The XXIV Costa Jazz Festival

The summer has come around again, bringing with it the highly popular 2011 Jazz on the costa festival now in its 25th year!

The festival will kick off on the 17th with the Grammy winner, Mavis Staples, who has rubbed shoulders with Prince, Bob Dylan and Curtis Mayfield. From then on, for the next seven days, El Parque Botanico El Majuelo will become the venue for one of Europe’s top jazz festivals.

Another interesting name is Kyle Eastwood, son of Clint, who as well as being an actor himself is a reputable double bass player and composer. Anybody who has seen any of his fathers following films: Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Letters from Iwo Jima and Grand Torino, will have already heard some of his compositions as he supplied the sound tracks for them.

On the third night, the excellent Italian pianist, Stefano Bollani, will perform, and so on until the 23rd starting at 22.30h each evening, including great names like Sax player, Bill Evans and trumpet player Randy Brecker who started Soulbop between them in 2004 and haven’t stopped recording ever since. Speaking of trumpet gods, Dave Douglas, one of the most prolific musicians of his generation, will be playing.

Deep Inner Groove have been chosen to close the festival, whom the Ed is personally a fan of. Deep Inner Groove is a jazz -fusion project and includes the great guitarist Chuck Loeb.

Pianist Chucho Valdés, of international renown and a regular performer in Jazz en la Costa festivals, will team up with Afrocuban Messengers on Friday the 22nd
Whilst all this is going on, there will be ‘parallel jazz concerts’ going on around Almunecar, in the Pub Mississippi, for instance, where Carlos from Gráficas Tropical will be laying down some excellent jazz guitar. Some of you have already had a chance to see him play in both the Mississippi on jam nights, as well as in Bar Rey next to Radiovision, where his trio impressed everybody present.

Another group will be the Potato Head Jazz Band from the city of Granada.

Meanwhile, on Sunday the 24th, in the town hall square (Plaza de la Constitución) the municipal band will provide some musical entertainment to put a final touch to the July jazz festival.

(News/Events: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)

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