Madrid Expats & Returned 🌎 MER

Join me for a drink and some expats/internationals networking first, and then enjoy some Swing tunes at Gran Teatro Pavon. Swing Machine Orchestra is the first string orchestra specialising in swing. Its approach is as original as it is vibrant: a carefree and authentic mix that brings together musicians and dancers from different corners of the world — Cuba, Honduras, Italy, Argentina and Spain — to revive the boundless energy of the 1930s. A happy idea that has become a unique stage experience. The orchestra has developed the technique to perform swing with string instruments, they enjoy playing this music and communicate wonderfully with their audience to create a large dance floor; a unique and unrepeatable celebration.

"Walking the Swing" is Swing Machine Orchestra's first show, with which it has performed more than 500 times since 2015 throughout Spain and even high up, literally high up, becoming the first orchestra to perform on a hot air balloon.

On this musical journey, Swing Machine Orchestra revisits the golden age of swing with arrangements of the legendary big bands of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Louis Prima, Artie Shaw and Chick Webb, as well as ragtime pieces by Scott Joplin and original compositions written especially for this unique ensemble, the only one of its kind in Europe.

An amazing incredible opportunity to see the first piano+IA concert at any Madrid International Jazz Festival!!!

Pianio+AI is a recent project by Marco Mezquida in which organic music dialogues with music created using artificial intelligence, through the collaboration of scientists and engineers Philippe Salembier and Josep Maria Comajuncosas. The adventure began with a commission from the Sónar Festival to the Menorcan pianist, with the collaboration of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the Catalonia College of Music. It is now premiering in Madrid at the Condeduque Auditorium as part of the Jazzamdrid'25 Festival, in what is proving to be a radical exercise in openness and creative experimentation.

The variety of musical stimuli and emotions that this man stirs up is complemented by his revisions of classical repertoires such as Ravel, Beethoven and Bach, now tackling this Piano + AI proposal with music generated by artificial intelligence developed by researchers at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). A complete pianist.

Marco Mezquida - piano
Philippe Salembier - engineer
Josep M Comajoncoses - engineer

Marlango's actress and singer Leonor Watling is back for Madrid Intl Jazz Festival!!!
And its ALMOST SOLD OUT!!!

She joins forces with American musician and composer Leo Sidran: ‘Leo & Leo’ represents a bond that has been slowly forged from the mutual admiration that both artists have felt for each other for a long time.
Watling discovered Leo Sidran as an admirer of his father, the writer, pianist and singer Ben Sidran, a musician who long ago won the affection and recognition of audiences in our country thanks to his regular visits: with him, there are still some spectacular stories to tell in the great circus of jazz. And Ben Sidran, at 82 years of age, continues to explain them with crystal clarity in his concerts.

Leo Sidran also has a music podcast, The Third Story, which is well worth listening to.

The duo has established a partnership of complicity and kindred spirits, through Leo Sidran's songs performed by Leonor, and with the evocative instrumental backdrop provided by the sophisticated The Groovy French Band. This quintet, with the wise contribution of Max Darmon on bass, Paul Sany on keyboards, and Romain Bouiges on drums, guarantees in each of its sessions a generous display of elegance and good taste, all adorned with a sound whose sensitive analogy with the touch of velvet is, believe it or not, hardly an exaggeration.

Leonor Watling – vocals
Leo Sidran – guitar
Max Darmon – bass
Paul Sany – keyboards
Romain Bouiges – drums