Remembering Toni Belenguer

When in 2020 I received the sad news that Toni had left us, I thought of paying tribute to him, a tribute, by dedicating a concert to him as part of the Jazzing Festival, which I direct.

From Toni's collaborations with us in previous years came a large part of the repertoire that we would perform and that you can listen to on this CD. Themes that he had played with us and in which he showed his art and originality.

That was the reason why I invited Rita Payés (I can't get Started), Èlia Bastida (My Ideal), Andrea Motis (Samba em Preludio), Marc Martín (Softly as in a Morning Sunrise and Close your Eyes) and Joan Mar Sauqué (Motel and Polka Dots and Moonbeans).

I contacted Francisco "Blanco" Latino to see if we could do an original song and an arrangement by Toni and, from the proposals he made, we finally performed Densificación por Fuga (original) and Darn that Dream (arrangement).

The other 3 themes on the CD are arrangements by Joan Monné in which the trombones play a special part: Angel Eyes, Love Your Spell Is Everywhere and J.J. Johnson's original, Riviera.

I invited three prominent people in Toni's career to the concert: Perico Sambeat, Francisco "Blanco" Latino and Carlos Martín, three wonderful musicians who immediately accepted the invitation.