ORQUESTRA ANGRAJAZZ

Angrajazz Orchestra is a training/work-in-progress project held by the Cultural Association Angrajazz, with musical direction by the professors Pedro Moreira and Claus Nymark. Promoting regular working sessions and workshops, Angrajazz Orchestra became the main “jazz school” in the Region, contributing for Angrajazz to be considered as the main and most important means of unveiling the jazz music in the Azores.

The Orchestra has played with many well-known Portuguese jazz musicians such as Paula Oliveira, Mário Laginha, Zé Eduardo, Afonso Pais, Mário Barreiros, Hugo Alves, Luís Cunha, Paulo Gaspar, Ricardo Toscano, Gonçalo Marques, Carlos Azevedo, Jeffery Davis and João Ribeiro but also with the extraordinary spanish saxophonist Perico Sambeat.

Apart from numerous concerts in Terceira Island, the Orchestra has played in the islands S. Jorge, Graciosa, Faial, S. Miguel and Pico. Outside the Region, the Orchestra has performed in the cities of Funchal and Lisbon. The Orchestra has released two CDs –"Angrajazz Orchestra with Paula Oliveira" (2006) and “Angrajazz” (2018).

In its twenty-fourth year of existence, which makes it the oldest amateur jazz orchestra in the country, it will dedicate this concert to celebrating the 100th birthday of the great Miles Davis.

“Miles & Gil” . After collaborating on a series of recordings in the late '40s – which would lead to the legendary Birth of the Cool – Miles Davis and composer/arranger Gil Evans got together in the studio in 1957 to record Miles Ahead. That album went down in history as one of the most important and influential orchestral jazz records, and its success would soon push them to create masterpieces like Porgy and Bess (1958) and Sketches of Spain (1959/60).

These records were pioneering in introducing new sounds, timbres, and orchestral textures, using a larger setup than the traditional big band. Above all, they made history for the way Miles opened the door to a new musical language and expression.

In this concert, the Angrajazz Orchestra revisits excerpts from the suites Miles Ahead and Porgy and Bess, aiming to create a fruitful dialogue and thus keep Miles Davis' legacy alive. Once again featuring special participation from various guest musicians from the Angra do Heroísmo Conservatory and the Hot Club of Portugal, the orchestra takes another step in its evolution, showcasing a challenging, yet essential, repertoire in the history of Jazz.