Terrassa closes its Jazz Festival this Friday. And there are already 43 editions, which is said to be soon. The duo formed by the co-capital of Vallès Occidental and this genre that emerged in New Orleans more than a hundred years ago maintains good health, overcoming fads and pandemics. Good proof of this is the popularity of the picnic that is held every year in the Parc de Vallparadís on the occasion of the contest. The full house that was recorded again last Sunday, with thousands of people enjoying the music – and the almost spring-like weather – in the central Egarense park, only confirms the idyll that city and jazz have lived for decades.
Beyond other factors, perhaps the success of the festival in Terrassa has to do with this ability to maintain a very high-level programming along with a popular approach to the genre. Thus, the faithful fan continues to find quality products, both from the local and international scene, while the less specialized public can be introduced to jazz without fear of looking like a snob thanks to concerts and activities for all tastes.
Today’s proposal to close the festival is in line with maintaining the prestige of Terrassa as a specialized place. He is a veteran of notable reputation, who is considered one of the best trumpet players in European jazz of the last 30 years for his avant-garde and groundbreaking style that fuses jazz with rock, electronics and hip-hop. The French-Swiss Erik Truffaz, distinguished heir to the most innovative Miles Davis, presents his two latest works, Rollin’ and Clap, both published by the famous New York label Blue Note in 2023.
Truffaz is an old acquaintance of the Catalan fans. We have seen him at the Barcelona Jazz Festival, at L’Auditori or, more recently, at the La Nau hall in the Catalan capital, just a month before the fateful confinement of 2020. Now he returns to Terrassa 21 years after the last time, within the framework of a European tour in which the Vallesan city is the only date in Spain. Faithful to the elegant and atmospheric sound of the albums, the trumpeter will perform in a quintet formation with Alexis Anérilles (keyboards), David Koch (guitar), Marcello Giuliani (bass) and Julien Charlet (drums).
By the way, the double album has another incentive: it is Truffaz’s particular tribute to the classic cinema with which he grew up. Thus, review from the main theme of La Strada, by Fellini, to One silver dollar, the song that Marilyn Monroe immortalized in River of no return, passing through the soundtracks of French cinema titles from the times of Godard, Belmondo or Bardot. A dialogue between arts that adds stature, even more so, to tonight’s evening.
