THE GRAMOPHONE ALLSTARS BIG BAND

Programme

Jazzmaica

About this event

A Big Band with Jamaican rhythms is the suggestive idea behind The Gramophone Allstars, the band of the saxophonist from La Bisbal, Genís Bou. The group seeks a meeting point between the Afro-American music of the 60s and the rhythms of the island of Jamaica. Classic tunes by Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, The Winstons, Jackson Sisters or Smokey Robinson take on a new dimension and Caribbean spirit.

Biography

The Gramophone Allstars Big Band was founded in the spring of 2008 by the saxophonist from La Bisbal, Genís Bou. The group aims to fuse the languages of Jamaican and Afro-American music – jazz, soul, funk, rhythm & blues, etc. The group’s first live concert was in July, 2008 and they produced their first disc, Just delightin’ the same year. In October, 2009, the band recorded their second disc, Simbiosi, with the third, Levitant a la deriva, following in 2011.

In their latest disc, Jazzmaica, The Gramophone Allstars re-explore and remake the path travelled decades ago by Jamaican musicians when American radio stations discovered the hits of soul, funk and rhythm & blues. These are the raw material of Jazzmaica – classic tunes by Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke or Ray Charles, with other outstanding artists such as The Winstons, The Jackson Sisters or Smokey Robinson.

The members of The Gramophone Allstars, directed by Genís Bou, include some of the most sought-after young jazz musicians in Catalonia, such as Judit Neddermann, Lluc Casares, Vic Moliner or Adrià Plana.