For a lover of latin music, London’s Latin Jazz Festival is always great news. On its second year, at Pizza Express Soho Jazz Club, the festival runs from 23 Sept – 27 Sept. I went to see Eliane Correa & En El Project.

The show opened with a piano-percussion duo featuring curator Alex Wilson on the piano and Venezuelan percussion Master Edwin Sanz which built up an amazing atmosphere leading to the sector act. I was already enchanted!

Half Argentinian, half Cuban – Eliane is a very talented musician and musical director. The En El Project is a result of Eliane’s collaboration with a team of brilliant musicians working in a studio in Havana for the last few years. This was the very first live performance.

It was 2 hours of beautiful cuban jazz, mixed with soul, sounds as well as Eliane’s interpretation of cuban classics with a jazzy twist. I could not get enough. The album is expected in late October and if you are into jazz you should definitely check them out.

I hope London’s Latin Jazz Festival grows stronger and longer!

And another thing…

I never understood the concept of having a full blown meal while artists are giving their best to perform (and this comes from a Greek where music and eating is usually an interwoven experience) unless it is a street fiesta or something else of a similar objective. At Pizza Express Jazz Club I was trying for the first few songs to focus on the music while having to hear people’s cutlery mastering pizza eating. Or that time at Boisdale  that I had to sit through the loudness of a city bankers group dinner while the focus was the beautiful beats of Brazilian artist Monica Vasconcelos.

Music and especially jazz is to be enjoyed with a fine glass of wine or scotch not lamb chops. Venues should really consider putting a time cap on the dinner timings so that everybody has a good experience. The diners, us, and the musicians.