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The Canary Islands International Jazz Festival was in full swing this year kicking off with a series of great performances where the beach at Telde on Gran Canaria and Puerto de la Cruz on the north coast of Tenerife both played host for opening night concerts.

The 10 day jazz festival which spanned two weekends and included performances on the islands of La Palma, Fuerteventura , Tenerife , Gran Canaria and Lanzarote showcased a varied mix of jazz styles by local performers and international stars. The big names at this year's event included such names as The James Taylor Quartet, Mezzoforte from Iceland and the CTI Allstars. CTI are an interesting band being formed from an ever changing combination of top quality individual jazz musicians under the guidance of the legend Creed Taylor. Their performances on 11th July at Auditorio de Tenerife and 12th July at Auditorio Alfredo Kraus in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria were spectacular.

One unique feature of the Canaries Jazz Festival is that the programme also includes sessions in addition to the main concerts. There are regular jam sessions held at different venues where the performers and local musicians get together for ad-hoc performances. In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria the jam sessions take place after each concert at the sala Cuasquias music bar and in Tenerife, the cafe Quilombo in La Orotava is also one jam session venue. The main location on Tenerife after each concert is the La Puerta Verde Hall in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Another feature of the Festival is the Masterclass programme, which this year was given by the band members of The Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet. By registering for the classes, members of the public were able to learn from the musicians in the group who specialise in guitar, saxophone, contrabass and drums.

With a total of 22 concerts over 10 days across 5 islands the festival featured a packed schedule of international jazz stars that both locals and tourists visiting the Canary Islands could enjoy.