48th Voll-Damm Festival Internacional de Jazz de Barcelona: Antonio Lizana

The De Cajón! festival is back this year under the umbrella of the Barcelona International Jazz Festival with five sessions. The first features as its star the saxophonist and 'cantaor' Antonio Lizana who lets jazz improvisation carry him, but always guided by a flamenco inspiration.

The Antonio Lizana Group's intricate jazz-flamenco fusion, hypnotic and fascinating to hear, has made their second studio album, 'Quimeras del mar' (2015) a real musical jewel. It's made up of ten original tunes that transport you far from the traps that can be formed by style and genre labels. The jazz rhythms mix with those of flamenco; guitar and cajón banter with piano and percussion, the latter of which can be congos or drums, depending on the song. Lizana's sax is the big gun in the band, even bigger than his own voice, which he uses sparingly among the instrumental landscapes; it's no surprise that he's been playing the sax since he was just ten years old.

Among Lizana's collaborations are his current participation in Arturo O'Farrill's New York–based Afro-Latin-jazz orchestra, which won a Grammy for best Latin jazz instrumental album.