2nd November, Low, Cartagena Jazz Festival

A good selection of jazz throughout November in Cartagena

Cartagena is celebrating its annual Jazz Festival between the 2nd and 29th November, with a host of live music on offer. Abono tickets are well worth the money, offering tickets for all concerts except The Waterboys for just 65 euros.

Ticket sales:
Season tickets for the Nuevo Teatro Circo and Auditorio El Batel: 65€.
Only 200 of these season tickets will be on sale at the box offices of the Nuevo Teatro Circo and the Auditorio El Batel, with credit card phone bookings also possible on 968 501615 and 968 123827. The season ticket provides admission to all events except the Waterboys concert on 29th November in the Auditorio El Batel.
For individual concerts, tickets are available online at www.ticketmaster.com and www.ticketea.com. Tickets can also be purchased by phone from Ticketmaster on 902 110025 or Ticketea on 902 044226.
Box office purchases can be made at the Nuevo Teatro Circo (Tel 968 501615, opening hours Mon to Fri 10.00 to 14.00 and 17.00 to 20.00) and the Auditorio y Palacio de Congresos El Batel (Tel 968 123827, opening hours Mon to Fri 10.00 to 14.00 and 17.00 to 20.00).

Click Teatro Circo Cartagena
Click Auditorio El Batel


Saturday 2nd November
Low
Low are a minimalist rock band headed by Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, a Mormon couple whose motto in their work appears to be “Less is more”. Such has been the success of this format that they have issued ten discs in the last twenty years, and this year they are presenting “The Invisible Way”, produced by Jeff Tweedy.

9.30pm Teatro Circo Cartagena
Tickets : 18 euros



Friday 8th November
Chucho Valdés
Returning to Cartagena, Chuicho Valdés is accompanied this year by the Afro-Cuban Messengers, presenting their second album together, “Border-Free”. The Cuban pianist and composer continues to break down the barriers between flamenco, jazz, classical and Arabic music with Comanche and Afro-Cuban rhythms, and this project is also a homage to his recently deceased parents, Pilar and the great Bebo Valdés.

9.30pm Auditorio El Batel
Tickets: 18,15 and 10 euros



Saturday 9th November
Till Brönner and Chano Domínguez with the WDR Big Band
A double concert, featuring German trumpeter Till Brönner and Spanish pianist Chano Domínguez alongside the prestigious WDR Big Band from Cologne. Till Brönner has sold more discs than any other German jazz musician, inheriting the jazz tradition of the great Chet Baker, and is one of the most widely revered on the international jazz circuit at the moment, while Chano Domínguez is considered to be one of the finest exponents of “jazz-flamenco”. He was the first Spanish jazz musician to play the Lincoln Center in New York, and has been signed up by Blue Note Records.

9.30pm Auditorio El Batel
Tickets 18,15 and 10 euros



Friday 15th November
Madeleine Peyroux and Luciana Souza
While the bill is headed by two female vocalists this could also be seen as a Larry Klein event, since he is producer for both of the performers as well as being married to Luciana Souza. This is her first visit to Cartagena, and in the past she has worked with such giants as Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Bobby McFerrin, Maria Schneider and Danilo Perez. Her latest albums are “The Book of Chet”, a homage to Chet Baker, and “Duos III”, the third in her trilogy of traditional Brazilian songs.
Second up is Madeleine Peyroux, returning once again to Cartagena to present her seventh disc, “The Blue Room”, her personal act of homage to Ray Charles’ 1962 milestone album “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music”. As well as her own band Madeleine will be accompanied by a string section comprising members of the Region of Murcia Symphony Orchestra.

9.30pm Auditorio El Batel
Tickets 22,18 and 15 euros



Saturday 16th November
Josh Rouse and James Hunter
Josh Rouse is an American who has found love and a new musical direction in Spain, and his happiness at recently becoming a father is reflected in his new disc “The Happiness Waltz”.

James Hunter, although born in the UK, is a top exponent of the North American school of soul and R&B, and after a lengthy break he is now back touring and presenting his new album “Minute by minute” in Spain.

9.30pm Nuevo Teatro Circo Cartagena
Tickets: 18 euros



Friday 22nd November
Rapahel Gualazzi and Ben l´Oncle Soul
Two young performers light up the night with their own take on international jazz. First on the bill is Rapahel Gualazzi, whose third album “Happy Mistake” is just out and whose promise is borne out by his appearing on the same bill as Herbie Hancock, having signed up for Blue Note Records. Ben l’Oncle Soul, meanwhile, has become something of a sensation in his native France, where he grew up listening to Motown and idolizing Otis Redding and Ray Charles. His first album became a triple platinum disc, and he now brings his own vision of 60s soul to Cartagena.

9.30pm Nuevo Teatro Circo
Tickets 18 euros


Saturday 23rd November
John Grant
After fronting The Czars for ten years John Grant fell into a deep depression, from which he was rescued by his associations with The Flaming Lips and Midlake, creating “The Queen of Denmark” in 2010. Since then, however, he has confirmed that he is HIV-positive, and after deciding to move to Iceland has produced “Pale Green Ghosts”, where he sings about his condition and introduces electronic elements into his music.

9.30pm Nuevo Teatro Circo Cartagena
Tickets 18 euros



Friday 29th November
The Waterboys
It’s now twenty-five years since “Fishermans Blues” first came out, an album which was not their first but perhaps their most archetypal. The ever-changing members of the group have played a key role in the revival of popular Irish folk music, and a new rendition of Fishermen’s Blues entitled “Fishermen’s Blues Revisited” is being issued as part of a 7-CD pack, accompanied by a North American and European tour.  
Still led by Mike Scott and Steve Wickham, the group is being re-joined for the European leg of the tour will see by Anto Thistlethwaite and Trevor Hutchinson, for the first time since 1990, in a review of the band’s musical activity since 1983.

9.30pm Auditorio El Batel
Tickets: 28,25 and 20 euros