Jorge Cruz announces special concert: “I felt it was time to play with other musicians again”
Jorge Cruz has just announced a special concert at Teatro Aveirense, in Aveiro, on December 21st, in which he will be accompanied by numerous guests, who he considers representative of the dynamism and quality of Portuguese music currently being produced.
This show marks the return of the Aveiro singer-songwriter to concerts with other musicians; in recent years, and due to health problemsJorge Cruz has performed alone on stage.
To BLITZ, the former mentor of Diabo na Cruz, who this year launched the solo album “Transumante”explains: “After having performed four concerts in recent years, alone, in the format of viola and voice, I felt it was time to try playing with other musicians again and this opportunity to return to the noble hall of my hometown seemed- me the ideal time for this challenge.”
“Basically, this is an opportunity to show Aveiro not only my musical universe, but also a universe of artists with whom I identify and have affinities and, at the same time, share with these artists the universe where I grew up and this moment special reunion with the public of Aveiro”, he explains.
Jorge Cruz
B Fachada, Bia Maria, O Marta, MEMA., Mano and the bands Retimbrar and Siricaia are the guests at the concert, and deserve a performance by Jorge Cruz.
“The current moment of new Portuguese popular music, with so many quality projects, full of personality and creativity, was the motto for the invitations I made”, he states. “I’m a big fan of Retimbrar’s work, who released an excellent album a year or so ago, and when I saw them play live, I wanted to do something with them one day.”
Jorge Cruz
Rita Carmo
“Marta, despite her youth, is already a remarkable voice in new Portuguese popular music, with two great albums and a fervent musical mind. Bia Maria is preparing to release her first album in November, and makes vital music, with roots and modernity, and has a beautiful voice that sounds as much like now as it did 100 years ago. I am extremely happy to be able to sing and play with them”, she highlights.
For the December concert, Jorge Cruz also wanted to invite rising musicians, such as MEMA, “who moves in the area of electronic pop, but also uses Portuguese chordophones and trad/Celtic meshes in his songs, and Siricaia who come from a universe more rock, blues and folk and have experimented with very interesting approaches to Portuguese cultural tradition.”
The announcement of the concert, at Aveiro train station
Aveiro’s music is also represented by Mano, who Jorge Cruz describes as his “old brother from this life of music and adventure. We started playing together in 1992, in a high school band, then we did Superego and Fanfarra and we only stopped playing together when I moved to Lisbon. It will be special to meet him again at our city’s theater.”
With B Façada, 12 years later
As for the reunion with B Fachada, with whom he hasn’t played since 2012, when he left Diabo na Cruz, it will be another special moment. “Taking into account everything that has been happening with Portuguese popular music, since our first collaborations, and the fact that many of these new artists are also lovers of their music, it seemed like the ideal moment to rekindle the memory of the many stages that We’ve already stepped together and reinterpreted a couple of songs with which we made a splash across this country. It’s going to be really cool!”, promises Jorge Cruz.
Tickets for the December 21st concert are now on sale and cost 15 euros.
