In&Out Jazz Magazine: Gracias, Luis, por recibirnos en tu espacio, en esta nueva etapa del Altxerri. Lo primero que quería preguntarte —quizá por desconocimiento mío— es: ¿cuántos años ha estado activo el Altxerri, más allá de la gestión que llevas tú ahora?

Luis Cortés: El Altxerri comenzó su andadura en 1983. Finalizó su primera etapa el 30 de diciembre de 2023. Estuvo cerrado durante un año y medio, casi un año y siete meses, hasta que lo cogimos nosotros en marzo. Adquirimos la propiedad del club y, desde entonces, hemos estado unos meses acondicionándolo y dándole un aire un poco diferente. Pero nuestra obsesión siempre fue mantener su esencia. Queríamos que todos los que han estado en el Altxerri, quienes han disfrutado de sus conciertos y de la música en directo durante los últimos 40 años, al volver lo reconocieran como propio. Que siguiera siendo su Altxerri de toda la vida.

¿Cómo se recibió la noticia de que el Altxerri volvía a abrir después de ese año y medio de cierre? ¿Qué percepción has tenido?

Impresionante. La verdad es que es una de las cosas que más satisfacción me ha dado. Cuando lo comentamos, sobre todo entre gente del sector musical, todo el mundo decía: Es la mejor noticia del año, me ha hecho feliz. Nos dimos cuenta de que habíamos aportado felicidad a nuestra comunidad. Muchos músicos se sentían huérfanos. Músicos de jazz, de blues… no tenían un espacio donde crecer, donde enfrentarse al público, donde evolucionar musicalmente. Y el hecho de que reabriéramos, de que volviéramos a renacer, fue para ellos la noticia. La acogida ha sido tremenda.

Hay algo que me sorprende. Estamos en Donostia, justo en el contexto del 60 aniversario del Jazzaldia, y parece que locales como el Altxerri no reciben el reconocimiento que merecen por parte de la ciudad. El Altxerri que yo conozco es uno de los pocos espacios que están abiertos en esta zona. ¿Hay algún otro club similar?

No, como club de jazz no hay ningún otro. San Sebastián ha vivido una etapa en la que la música en directo tuvo dificultades. En muchos casos, por problemas de convivencia con los vecinos, hubo un cierre de filas, restricciones para los locales que programaban música en directo. Pero creo que las instituciones, como los ayuntamientos, se han dado cuenta de que la ciudad necesita ser reactivada. Y ahora, en esta nueva etapa, nos están apoyando fuertemente para que podamos programar música en directo todas las noches.

También te quería preguntar por Musikene. En Donostia tenemos una de las escuelas más importantes de música. ¿Habéis establecido algún tipo de colaboración con ellos?

Sí, tenemos un convenio de colaboración. Todos los miércoles los estudiantes organizan aquí sus conciertos. Tienen la posibilidad de enfrentarse al público, de crecer musicalmente, de montar jams. Y los martes, los profesores.
Una de las condiciones que tiene Musikene para contratar docentes es que sean músicos en activo, así que para ellos también es interesante contar con una sala como el Altxerri donde puedan mostrarse.
Casi todos los profesores son de fuera de Euskadi —Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Alicante…— y muchos de ellos solo están aquí 48 horas: dan clase y se vuelven. Entonces, aprovechan para tocar con su banda también.

Y en cuanto a la programación, ¿te encargas tú directamente o tenéis a alguien específico para eso?

Tenemos un equipo. Está Germán, que anda por aquí, estoy yo y también una persona en Bilbao, que es el hijo de Tato —quizá lo conozcáis—. Tato lleva más de 30 años programando jazz en Bilbao semanalmente, y ahora su hijo colabora con nosotros.
Así, bandas que tocan un miércoles o jueves en Bilbao pueden tocar aquí el día anterior o el día siguiente. Lo mismo con otros clubes como el Jamboree en Barcelona, o algunos de Bayona. La idea es colaborar con clubes que estén a una hora o una hora y media de avión.

¿Está previsto entonces que el Altxerri se convierta en una parada más en el circuito de músicos que giran entre Barcelona, Galicia, Madrid, París…?

Exacto. San Sebastián está en un punto intermedio entre París y Madrid, entre Barcelona y Galicia. Y justo en la frontera con Francia, donde hay una cultura de jazz mucho más extendida que aquí. Hay más clubes activos y más público joven
Me sorprende ver en Burdeos clubes de jazz llenos de veinteañeros, y eso me encanta, porque aquí la media de edad suele ser un poco más alta.

¿Cuáles son vuestras perspectivas para el futuro? ¿Uno, dos años? ¿Cómo lo ves?

Nuestra meta es que el Altxerri sea el club de jazz de referencia a nivel estatal. Es una meta ambiciosa, lo sabemos, y somos conscientes de las dificultades. Pero creo que hemos llegado en un buen momento para la ciudad.
Después de unos años de restricciones a la música en directo, ahora hay una ola positiva, de apoyo a iniciativas como la nuestra. No pretendemos hacernos ricos con esto —bastante tenemos con no arruinarnos—. Es un proyecto romántico, un tributo a la ciudad.
Una ciudad que tiene el segundo festival de jazz más antiguo de Europa no puede conformarse con una sola semana de jazz al año. Queremos que haya jazz 365 días, que forme parte del pulso musical de Donostia.

Pues, por mi parte, no quiero alargar más la entrevista. Creo que hemos hablado de lo más importante. Muchas gracias, Luis, y mucho éxito en esta nueva etapa del Altxerri.

Gracias a vosotros. Un placer.

In&OutJazz: Tell me about the experience you had on this short European tour, passing through England, Spain and France.

Joabe Reis: Wow, man. It was amazing! In 2024 it was already really cool, but this year, I think the work took on a different dimension, and we got better feedback, especially from the public. A lot of people in Europe are getting to know my sound. So, it’s a nice surprise. It’s different. The biggest surprise was in London, where a lot of people were talking about the albums and that they like listening to me. And that’s not counting the venues… Ronnie Scott was a place that sold out, then the Jamboree in Barcelona, and in Paris, where we had two sold-out sets (La Châtaigneraie and 38Riv Jazz Club). It was very gratifying.

But weren’t you expecting this repercussion?

My songs have been played abroad. I also receive a lot of messages from people. But I was already in London when, two days before the performance, I received the news that the tickets were sold out. I didn’t imagine it would sell out at the first show. The others followed the same pattern. I think the show that had a smaller audience, with a half-full house, was the one in Madrid. But Madrid has always been very difficult. This is my second time playing there, and I had that impression. And talking to the local musicians, we were convinced. But I understand that my ( Brazilian ) jazz is reaching Europe positively. I believe the trend is only going to grow.

On the single “Drive Slow, ” you invited Theo Crocker to participate. How did this connection with an artist who follows a very similar path to yours, which is to combine jazz with elements of rap and hip hop, come about?

Well, Theo has been very well spoken of internationally, but especially in his home country (the United States). He has been filling a space left by Roy Hargrove since his passing (in 2018), and at the same time, other prominent trumpeters who play this fusion wave, more of jazz, and mixed with hip-hop, more modern, which is what Christian Scott was doing… there was a strategic change in the direction of Christian’s career in recent years, which led him to change his name (to Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah ) and even his show has changed too. So, there was a gap left by Christian Scott in the last four or five years … not a gap, because He’s still active, but this change in career direction has left him in the modern jazz trumpeter’s shoes. In my view, no trumpeter has embraced the same position as Scott and Roy. Theo Crocker is a promising artist in this global space, and I see him gaining enormous prominence and playing festivals all over the world. Having him on my next album, starting with this first single, is incredibly important.

Besides him, you also bring Zudizilla , who brings this rap cadence. Since you’ve already done this with Kivitz and Síntese, I wanted to know if this new album will have this connection between jazz and hip-hop as a central aesthetic?

Yes. It will feature two other rappers, including Zudizilla , as well as two female singers and songwriters. This album will have 11 tracks, five of which will feature MCs and singers. On my first album, “Crew In Church” (2020), I featured rapper Kivitz , and then came singles with Síntese, “I Just Wanna Breathe”, singer Paula Lima, “Homem Pássaro”, and a few other artists. My music has always had a connection to this vocal universe, right? Going along with it has always been a very important combination for me to communicate with other audiences, bringing instrumental music to connect with others who, in a way, aren’t used to listening to an entire instrumental album. So, my strategic connection, besides being musically important, also has the goal of reaching audiences from other places to discover my sound. “Drive Slow ” is a 50/50 song because it starts completely instrumental and has a rap moment where we distance ourselves, the trombone leaves the scene, and then returns with improvisation. This is something I really enjoy exploring.

You’ve also managed to break out of the bubble and represent jazz at major Brazilian festivals like Rock in Rio and The Town… and back in Europe, jazz in England, especially London, is very strong and gaining worldwide recognition. We’re talking about Crocker Scott, and London jazz musicians are taking this approach of combining jazz with rap, with a more street-oriented feel. Have you noticed that too?

I love everything music-related in England, not just London. Several artists I’ve followed from there for a long time, perhaps speaking of instrumental music, the biggest highlight right now is Yussef Dayes , whom I had the joy of meeting in person in New York two years ago… he’s a super generous person, and his music has also reached very important spaces. And England has always had this power to export music, both pop and instrumental. London has always had this power to export music in general. And really playing at the main jazz venue there, which was Ronnie Scott’s, sold out, and having so many important people there in the audience, like Lianne La Havas, a dear, was a very special achievement for me. I’d even say they’re completely different places, but I’ve played at very important festivals, like Rock in Rio, but really the biggest thrill I had was going into Ronnie Scott’s to play a show to a packed house, because of the importance of the venue’s history. Simply put, the biggest names in world jazz have played there, all of them. You walk around and there are photos of these names on the walls. There’s one of my ultimate trumpet idol, which I can say is Roy Hargrove . So, getting up on that stage makes you feel like, wow, what now? The first time I performed in London, it was two shows in much smaller venues, and coming back the second time with this strength was really cool. I believe that in the coming years we’ll increasingly increase this presence because I’ve been preparing this album for almost a year, which will have many good surprises. I’m allowing myself to go into this more contemporary side, bringing a lot of electronics, timbres, synths … a lot of crazy things to this jazz scene. Speaking of Brazilian music, it’s something that not all instrumental artists have dared to do these combinations. I also understand that sometimes we don’t have the space to test these things. And since I already have a lot going on, with some shows planned in important venues, I have the opportunity to test for large audiences whether certain things work or not. I compose and take them to the streets. I test compositions and arrangements. After all that, I record. At Rock in Rio, I played one of the songs that will be on this album. So, I test things out, change the arrangements, combine things, and then when I get to the right place, I go to the studio to record. It’s a reverse process; I don’t record first and then perform. The song will evolve on the road, so I usually let it evolve.

But when she goes to the studio to record, she has already gone through several transformations too…

Yes, many. Usually, I arrive at the studio with the song already knowing exactly where it’s going, what progression I want throughout the song, and who’s a suitable soloist for that track. Only by testing can we understand the best way to reach the audience for that song.

In addition to performing a series of shows and being in the process of producing the album, you are also the curator of Jazz na Serra, a Brazilian jazz festival outside the big city circuit.

First of all, I was delighted when Pedro Pimenta invited me to be a curator. Pedro is very important to Brazilian culture for encouraging so many music projects throughout Brazil and supporting so many important causes, especially instrumental ones. Curating is something I love. I already do it on projects like Dejavu. Sessions , a project I curate as if it were a monthly project, because bringing together 11 musicians, 11 artists, renowned musicians, isn’t a simple process. I have to make it work, make sense. Stopping and considering who the standout musicians are who will be important in the lineup is a huge responsibility. I thought about musicians who have significant work and who connect with each other. So, I invited Hamilton de Holanda, Thiago Espírito Santo, Ellen Oléria, Vanessa Moreno, Salomão Soares and Sintia Piccin, Trio Corrente… Hamilton himself already has a distinguished international career. These are current prominent Brazilian instrumental artists … Grammy winners like Hamilton and Trio Corrente. I think the importance of having these artists in the third edition of Jazz na Serra is a significant validation for the festival. It’s also very important for me to be part of this curatorship because it showcases my curatorial side a little more. I love being in this position because I think it’s important to have jazz festivals in Brazil, and for curators to focus on these artists. To promote instrumental music in places that are off the beaten track. Santo Antônio do Pinhal, in the interior of São Paulo, is a place where, for the local population to see a jazz show of this magnitude, they’ll have to travel to São Paulo or to some festival happening elsewhere in Brazil. So, it also gives the local population access to this type of show, and at the same time, you foster so many positive things for that location. So many people are coming from other places to that city. So, the festival in Serra will certainly be, in a while, in the next few years, I’m sure, an important festival nationally, because those of us who are involved in production and curation at this festival share this concern. It’s a jazz festival where jazz truly takes priority in the musical aspect.

A question I’ve been asking several jazz musicians and jazz enthusiasts. It came up a while back at a discussion panel on the subject, but we couldn’t reach a conclusion. In your view, what is jazz?

That’s a good question … but I think about it a lot. Jazz for me is freedom, because my sound, my original project, is a jazz sound. But it’s not traditional jazz, swing, bebop , or hardbop . Jazz is freedom of expression through creation. For example, my melodies are heavily influenced by funk, neo-soul and hip-hop, but from the moment we move on to improvisation, that’s when I classify my music as jazz. So, this creative freedom of improvisation is also jazz. And the real-time creation of melodies, of compositions—everything that emerges on stage is jazz. So, for me, jazz is creative freedom, melodic freedom, creative freedom in improvisation, creative freedom in composition. So, everything that isn’t, that strays from the agreed-upon, is jazz. Living in an improvised way is also making jazz. So, jazz for me is all of this.