When in 2000 the artists of the first edition of the Funchal Jazz Festival took the stage, mounted at Quinta Magnólia, there were voices that criticised the initiative of the Municipality of Funchal, for being connoted with elites, because it is not popular music, or for being dedicated to a niche. But from the first day the public joined. Until the place had to be bigger and the main stage moved to Santa Catarina Park.
By completing 25 years of consecutive annual editions, the Funchal Jazz Festival grew and consolidated itself. It is one of the uninterrupted reference events in Madeira's cultural calendar and has been able to conquer an audience, which silences the critical voices that it n a event for a small group.
Local enthusiasts, foreign residents and visitors raise the current audience of the festival to the house of thousands. And this has not only to do with the fact that it is a unique moment in the year. It is also due to the choice of artists, among the best in the world at all times.
First with the late Avelino Tavares and then with the current artistic director, Paulo Barbosa, the choice of artists has been eclectic, satisfying several trends and managing to bring artists in good career phases, which make this an international level festival.
Another achievement, this more recent one, has to do with the increase in the number of days and the diversification of stages. Funchal Jazz now lasts a week, with the first days dedicated to young local talents, who can shine on the stage of the Funchal Municipal Garden. The municipality's bet is, therefore, won, and the event, a success.
Jazz has a tradition in Madeira. This style of music arrived on the island in the 1920s, to satisfy tourist demand and since then, it has remained. It inspired the nights of Madeira in the mid-twentieth century and has given successful interpreters, who learn at the Madeira Conservatory and then made a career abroad.
For all this, jazz for Madeirans is not a strange place. And it can be enjoyed, throughout the year, in some bars and small events, such as on Wednesdays at Three House, one of the hottest rooftops in the city of Funchal.
