In early May 2025, I arrived in late Tuesday afternoon at Faro Airport, to attend the 8th edition of the Algarve Smooth Jazz Festival, marking the 30th festival being organized by Christian Bössner and Sandra Hoffmann since its inception in 2008. The weather was sunny with scattered clouds, although a bit chilly. This location in Portugal has established itself as a great place to hold the festival, the Pine Cliffs Resort in Albufeira serves our needs well with their vast premises and numerous amenities. I was looking forward to meet my international music friends and artists I have known for so long. I took a taxi to the hotel, checked into my room and got some dinner, then went to the Salão Pinhal, a nice indoor venue with bars in the rear and outside, where all the shows would take place.
We were greeted by festival host Oli Silk who introduced the first act, saxophonist Michael Paulo and guitarist Paul Brown, being accompanied by Leo Asal on drums, Marius Goldhammer on bass and Jay Rowe on keyboards. They went through their catalog of songs, like “Brother Earl”, “Sugarfish” and “Bumpin’”, Paul Brown paid also a tribute to the late Jeff Golub with his interpretation of “Dangerous Curves”, I always enjoy his bluesy playing. A highlight of the show was Michael Paulo’s rendition of Santana’s “Europa”, pouring all his heart into the song. The two worked very well together and provided a great show.
Next was songstress Avery Sunshine, she accompanied herself on the keyboards, her band consisted of her husband and musical collaborator Dana “Big Dane” Johnson on guitar, Westley Joseph on drums and Orefo Orakwue on bass. Avery Sunshine is always fun to watch with her powerful singing style and her facial expressions, she was in top form and ready to play, this woman is a force of nature. She breezed through her catalog, most notably singing “So Glad To Know You”, the title track from the album she won a Grammy for in 2025. Very nice was the gospel song “Blessin’ Me” which brought a spiritual note to the concert. They also did their nod to Tina Turner with “Nutbush City Limits”, which had the band cooking. This show was well appreciated and ended the first evening of the festival.
The party continued with DJ Richard Edwards, with people dancing, having a few more drinks and a good time in general.
Wednesday I did my usual stroll along the beach to the next town Vilamoura, it took me 1h and 40mins, the distance is approximately 4 miles and needs a minimal level of fitness. There I had a couple of beers before returning with an Uber to the hotel. The beachfront offers stunning rocks and great nature.
Wednesday night, the festival continued with the show of flautist Alexander Zonjic and keyboardist James Lloyd, they were supported by Jay Rowe on keyboards, Leo Asal on drums, Marius Goldhammer on bass and Christoph Lindner on guitar. Alexander Zonjic released his first album in 1978 and played with Bob James for years, while James Lloyd is a founding member of Pieces Of A Dream, so we were in for a treat. They kicked it off with “Doin’ The D”, a groovy number that brought things up to speed right away, followed by the Bob James classic “Nightcrawler”, during this number James Lloyd walked into the audience with his keytar strapped on, pleasing the crowd. Next was “Leave It With Me” by Alexander Zonjic, followed by another Bob James classic “Angela” that went down very well with the appreciative crowd. As a tribute to Detroit, they did “Motor City Sway”, followed by James Lloyd’s “Granted Wish”, a song that took 12 years and the initiative of James Lloyd’s wife to make it onto an album. They wrapped it up with “Memphis Underground”, ending a high energy show by two consummate class acts.
Next was another flautist, the beautiful Kim Scott who was here to party. The band consisted of Mark Jaimes on guitar, Westley Joseph on drums, Orefo Orakwue on bass and Oli Silk on keyboards. She opened with a great cover of Herb Alpert’s “Rise”, before she delved into her own material with “Like Butter” and “Block Party” (with some sax work by Patrick Clahar), raising the heat and having people groove along. For “Best Part”, she alternated between the alto and c-flute, which was very cool, the song also featured a nice bass solo by Orefo Orakwue. For a change, she delivered a vocal track singing “Every Breath You Take” by Police. Then she did her current single “Alma de Lisbon” which was inspired by an earlier journey to Portugal, featuring excellent piano work by Oli Silk and a great drum solo by Westley Joseph, making this a highlight of the show. She wrapped it up with “Magic City Streets” and “Freedom”, playing well beyond midnight.
After this show, we went to the Midnight Jam hosted by Michael Paulo, where the fun continued.
Thursday afternoon, we were entertained by DJ Richard Edwards during 3 hours of music and artist Q&As at the Miramar, a beautiful outdoor bar overlooking the sea, with his “Afternoon Chill” program. We got a premium selection of music, and an interesting interview with keyboardist Brian Simpson, talking about the various stages of his career. I always enjoy these sessions and look forward to learn about new releases.
Thursday evening, BPM aka bassist Brian Bromberg, guitarist Paul Brown and saxophonist Michael Paulo were appearing at the Salão Pinhal, supported by Jay Rowe on keyboards and Westley Joseph on drums. The three pulled off a great show, going through songs like “Paradise”, “Coup De Ville” and “Eastside Party”, providing catching smooth jazz of the highest order. A very nice song was the heartfelt “Here Is Happiness” by Michael Paulo, which was dedicated to his later father, Hawaiian musical legend Rene Paulo who passed away two years ago. They slowed it down with “You’re All I Need”, followed by “24/7”, one of the signature songs of Paul Brown, with nice contributions by Jay Rowe on keys. They did “Gridlock”, followed by “Black Pearl” which had a bit of a different vibe, supposedly be a cross between Weather Report and Grateful Dead. Next was “Seriously?” by Brian Bromberg, before they got really funky with “Minneapolis, 1987” which gave Brian Bromberg an opportunity to slap and pluck his bass, finishing with their rendition of EWF’s “September”, having people dance next to the stage.
After the intermission, it was time for saxophonist Marcus Anderson and his twin brother Marcel Anderson on vocals. The band consisted of Lindner/Asal/Goldhammer/Rowe. But before the show started it was time for some advertising, since Marcus Anderson is not only a great musician, but also a versatile businessman. Not only does the man sell his own coffee (AND Coffee), but he also launched a new unisex fragrance (called “Encore”), in addition he organizes a three-day music festival called “Jazz ANDCoffee Escape” in Durham, NC. After the uptempo opener, he did “Care For You” playing his sax, which also had great guitar and keyboard solos, before he switched to the flute to finish the song. Another great track was “Farewell” which originally was a collaboration with his mentor Donald Hayes.
Then his brother Marcel Anderson entered the stage to sing Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You” and “What’s Going On”, with nice flute work by Marcus, then doing the Bee Gee’s “How Deep Is Your Love”, before he left the stage again. Keeping the groove, Marcus put a bunch of flowers into his sax to stroll through the audience to please several females with his playing, handing out roses (and let the women smell the scent of his fragrance, making sure, we would not forget about his newest endeavor). Then they raised the heat again with some funk, doing Prince’s “Kiss”, “Georgy Porgy” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, supported by brother Marcel, turning the concert into a veritable party. Again, they played well beyond midnight.
After that show, it was time for the midnight jam hosted by Oli Silk, with a bunch of artists sitting in, allowing the fun to continue.
As usual, the next day on Friday, I attended the Afternoon Chill hosted by Richard Edwards to enjoy his handpicked selection of smooth jazz tracks and listen to his Q&A sessions, he had guitarist Paul Brown join him to talk about his current work with the all-star band BPM. I had a few beers, enjoyed the awesome view of the sea and talked to some good friends I have met several times over the years.
Friday night, we were in for a special treat with the Quincy Jones Tribute Show led by Oli Silk that featured tons of players to celebrate the music of this iconic artist. I was wondering what selection of material would be presented since his catalog and most of all production work was so extensive. There were three singers added to perform the vocals, we got Selina Albright, Debby Bracknell and the wonderful Wayne Hernandez, plus two backing bands splitting up the supporting chores for the evening, starting out with Westley Joseph on drums, Orefo Orakwue on bass and Mark Jaimes on guitar, while Oli Silk played the keyboards and hosted the concert. He introduced every song with some background information, before they delved into it, starting the show with “Razzmatazz” featuring Selina Albright, one of many Rod Temperton compositions to be heard that night. The first instrumentalist featured was saxophonist Vincent Ingala doing “One Hundred Ways” which originally featured James Ingram, before Andrea Lisa beautifully sang “If I Ever Lose This Heaven”, complete with a cool guitar solo. Next was the Brothers Johnson classic “I’ll Be Good To You” performed by Patrick Clahar on sax and Oli Silk, employing his keytar, raising the heat. They slowed it down for the awesome “Moody’s Mood” nicely sung by the very talented Andrea Lisa, with another great guitar solo plus some jazzy keyboard work by Brian Simpson. Then the singers were featured on “Baby Come To Me” featuring Debby Bracknell and Wayne Hernandez, pulling it off perfectly, with a nice guitar solo in addition. No Quincy Jones tribute would be complete without a Michael Jackson song, so Marion Meadows on sax and Julian Vaughn on bass delivered a great rendition of “The Lady In My Life”, before they raised the heat again with George Benson’s “Give Me The Night” featuring Marcel Anderson on vocals, having people dance next to the stage.
After the intermission, the second supporting band took the stage, consisting of Lindner/Asal/Goldhammer/Rowe, plus Oli Silk on keyboards and the three singers, who were featured right off the bat with James Ingram’s “Ya Mo Be There”, expecially Wayne Hernandez did a great job, his voice almost reminded me of James Ingram, we already were up on our feet again. Another nod to Michael Jackson was made with “I Can’t Help It” from the Off The Wall album, featuring the acoustic guitars of Roman Street, which brought a nice vibe to the song. They got jazzy again with “Killer Joe”, a jazz classic by Benny Golson that was re-interpreted on Quincy Jones’ Walking In Space album, featuring Paul Brown on guitar and Patrick Clahar on sax. Another highlight was Selina Albright’s interpretation of “Tomorrow” by the Brothers Johnson, with another nice sax solo. Singer Wayne Hernandez wowed us again with his great voice doing George Benson’s “Love X Love”, then they slowed it down with the beautiful “Love Dance” heartfully sung by Selina Albright who was accompanied by Christoph Lindner on acoustic guitar. Things got funky again with Marcus Anderson on sax doing Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” which had people dance again, they wrapped it up with the Brothers Johnson’s “Stomp” that had every player join the stage, to provide the grande finale of a very special show.
For those who still didn’t have enough DJ Richard Edwards provided dance music at the Aldar, letting people dance the night away at the aftershow party.
Saturday morning, the festival continued outdoors with nice sunny weather in the park of the hotel, the stage was set with a beautiful view overlooking the sea. The first part featured Roman Street, the duo of brothers Noah and Joshua Thompson on acoustic guitars, supported by Leo Asal on drums and Orefo Orakwue on bass, plus Westley Joseph on percussion, an instrument he apparently played for the very first time. They kicked it off with “Windjammer” delivering their unique brand of flamenco tinged acoustic guitar music, followed by “Bogota By Bus” (their nod to Jesse Cook) and “Caravan”, which was the first song composed by them. Then they did “San Jose”, followed by “Fairhope” dedicated to all the mothers, with their own mother and sister being present in the audience. Next was their rendition of the classic “Besame Mucho” and their own “Shoreline”, which had Oli Silk sit in on keyboards. Very nice were the covers of Roberta Flack’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and Sting’s “Shape Of My Heart” featuring the vocals of Joshua Thompson. Another highlight was “Mayan Sky” originally done with Andy Vargas, that also had the band solo on percussion, bass and drums, before they wrapped it up with “Santa Lucia”. This concert was very well received and was the perfect fit for the beautiful setting the concert took place.
After the intermission, saxophonist Marion Meadows took over, being accompanied by Lindner/Asal/Goldhammer/Rowe, going through several of his songs without many announcements. Early highlights were “Dressed To Chill” with a wailing guitar solo by Christoph Lindner, and “My Cherie Amour” that featured the keys of Jay Rowe. They did an old-school jam over the bass line of “Inner City Blues” having Marion Meadows go out into the audience playing extensively. All members of the band got their chances to solo, they ended their show with “Humanity” and “Romantica”, leaving a satisfied crowd.
After that, it was time for another Afternoon Chill with Richard Edwards, where he had guests Roman Street, Marion Meadows, Andrea Lisa and Vincent Ingala answer his questions, the sessions were funny and enlightening, and everything was graced with some great smooth jazz tracks selected by him.
Saturday night, bass player extraordinaire Brian Bromberg appeared, he was supported by the band of Rowe/Asal/Lidner plus Michael Paulo on saxophone, they kicked it off right away with a bunch of funked-up tracks like “Coup De Ville” and “The Magic Of Moonlight”, before he started to announce songs and explain their origin. He switched to the piccolo bass, a bass that has guitar strings and is tuned higher, offering new ways of musical expression. He played “Havana Nights” and “Bado Boy”, a song dedicated to a cat he brought from Barbados to give the animal a better home. Next were smooth jazz staples “Snuggle Up” and “Choices”, with nice soloing and great sax work by Michael Paulo. Then as a surprise guest, guitarist Paul Brown joined in, so we got as a bonus the full lineup of BPM with their special chemistry. Brian Bromberg switched back to his regular bass guitar, so they could play some tracks they performed earlier that week like “Seriously?”, the ultra-funky “Minneapolis, 1987” and the concert closer, a nice cover of EWF’s “September”, that had people dance in the aisles.
Next was multi-instrumentalist Vincent Ingala, his band consisted of Jaimes/Westley/Orakwue plus Oli Silk on keyboards. He had us right in the palm of his hand from the first note with his gutsy tenor sound, playing “Movin’ And Shaking’” among others, before he switched to the guitar to do “Wish I Was There”, a song paying tribute to the golden days of funk, disco and R&B, the music he was brought up with thanks to his father, who was a DJ. Back to the sax, delivering one of the highlights for me, his cover of Alexander O’Neal’s “If You Were Here Tonight” taking it to great lengths with his slow and sexy purring sax sounds, which was simply awesome. Another great segment was his tribute to classic funk songs like “Upside Down”, “Ain’t We Funkin’ Now”, “Galaxy”, “Do It Any Way You Wanna” and more, playing his funky guitar, with a funky bass solo by Orefo Orakwue, everybody had a lot of fun and was up dancing. He switched back to the sax to do “Personal Touch”, “It Is What It Is”, one of his earliest compositions, and “Coast To Coast”, before the energy level went through the roof with MFSB’s “K-Jee”, everybody was up and dancing around the stage and in the aisles. This concluded the show which must have been one of the very best of the whole festival.
The party continued with the Aftershow Party and dance music provided by DJ Richard Edwards.
Sunday morning on the outdoor stage, guitarist Andrea Lisa appeared, supported by Asal/Goldhammer/Rowe, doing her own show. She kicked it off with “Tribe”, a mellow instrumental track featuring her guitar, followed by “Silver Lining”, the title track of her current release. Next was “Fire”, a vocal track sung with soul and feeling, before she kicked it up a notch with “Calvert Street” also featuring Marius Goldhammer with a nice bass solo. She slowed it down with the guitar ballad “All The Way” where she poured her heart into, next was her radio hit “Vortex” featuring Jay Rowe on keys. Another nice one was the vocal track “Chocolates In Heaven” that built nicely, before guest Marcus Anderson joined the stage for Shanice’s “I Like Your Smile”, providing some great flute work. The highlight of the show was “Meet Me Again”, a vocal track that had a guitar solo that built and built, going into the stratosphere. I like the quality of her playing that keeps a level of jazziness and improvisation, taking the listener on a musical journey. As a reference to the late George Brown of Kool & The Gang fame who she collaborated with before he passed away, she did “Too Hot” with Marcus Anderson on sax, followed by another instrumental where she soloed on the guitar along with her voice in Benson-style, a link that becomes apparent all the time. She left an excited crowd that demanded an encore and got it with her rendition of George Benson’s “Affirmation”, again with Marcus Anderson adding his flute, ending a great show by a rising star who is taking the smooth jazz scene by storm.
Next was bass player Julian Vaughn, he was accompanied by Silk/Jaimes/Joseph/Orakwue plus saxophonist Kelley O’Neal. He started his show full force with “On Your Feet”, his first #1 single from 2012. Next was his cover of EWF’s “Can’t Hide Love”, before he returned to his own material with “Busta Move” and “Gratified” featuring Oli Silk on keyboards. He kicked it up a notch with “Ju Ju’s Groove” that had the crowd clap along. He did his nod to David Sanborn and Bob James with his interpretation of “Maputo” having Marcus Anderson join in on flute again, the track provided several opportunities for solos on flute, sax and guitar, keeping things nicely going. His hit “Take That” with a horn section of two saxes hit all the right buttons, before he did his Bobby Brown/Babyface medley of 90ies songs, followed by an old school medley of 70/80ies jams like “Funky Stuff”, “Rock Steady” and “Ain’t No Stopping’ Us Now” that kept people dancing in front of the stage. The pumped up crowd demanded an encore and got “Outstanding”, finishing a great funky party.
After that, we went to the Afternoon Chill with Richard Edwards, where he did his Q&A sessions with Marcel and Marcus Anderson and Julian Vaughn, complemented by the finest tracks smooth jazz currently has to offer.
Sunday night, keyboard player Brian Simpson appeared with Jaimes/Joseph/Orakwue plus saxophonist Patrick Clahar, who was extensively featured during the show. He did an unusual uptempo and groovy concert, going through a few of his instrumentals, before announcing songs. He did “Our Love” and “Last Kiss”, before he proudly shared one of his newest songs called “Midnight Groove”, that went down very well with the crowd. The band went into a “Chameleon” groove to jam, giving each member chances to solo, apart of the great sax work of Patrick Clahar, guitarist Mark Jaimes contributed several nice solos. Other songs done were “It’s All Good” and “Just What You Need”, but basically the show was a funky and groovy collection of music that had people have fun and enjoy the musicianship of those on stage.
I was particularly looking forward to the finale show of Swedish trombone player Nils Landgren, an absolute world class artist with a long and storied career. Among others he worked with the late Joe Sample for quite some time. He was clad in black with red shoes which complemented his red trombone perfectly. Supporting players were Clahar/Lindner/Asal/Goldhammer/Rowe who all did an awesome job to provide the steady funk groove that was required, Nils Landgren’s albums with his Funk Unit are some of the funkiest albums out there, so the band knew the standard expected, and they lived up to it. I was impressed by the tightness and professionalism of these players. He opened with “Simple Life” providing some tight horn playing, next was “Unbreakable”, a vocal track that featured his soulful singing, and “You Dig” with more great horn playing. One of my favorites was “B’s Bag” which was a trombone instrumental with nice improvisation. He also did Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”, his rendition of the song carried the message and the feeling of the original very well, then he did “Same Old Story”, originally done with Joe Sample. Another cool one was his rendition of Herbie Hancock’s “Stars In Your Eyes”, his singing has a real special quality. He finished with “Ain’t Nobody” (not Chaka’s) and was asked for an encore, doing “Silent Way” (not Miles), a heartfelt slow song featuring his trombone, ending a great show.
The next morning, it was time to say goodbye to my fellow music friends, and travel back home. It was another great festival, meeting nice people from all across the world, having fun, enjoying life, and most of all, listening to world class performers getting down. Next year’s Algarve Smooth Jazz Festival will take place May 12-17, 2026. I look forward to being back!