Trilok Gurtu among the greats at Festa Do Jazz in Portugal

Even those disinterested in the minor sporting event known as the World cup are pulled into the drama in the most direct way. The final in Qatar falls on the same day as the last concerts of Festa Do Jazz and Argentinian double bassist Demian Cabaud has no qualms in flying the flag for his homeland as it triumphs over France in a match made in penalty shoot out heaven and hell. The sky blue and white stripes of the Albiceleste are draped over Abaud’s monitor. Messi’s number 10 is there for all to see. Away from the artistry on the pitch there are notes aplenty to enjoy on the stage of the Centro Cultural De Belém, an impressively designed building of Lisbon’s charming harbour district in which other architectural feats such as the Mosteiro De Jeronimos draw large crowds, many of whom are not wearing football shirts. Cabaud’s first gig is with an excellent group jointly led by two Portugese artists, singer and composer Joanna Raquel and pianist Miguel Meirinhos, and arouses interest for its blend of tremulous lyricism and mutable backdrops that draw equally on mainstream and avant-garde traditions. Cabaud then co-leads a band with another excellent Portugese soloist, trumpeter Goncalo Marques that is well anchored by American drummer Jeff Hirshfield. The combo has a tightly gripped yet occasionally freewheeling energy in which Belgian pianist Bram De Looze comes to the fore with articulate well-measured improvisations.

Small groups are mostly the order of the day and while the superband spearheaded by Indian percussion maestro Trilok Gurtu and bolstered by Portugese saxophonist-composer Carlos Martins that opened the three-day festival was not aided by a low turnout due to uncertainty over whether the event would go ahead this year, several other ensembles, notably two very contrasting trios, do the programme proud. German drummer Christian Lillinger, his compatriot, vibraphonist Christopher Dell and Danish bassist Jonas Westergaard engage a responsive audience with its distinctive combination of loose to tight to loose structure and shifting dynamics, which makes them float over the pulse one minute and then nail it right down the next, a smart move from a jazz beat to hip-hop beats. As for Perseli (pictued above)- Scottish trumpeter Alistair Payne, Portugese alto saxophonist Jose Soares and Mexican vocalist-double bassist Fuensanta Mendez – it takes a very different approach to its material, using the divine folk songs of the latter’s homeland as a jumping off point for some enchanting and wily arrangements, none more so than ‘Jacintos’, a deeply emotive lament which casts a spell on the room by way of the triplety whirl of the two horns and the graceful soar of Mendes’ voice.   

It is one of the highlights of the three-day event which impresses for the blend of national and international talent, the epitome of which is bassist Hugo Carvalhais’s Ascetica which kind of makes I Sing The Body Electric-era Weather Report into a thoroughly potent mind trip in which Lithuanian saxophone colossus Liudas Mockunas, a player with mighty tonal strength and utterly ferocious, explosive phrasing, is the supersized cortex. With gigs by youth bands (Escolas) throughout the weekend there is also a healthy display of future talent and the overriding impression of Festa Do Jazz is that Portugal is a part of the landscape of European jazz deserving greater exposure. Hopefully that will happen long before the next World Cup.