Already for the 7th time, the Algarve Smooth Jazz Festival took place May 14-19, 2024, at the beautiful Pine Cliffs Resort in Albufeira at the Algarve, Portugal’s south coast, sitting on top of unique cliffs overlooking the Atlantic. The vast premises, with their own golf course, offer the perfect setting for this smooth jazz festival, with several restaurants, pools and any amenity you could wish for. You have also access to the beach, so there is plenty to do during the day. After a delayed flight and the usual car ride down to the hotel, taking approximately 2.5 hours, I arrived in the late afternoon, just in time to settle in and grab some food, before the first show of the festival would start.
The concerts were held at the Salao Piñal, a nice venue on the premises of the hotel, offering two bars at the back of the room. The first concert was done by saxophonist Rocco Ventrella hailing from Bari, Italy and acoustic guitarist Marc Antoine, who hails from France, but now lives in Spain. The two showed a lot of mutual affection and camaraderie, joking around and having a good time together. They opened their show together with “Groovy Sunday”, before Rocco Ventrella took over doing “Stay Close To Me” and “Focused” on soprano sax. Then it was Marc Antoine’s turn with “Latin Quarter” and “Mas Que Nada”, which turned out to be a crowd pleaser having people sing along. Then a couple of songs were done together to lead to the next climax, Rocco Ventrella’s rendition of “Soulful Strut” which provided another highlight of the show. They were supported by a great band of players featuring Christoph Lindner on guitar, Leo Asal on drums, Marius Goldhammer on bass and Jay Rowe on keyboards.
Next was Canadian acoustic guitar player Jesse Cook who turned out to be a great addition to the festival despite providing a different flavor with his flamenco tinged world music. He started out his career in 1995 on the Catalina Island Jazz Trax Festival, and established himself firmly ever since with a string of successful albums. He appeared with his own band of international musicians, featuring flamenco guitar player Matt Sellick from Canada, Dan Minchom from the UK on electric bass, Fethi Nadjem from Algeria on violin, and Matias Recharte from Peru on drums and percussion. He started out solo with “Tempest”, the song that put him on the map, then added Matias Recharte on percussion for the next song, before gradually adding the rest of the band, eventually providing their full sound. I would describe his music as “world” despite the strong flamenco elements, his scope is broader, even incorporating Arabic elements with the masterful playing of Fethi Nadjem, who turned out for me to be discovery of the evening. I particularly enjoyed his rendition of “Azul”, Jesse Cook’s playing is simply awesome, it is technically intricate and still remains accessible and melodious. They played for close to two hours and obviously enjoyed the opportunity to do their first concert in Portugal.
Wednesday night continued with the show by guitarist Adam Hawley, who has himself firmly established on the smooth jazz scene with his groovy and catchy playing. He was supported by the British band with Oli Silk on keyboards, Westley Joseph on drums, Orefo Orakwue on bass, and Patrick Clahar on saxophone. He went through a string of his hits like “Risin’ Up” and “Can You Feel It” to the delight of the crowd, before his wife Kat Hawley was added to sing H.E.R.’s “Best Part” and her own “Keep It On” from her upcoming debut album. They also covered SWV’s “Rain”, before they moved it up a notch going “old school” doing a potpourri of songs like “Do I Do”, “Boogie Down” and “Yearning For You Love”, having people get up and dance. They were asked back for an encore, doing The Jackson’s “Shake Your Body To The Ground”, leaving a satisfied crowd.
Next was trumpet player Lin Rountree who was backed by the German band featuring Lindner/Asal/Goldhammer/Rowe, nicely picking up the funky vibe that was created by the preceding band, going through songs like “Solid”, his first song ever written called “Everyday”, the Neo-soul track “Delicious” and the ultra-groovy “Soul Funky” which morphed into Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish”, providing an entertaining show. His smooth yet funky and well articulated trumpet playing carried the concert, supported by his fellow players who laid down a solid foundation. He had guest Nathan Mitchell sit in on keys to do “Fluid”, his latest hit single. A nice climax was created when Jay Rowe returned to share the same instrument, it almost looked like they were fighting to play the keys, having lots of fun together. They wrapped up the show with “In The Vibe” and a Michael Jackson cover, ending a great night of music.
Past midnight, it was time for another Aftershow Party, the British band was ready to play, enforced with Mark Jaimes on guitar, to support the various artists who joined in. First it was the energetic JJ Sanseverino playing a George Benson track, before saxophonist Rocco Ventrella joined in on soprano sax, later upcoming guitarist Lemek did one song, while the crowd was dancing in front of them. People had a great time.
Thursday night, rising star Nathan Mitchell on keyboards did his performance, backed by the German band of Lindner/Asal/Goldhammer/Rowe. Right from the start, he featured upcoming young guitar player Lemek for one track, then he went through a string of his songs like “Just Coolin’” and “Minha Amada”. After a short classical piano interlude, he had guests Najee join him on flute to do his hit “100% Cotton” and keyboardist Nicholas Cole to do “Boss Man”, a song dedicated to the late Nick Colionne, where they nicely alternated on the keys. Then he turned up the heat with a couple of vocals, again having Lemek join the band, finishing with the Commodores classic “Brick House” and Maze’s “Before I Let Go”, having people dance in the aisles.
Flutist Althea René is probably the preeminent soul-jazz flutist on the music scene, having a warm, full flute sound and great chops to carry her songs. She was supported by the British band of James/Joseph/Orakwue plus Jay Rowe, they kicked it off with “Rock With You” before she did her own “Pastel Leather” and the great “Barbara Mae”, both signature songs from her vast catalog. Highlights for me were her renditions of Dexter Wansel’s “Life On Mars”, Maze’s “We Are One” and Deniece Williams’ “Free”, covering songs that probably belonged to everybody’s soundtrack of their lives, delivered with style and aplomb. The heat rose with “GoGo Bootz”, the go-go groove had people dance again, wrapping up a great show.
The Aftershow Party led by guitarist JJ Sanseverino had several players like Nathan Mitchell, Nelson Rangell, Jacob Webb and Phylicia Rae, Eric Darius and more join in, to keep people up dancing and partying all night long.
Friday night, singer Rebecca Jade supported by the German band was on, she kicked off her show with Chaka Khan’s “I Feel For You”, bringing things nicely up to speed. She was in fine form and ready to groove, doing “Show Me” from her current release. She picked up the bass and did her rendition of the classic “The Girl From Ipanema”, before she sang the beautiful “Please Come Home” boasting her soulful voice. Next were “Gunshot” and a great rendition of “I Will Survive”, before things slowed down again with “Killing Me Softly With His Song”, again accompanying herself on the bass. Another highlight was guest Eric Darius on saxophone who did “Bottle Of Magic” with her, before things got funky and people on their feet with the Rufus & Chaka Khan medley of “Tell Me Something Good”, “Sweet Thing” and “Ain’t Nobody”, leaving a satisfied crowd.
Saxophonist Najee needs no introduction, he was supported by the British band plus Jay Rowe on keys, he opened his show with guest Lin Rountree on the trumpet playing “Maputo”, his tribute to David Sanborn who passed away only a few days ago. He switched to the soprano sax for Maxwell’s “Sumthin’ Sumthin’” and EWF’s “Can’t Hide Love”, showing off his perfect circular breathing technique. Next was his tribute to Stevie Wonder with “I Wish” and “Knocks Me Off My Feet” on flute, before guest Marc Antoine joined in on acoustic guitar to do Chick Corea’s “Spain”, providing another highlight of the show. Next guest was Rebecca Jade doing Michael Henderson’s “Valentine Love”, before things got funky with final guest Nathan Mitchell on keys doing “Jamaica Funk”, having people on their feet again, ending another memorable show.
Saturday noon, out in the park of the hotel next to the sea, we got the beautiful outdoor setting of the Tabu Garden Lounge, where bass players Jacob Webb and Phylicia Rae performed, supported by the British band. First Jacob Webb led through EWF’s “Can’t Hide Love” and his own “Missing You”, before they switched roles to have Phylicia Rae perform her own tracks “Just Like That” and “On My Way”, they had guests Lin Rountree and Nathan Mitchell join in for the nice “That’s So Beautiful”, before they had people get up and dance to their renditions of The Gap Band’s “Outstanding” and Maze’s “Before I Let Go”, wrapping up a good show.
Next came the double bill of saxophonist Nelson Rangell and keyboardist Jay Rowe who know each other since the very beginning of their careers, they were supported by the German band and kicked it off with Stevie Wonder’s “Another Star”, before Jay Rowe featured his own compositions “Katy’s Groove” and “Rosemary’s Tune” along with some great keyboard solos. Then guest Marc Antoine joined in for an Earl Klugh cover with Nelson Rangell on the flute. Then Nelson Rangell did his own “Tidal Wave” that allowed the whole band to jam, before again Jay Rowe featured his own “East Coast, West Coast”, then Nelson Rangell slowed it down with his rendition of Hampton Hawes’ “Sonora”, whistling and playing piccolo flute just beautifully, he is just such a consummate artist. To end their show, the did the Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back”, ending a special performance.
Saturday night was opened by keyboardist Nicholas Cole, supported by the British band with Oli Silk. He did some of his mellow instrumentals like “Table For Two”, before guest Chieli Minucci on guitar joined him for “Soulmate”, then he played his hit “The Weekend”, the title track from that album. Then label mate Nathan Mitchell came on stage to sing a string of funk classics like “Yearning For Your Love”, “Joy And Pain” and “Never Too Much”, plus “Rock With You”, raising the heat considerably, have people dance. They were asked back for an encore and did “What You Won’t Do For Love”, finishing a nice show.
Next was saxophonist Eric Darius, supported by the German band, plus Oli Silk on keyboards. He dived right in with his energetic playing, for “Night On The Town”, he was joined by singer Rebecca Jade, then went on with tracks like “Going All Out”, “Unleashed”, “That’s My Jam” and more, delivering an exciting high-energy show that had people dance in the aisles, he only slowed it down for “About Last Night”, before the party continued, everybody was grooving along and had a great time, this was the standout show of the whole festival for me.
Sunday morning in the beautiful outdoor setting of the Tabu Garden Lounge, rising star Lemek, supported by the British band, appeared. This guitar player is in his early twenties and already making big waves, visibly being excited to be here and perform his music. He opened his show with “Parkway 106”, then had guest Nicholas Cole sit in for “Do You Love Me”, followed by “Burt’s Mood”, his nod to Burt Bacharach. After “Apex”, he had Nathan Mitchell and Patrick Clahar on sax join in for “Lifestyles”, finishing his show with “Groove Central”. He was asked back for an encore and did “This Place Hotel”, leaving a satisfied crowd. The future of smooth jazz lies in safe hands.
Next was veteran guitarist Chieli Minucci of Special EFX fame, supported by the German band, plus Jay Rowe on keys and Nelson Rangell on sax and flute. They provided a varied and entertaining show, going through several classics of his catalog like “Daybreak” and “Ballerina”, they also did the Nelson Rangell composition “Gratitude”. An interesting song was “Courageous Cats”, a complex fusion track that tested everybody’s abilities. Another highlight was his rendition of “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” that pulled all the stops, with a nice bass solo by Marius Goldhammer. They wrapped it up with “Cruise Control”, ending a truly great show. He was asked back and did “Nature Boy” on acoustic guitar as an encore, paying tribute to the late George Jinda, his partner during the Special EFX days.
Sunday night, Peter White did his show, along with the Britsh Band he went through a string of familiar tracks like “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love” and “Midnight In Manhattan” (originally done with Grover Washington Jr.), before he covered some classics like the Rascals’ “Groovin’” which was graced by some harmonica playing, before he kicked it up a notch with “Papa Was A Rolling Stone”, a track that has become a firm part of his show. He slowed it down again with “Walk On By”, before he did his own “Bueno Funk” with lots of musical quotes from “Get Up, Stand Up” to “Smoke On The Water” thrown in, wrapping up a great show. Not only do I enjoy his flawless acoustic guitar playing, but especially his use of dynamics, keeping things nicely flowing and entertaining.
The festival was closed by the “Grande All-Star Finale” featuring all the players still present at the end of the festival. Rocco Ventrella kicked it off with his rendition of “Soulful Strut”, before Chieli Minucci and Nathan Mitchell played “Breezin’”, then flutist Althea René joined to do a great version of “Mr. Magic”. Lemek and Rocco Ventrella did a Michael Jackson song, then Patrick Cahart joined in to pay his tribute to David Sanborn with “Chicago Song”. Peter White and Nelson Rangell were added to the proceedings, before they turned up the heat with a batch of funk songs featuring Nathan Mitchell and later Rebecca Jade on vocals, doing “Rock With You”, “Never Too Much”, “Ain’t Nobody” and eventually “Play That Funky Music”, having everybody on stage expertly coordinated by Nathan Mitchell, even adding Christian Bössner on cow bell, ending another great festival in style.
What the Algarve Smooth Jazz Festival makes special is the camaraderie between musicians, they obviously love to play together and guest on each others shows, having a ball. The fans can mix and mingle with their favorite artists, who often stay during the whole festival and are easily approachable, providing a great setting to enjoy the music. Again I would thank Richard Edwards for his music sets at the Mirador, a great bar next to the sea, where he also did his Q&A sessions with the various players, plus his nightly DJ work at the Aladar to dance and have fun. The Pine Cliffs Resort is the perfect place to hold this festival, with its friendly staff and great restaurants. And last but not least, kudos to Christian and Sandra and their helpful staff for putting it all together.