From the 27th of this month until the 5th of October, Angra do Heroísmo is in the mood for another edition of “Jazz na Rua.” This edition features four musical groups and nine concerts in venues such as restaurants, bars, the public library, and the city museum.
Promoted by the Angrajazz Cultural Association with the support of the Regional Directorate for Culture and Angra do Heroísmo City Council, the initiative aims, according to Miguel Cunha from the organization, to educate audiences, including secondary schools, as well as provide stages and training for local musicians.
At a press conference yesterday, Miguel Cunha pointed out that “Jazz na Rua” has been growing. “As an association, we’ve always had the goal of training audiences from the start,” he said.
Luís Mendes, also from the association, valued this aspect. “Historically, Terceira, due to the American base at Lajes, had a tradition of jazz bands that also included local musicians. The big jazz festival in the Azores is in Terceira and this has to do with this cultural aspect. We from Terceira are used to jazz,” she said.
The regional director for Culture, Sandra Garcia, pointed out that the Angrajazz Festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary and has a “remarkable track record.”
Jazz na Rua”, she considered, bears the stamp of this quality. “In a way, it has been perceived as an ‘appetizer’ for the festival. It also has the added value of betting heavily on our local values, on our musicians and performers, and gives new life to the streets and establishments of Angra do Heroísmo,” he said.
“Count on us, within our limitations, we’re here to see you shine for at least another 25 years,” he concluded.
Jazz na Rua is an event that, according to Luís Mendes, represents a ‘deficit’ but is seen as important. The budget is around 8,000 euros, almost 25% of which is supported by the Regional Directorate for Culture.

“We want to have a jazz party during the festival. With this, we can guarantee that the groups are given more exposure and that jazz is promoted,” he said.
“Jazz na Rua” starts on Friday, the 27th, at 6pm, at the Verde Maçã café, with the Sofia Dutra Trio. The following day, at the same time, but in the bar of the Hotel Caracol, there will be a concert with the same group.
The Wave Jazz Ensemble will perform on the 29th at Café Aliança (Praça Velha) and on the 30th at Quinta do Açores- Loja do Gelado (Marina), always at 6pm.
The Ricardo Toscano Quartet will perform a concert at Pastelaria Central on October 1 at 6 p.m., followed by a jam session at Casa do Sal on the same day at 10 p.m.
The Angrajazz Cultural Association presents the quartet as “one of the most exciting national groups” and performs at the Angrajazz festival.
On the second day, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., the Ricardo Toscano Quartet will play at the Luís da Silva Ribeiro Public Library in an event aimed at students from the Jerónimo Emiliano de Andrade Secondary School. Also at the library, at 6 p.m., the Sónia Pereira Trio will perform.
Sofia Dutra’s trio will perform at the Lar Doce Livro bookshop on the 3rd (6pm).

On the fourth, the Wave Jazz Ensemble will perform a concert at 6 p.m. at the Angra do Heroísmo Museum.
Before that, from 10am, there will be a publicity event for students at the Tomás de Borba Primary and Secondary School (Angra Regional Conservatory), with the Ricardo Toscano Quartet.
On the 5th, from 10am to 1pm, at the Angra do Heroísmo Cultural and Congress Center, there will be a training session aimed at musicians, “primarily from the island’s philharmonics,” who must register in advance. It will be given by the Ricardo Toscano Quartet and Pedro Moreira. The concert that day is by the Sónia Pereira Trio, at the Expert Shop in Rua Direita (6pm).

“The aim is for the city to experience its festival in an intense way and for even those who don’t go to the Cultural Centre to experience jazz,” says the organization, which wants ”both locals and tourists to be surprised by the jazz around the corner.”
The Angrajazz festival takes place from October 2 to 5 at the Centro Cultural e de Congressos, with names such as VijayIyer, Camilla George, Catherine Russell, Ben Rosenblum- Nebula Project, Mário Laginha and João Paulo Esteves da Silva, among others.

In Diário Insular-José Lourenço, director