Festival 6 Cuerdas

29/11/2024 – CASA DEL CONDE ARGUAL, LOS LLANOS DE ARIDANE, LA PALMA (Tickets: Casa del Conde)

He was born in Tenerife in 1998 and from an early age he felt a great interest in music, taking his first steps with the typical instrument of the Canary Islands, the timple. At the age of seven he was already part of different folk groups and at the age of twelve he had a clear vocation, beginning his guitar studies at the Conservatorio Profesional de Tenerife and finishing his studies at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Tenerife in 2022. He has participated in the Maestros en Guitarra Orchestra and has taken part in various television programmes. In 2017 he won First Prize for timple in the II Memorial Miguel Ángel Negrín timple competition. He has won twice the First Prize for guitar at the International Guitar Competition of the ‘Fundación Canaria Blas Sánchez’ (Fuerteventura), and also the First Prize for timple. In 2018 he won First Prize at the Concurso de Jóvenes Guitarristas Náquera Sona (Valencia), taking him on a short tour of the Peninsula. In 2020 he was a finalist in the International Guitar Competition Gemona del Friuli (Italy) and in 2021 he was awarded in Iscart International Online Music Competition.
He has participated in the album ‘Aroba’ premiering the concert for timple and band in D minor by José Manuel Encinoso and in the album ‘Alisios’ by the Tenerife Guitar Quartet.

Martin Złotnicki began his journey as a self-taught guitarist before receiving formal training at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, Poland. His passion for the guitar led him to immerse himself in the world of flamenco, gaining experience through workshops and classes with masters such as Jerónimo Maya, Juan de Pilar, and Ruben Díaz. These experiences were further enriched by his travels across Andalusia, the heartland of flamenco.

As the founder of Vertical Trio, he has blended the soul of flamenco with the improvisational elements of jazz, creating a unique and compelling sound. This fusion is showcased in his two albums, “Don Quijote” and “Oración,”.

Martin Złotnicki’s musical journey is not confined to one geographical location – he has lived and performed in diverse cultural landscapes, including Poland, Germany, Estonia, France, Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands and India. These experiences have enriched his musical palette, allowing him to draw inspiration from a wide array of traditions, including Iberian, Indian, and Middle Eastern music.

Beyond performance, he is dedicated to the craft of guitar making, building his own guitars, continually experimenting to refine their sound.

At the core of his artistic vision is a quest for simplicity and honesty in music, always embracing the power and playfulness of various rhythmic landscapes. He strives to communicate a direct and unpolluted musical language that guides the listener on an emotional journey, leaving them moved and transformed.

German-born musician based in Tenerife who loves both the Canary Islands and the guitar, his main instrument. Playing various instruments from an early age, he has been a professional musician for some time now, and after many years playing with a variety of artists, he has decided to head up a project with original songs. His music is a mixture of the styles that excite him most, a fusion of jazz, rock, funk, manouche and latin.

AL Jazz Project (Alfonso Calvente Jazz Project) is an approach to traditional jazz from a modern point of view, fusing in his own compositions (and some standards) the influence of both current artists (Jonathan Kreisberg, Hiromi Uehara, Andy Timmons, Pat Metheny, Nick Johnston…) and ‘old school’ (Pat Martino, Wes Montgomery, Django Reinhardt…).

Alfonso Calvente is a Canarian guitarist by adoption, originally from Altea (Alicante), he studied both the Professional Degree and the Higher Degree of Music, specializing in Electric Guitar Performance, at the Conservatorio Profesional de Tenerife and the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Canarias respectively, learning from great figures of jazz in the Canary Islands as Yul Ballesteros, Kike Perdomo or Iván Rojas among others. With a base of influences such as Andy Timmons, John Scofield, Wes Montgomery, Django

Reinhardt or Jonathan Kreisberg, Alfonso Calvente is a guitarist with a background in Rock, Jazz and Fusion who actively participates in the Tenerife music scene, in projects such as Imazighen, his own project AL Jazz Project, or various collaborations with veteran and new artists.

The young guitarist and composer from La Palma offers us a quartet session where he tries to break dogmas by intertwining the urban and the avant-garde. Cantabile melodies, amalgam passages, jazz improvisations, breakbeat, Rap and more… They are mixed to give shape to his first project as a composer. The artist offers us a personal style that draws on influences from the impressionist jazz of the 60’s, such as Shorter and Trane, to contemporary avant-garde such as Tigran Hamasyan, Rafiq Bathia, Hiatus Kayote or Nirban.

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16/11/2024 – Casa del Vino de Tenerife, El Sauzal, Tenerife (Tickets at tickety.es)

Classical guitarist, composer, innovator of the 19-string harp guitar, James Kline is an artist who constantly renews and reinvents himself.

As a classical guitarist he studied in Spain on a full scholarship from the Spanish government. There he won a number of international competitions, including the Ramirez de Santiago de Compostela prize and the Tarrega Pize de Benicasim. He holds an ARCM diploma from the Royal College of Music in London and has performed in Eastern and Western Europe, as well as the United States and Mexico. He has gained recognition as a composer and was promoted as a special artist in music composition within the Marin California Arts Council.

James draws inspiration from a slightly more unusual life experience, which includes years working as a commercial fisherman, working as a wilderness guide, touring four continents, and living among the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico. An interest in renaissance and baroque music led him to design his own version of the eleven string bow guitar, an instrument that combines the best qualities of the lute and the guitar. The urge to broaden his horizons and devote more time to composing led him to meet the Celtic group Bardou with whom he performs regularly. He has again reinvented his instrument to become the world’s only guitar player to play the 19-string bowed harp, a combination of the lute, guitar and Celtic harp.

James Kline is a modern day troubadour, his performances reflect a wonderful diversity of life experience and musical charm and his point of contact often comes through in the telling of the story.