group is back to work, revisiting some of the old compositions and focusing on new creations and current jazz compositions, recording their second album ‘II’.
The Traffic Jam will be performing this Thursday, 9 November, at 9.30 p.m. at the Mr. Witt Café in Cartagena. Free admission, until full capacity is reached.
STEAM BRASS BAND
Saxophones, helicon, trumpets, trombone and drums are the weapons of the eight musicians who make up the Steam Brass Band. They are a band that defines itself as «fun» and «punk», in the Steam Punk style. Their show makes the audience travel back in time, jumping, singing and dancing.
The Steam Brass Band’s engineer has adapted the most modern and well-known songs with his steam engines, bringing them to the terrain of his instruments and giving them a retro-futuristic touch inspired by the bands of the Victorian era. In each concert they ignite the audience to make them travel back in time through the sounds of eight musicians with a modern repertoire.
The Steam Brass Band will perform next Saturday, 11 November, at 12.30 p.m., in the Plaza del Icue.