MED JAZZ
Curated by: Mákina de Cena / MdC Records
In 2025, the old Bicas Velhas stage will come back to life with Med Jazz, celebrating regional music and creation. Following the success of MED Jazz in 2022 and 2023 at the MED Festival, this edition offers a programme focused on three releases from the Loulé label MdC Records, reinforcing the commitment to jazz made in the Algarve. From 26th to 28th June, the stage will be a meeting point for innovative and engaging sounds.
26th jun
11.30 pm
ALGARVE JAZZ COLLECTIVE (PT)
Algarve Jazz Collective is a collective led by saxophonist Desidério Lázaro and bassist Marco Martins, in partnership with Mákina de Cena.
In 2024, trumpeter Leon Baldesberger, guitarist Miguel Martins, and drummer Maximiliano Llanos joined the group.
The genesis of the project is the creation of a jazz and improvised music collective that sees itself as a hub of creativity, spontaneity and aggregation, composed of musicians who come from or have strong roots in the Algarve.
The collective's music is composed entirely of original themes, written specifically for this project.
Its mission also includes the rotation of members and composers, as well as the training and promotion of this musical genre.
PLAYGROUND is the collective's debut album, whose sound reflects the charisma and influences of each of its members/composers, combined with a sense of complicity and the energetic sound of the group.
27th jun
11.30 pm
Gonçalo Neto (PT)
Gonçalo Neto, a guitarist from Albufeira, Algarve, studied at the Lisbon School of Music and also attended the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Highlights of his career include his participation in Home: a group led by accordionist João Barradas, in the quartet of Maria João and Carlos Bica, and in Carlos Bica's quartet 11:11.
In 2024, Gonçalo Neto joined MdC Records for the release of the album Little Dinosaur.
This project was started in 2020 by Gonçalo Neto during his three-year stay in Amsterdam. The band consists of Gonçalo Neto on guitar and composition, Mauro Cottone on double bass, João Guerra on drums, José Soares on alto saxophone and Nicolò Ricci on tenor saxophone.
This artist's music spans various musical worlds, from rock to jazz and country/folk, as well as western atmospheres.
28th Jun
11.30 pm
NEBUCHADNEZZAR GROUP – THE HEXA PROJECT (PT)
The Hexa Project is the latest work created by Nebuchadnezzar Group, which invites Leon Baldesberger and Tiago Vigia, thus expanding its line-up and amplifying its music for yet another journey, revisiting themes released on the group's first three albums: Nebuchadnezzar – 2015, Travellers – 2019, Cântico – 2022.
Nebuchadnezzar Group was formed in 2014 by João Ferreira, Hugo Santos, Cláudio Alves and Maximiliano Llanos, musicians from the Algarve and Lisbon, and has since been dedicated to composing original music.
With improvisation as a common and constant element in their compositions, in The Hexa Project, jazz serves as the foundation for music that takes on different forms and characteristics of the genre, revealing varied inspirations ranging from traditional Portuguese music to cinema, traditional Balkan music and literature.
This project, launched in 2024, has been performed in various venues in Portugal and Spain, where it has always been received with great enthusiasm.
