INSTITUTIONAL GREETINGS
Andalucía Big Band HISTORY OF THE BAND In early 2011, the Andalucía Big Band was created by its own musicians and continues to be managed by them. The band was founded with the objective of creating a stable orchestra that would bring jazz to the people and raise awareness of both traditional big band repertoire and, above all, works by contemporary composers. Its official debut was at the 14th Jazz Festival of the University of Seville. The saxophonist Ramón Cardo, one of Spain’s most experienced big band conductors and composers, was the band’s guest conductor for this performance. In 2012 the band performed: in the 6th Soberao Jazz Festival of Dos Hermanas (Seville); in the celebrations for the 1st International Jazz Day in Faro (Portugal) with famous Portuguese jazz personalities such as Zé Eduardo, Maria Joao and Mario Laginha; in the 15th Jazz Festival of the University of Seville in a concert with original music by the Portuguese composer and musician Zé Eduardo, who also conducted the band; in June 2012 they once again played at the University of Seville, this time with the singer Susana Sheiman, performing arrangements by Duccio Bertini (Italy) which were composed especially for this event. BIOGRAPHY OF THE CONDUCTOR Zé EduardoZé Eduardo is one of the undeniable names in Portuguese and European jazz for his work in promoting education in this musical genre through the creation of the Hot Club Portugal School of Jazz in 1979 and the direction of the Taller de Músicas of Barcelona from 1983 to 1990.His work in education began in the late 1970s and marked the beginning of organized education in jazz and modern music in the Iberian Peninsula. Maria Joao, Bernardo Sassetti, Carlos Martins, Perico Sambeat, Jorge and Mario Rossy, and Ramon Cardo are among those who started working in jazz under his guidance. While he was living in Barcelona he participated in various documentaries and films for Spanish television;"Del Piano a la Big Band" (with Tete Montoliu) and "Nit a Salonica" are two examples. Zé Eduardo has played with many famous figures on the international jazz scene, such as Art Farmer, Steve Lacy, Kenny Wheeler and Brad Meldhau, as well as with Tete Montoliu, while he was directing the Big Band of the Taller de Músicas. The founder of many jazz schools and academies, Zé Eduardo has worked tirelessly in education while also developing his skills as a double-bass player, pianist and composer/orchestrator over more than three decades in the world of professional music. With his group Zé Eduardo Unit, founded in the 1980s in Barcelona, he recorded "Unities" and "Begur" and, years later, he recorded some of the most important records of Portuguese jazz of the last decade: "A Jazzar no Zeca (2004) and "A Jazzar no cinema" (2003), "Bad Guys" (2005) and "Jazzar" (2009). In 2001 he collaborated with the film director Fernando Trueba on the soundtrack of the film "El Embrujo de Shangai", composing music and conducting a group of Chinese jazz musicians who took part in the movie shoot. After 1995 he founded various jazz schools both in the Lisbon area and south of the Tagus. In 2001 he founded the Associação Grémio das Músicas, which he has directed ever since, with the support of the Portuguese Ministry of Culture. |
