Written by Young talents and international jazz stars – they all play at this worth to visit festival on the beautiful island of Madeira.
For the fifth time now, the Funchal Jazz Festival has kicked off a few days before the three main evenings. Jazz fans gather in the small, cosy city gardens of Madeira’s capital for concert evenings with free admission. On the first two of these evenings, the conservatoire students’ final exam recitals always take place. And there you can hear some truly talented musicians who should definitely venture into professional jazz.
Take, for example, the young singer Isabel Sousa, who cut quite a fine figure with her tribute to the US singer Victoria Swift, who is also by no means old. Sousa has a powerful voice, is confident and very skilful in her numerous scat passages. And drummer Catarina Gonçalves also put in a very convincing performance with her drummed tribute to the great jazz drumming legend Elvin Jones. Linking these final exam concerts to the festival is a brilliant idea from the festival team led by Artistic Director Paulo Barbosa. It’s equally brilliant that the international jazz stars give masterclasses at the conservatoire during the day whilst they’re in Madeira. This is both motivating and very exciting for the island’s up-and-coming jazz musicians.
The duo, comprising Madeira-born guitarist André Santos and the Portuguese-Brazilian drummer Alexandre Frazão, met up at a recording studio one day before their festival performance. The following day on stage: a set consisting mainly of improvised material, but also featuring references to a folk song from the small island of Porto Santo, situated next to Madeira, and a well-known piece by the Portuguese singer-songwriter Jorge Palma. Melodies served as a springboard for the improvisational creativity of these two artists, who have known each other for a long time. And that’s exactly what the audience heard. An instrument like the vibraphone also demands creativity. At first glance, it seemed surprising to have two vibraphonists in a row, each with their own bands, take to the main stage in the large Santa Catarina Park to kick off the festival’s three main evenings.
Duarte Ventura | Photo by Carolina Santiago
A few hours later, it all made sense, as the young Portuguese musician Duarte Ventura first introduced himself with his quintet, in which, alongside the bandleader, alto saxophonist Miguel Valente in particular proved a real delight. Ventura plays with great nuance using his four mallets in his exciting, modern-sounding original compositions, which perfectly combine individuality with a multi-layered band sound. These can also be heard, incidentally, on Duarte Ventura’s very fine debut album as bandleader, ‘Blurred Images’. US vibraphonist Joel Ross, by contrast, prefers to play with just two mallets in the vein of modern mainstream jazz, though influences from gospel and blues are always wonderfully evident in his music. His quartet, too, performs in Funchal as a tight-knit, rhythmically intense and contemporary-sounding unit, although, viewed over the course of a full concert, Ross sounded less interesting than Duarte Ventura and his band.
The second evening on the main stage once again invited comparisons. This time, it was two US saxophonists who shone. First, the young, wild rising star on the alto sax, Immanuel Wilkins, with his quartet; then the great tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano in his new quartet project ‘Explorations’. Whilst Wilkins performed as an agile, explosive saxophonist, blending fiery soul jazz with post-bop and the spirituality of a John Coltrane, Joe Lovano, on the Atlantic island, proved himself above all to be a magnificent sound sculptor in his joint explorations of well-known jazz numbers, particularly in his interplay with the fantastic Italian pianist Antonio Faraò, who played with intensity and rhythmic sophistication. This was jazz that neither needs nor seeks to prove anything, but simply sounds absolutely brilliant.
Ricardo Toscano | Photo: Carolina Santiago
The local jazz orchestra, the Orchestra de Jazz do Funchal, now takes to the big stage every year with a new project. This year, the focus was on the music of Duke Ellington. The jazz orchestra, bolstered by top musicians from mainland Portugal and Madeira – such as saxophonist Ricardo Toscano, guitarist André Santos and singer Madalena Caldeira – spent a few days rehearsing the programme under the baton of US pianist Jason Moran. Brilliant arrangements, brilliant soloists and, in Madalena Caldeira, a young vocal talent who is currently honing her craft in Basel, Switzerland, and who cut a particularly fine figure on the soulful, gently swaying number ‘I Like The Sunrise’. By comparison, the performance by US singer Ledisi – who is otherwise more at home in R&B – with her tribute to the great jazz vocalist Dinah Washington seemed rather lacklustre. After all, not everything can or needs to please everyone or really set the place alight at what was, once again, an all-round successful and worth to be visiting Funchal Jazz Festival.
Last modified: July 15, 2026
