The Moreira Project wins Cotai Jazz & Blues competition

Mozambican band The Moreira Project won last weekend’s Cotai Jazz & Blues Festival competition. They were followed by Old Style Sextet from the USA, the Northern Governors from Finland, and AfroJazz from Brazil, with the latter winning a special recognition award.
Led by Mozambican saxophonist Moreira Chongica, The Moreira Project is comprised of musicians from South and Southern Africa. According to the event’s organizers, their style mixes urban modern and funky African jazz, while their performances are known for being energetic, engaging and entertaining.
The festival awarded each of the four winning bands a share of the competition’s HKD550,000 cash prize pool.
Between Thursday and Sunday, judges Xu Kui (representative of the Cultural Affairs Bureau), Antonio Cabrita (jazz pianist), Michael Cloeren (founder and producer of the Pennsylvania Blues Festival) and Tomos Griffiths (creative director of Entertainment for Venetian Macau) watched each of the 12 finalists perform a 30-minute set. Six were shortlisted by the judges, who assessed their style, improvisation, technique, musicality, performance and audience response. Trio Ricardo Special (Hungary), AfroJazz (Brazil), The Moreira Project (Mozambique), the Northern Governors (Finland), Soulmate (India) and Old Style Sextet (USA) each played a 30-minute set on Sunday in the final round of the competition.
Ciaran  Carruthers, senior vice president and director of Venetian and Plaza Operations, Sands China, said in a statement that, “as they do in New Orleans, we really let the good times roll at this festival, and we hope everyone enjoyed the outstanding musical performances and exciting live entertainment throughout the weekend.”
The competition brought to Macau jazz musicians from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Brazil, India, Portugal, France, the Philippines, Mozambique, the USA, Finland and Hungary. The event was organized by The Venetian Macao with the support of the Cultural Affairs Bureau.  CP