Orquestra Jazz de Leiria

Orquestra Jazz de Leiria (OJL), a project created by musician César Cardoso, emerged in February 2011 with the goal of creating a high-quality ensemble that would bring together musicians from the region dedicated to playing this style of music.

The repertoire is very varied and includes classics by Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Thad Jones, Charles Mingus, Glen Miller, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and contemporary composers such as Mário Laginha, Bob Brookmeyer, Maria Schneider, Claus Nymark, César Cardoso, Pedro Moreira, Tomás Pimentel, Bernardo Sassetti, Pedro Nobre, Bob Mintzer, Michael Abene, among others.

The collaborations with guest musicians have been very well received by the public. Previous concerts have featured Vânia Fernandes, David Fonseca, Maria João, Herman José, Luísa Sobral, Áurea, Tiago Bettencourt, Pedro Abrunhosa, Ana Bacalhau, Camané, Sara Tavares, António Zambujo, Jorge Palma, Simone de Oliveira, Miguel Araújo, Salvador Sobral, Carminho, Gisela João, Samuel Úria, Kurt Elling, Tatanka, Maria Schneider, Paulo de Carvalho, Jon Faddis and Fay Claassen, with arrangements by members of the orchestra.

The OJL's activity goes even further, regularly participating in other concerts of its own initiative, of a social nature and of other entities, such as the Solidarity Show for Pedrógão Grande in favor of the victims of the fires and the Gala "Carrot on the sidewalk", in favor of the João Silva cause.

The orchestra has participated in various events such as "Há música na cidade" (There's Music in the City), organized by the Jornal de Leiria newspaper, the "A Arte da Big Band" (The Art of the Big Band) festival held in Lisbon, the Iberian Biennial of Cultural Heritage (Valladolid, Spain), the MeaJazz Festival (Mealhada), the Batalha Jazz Festival, a concert at the Cine-Teatro Curvo Semedo (Montemor-o-Novo), at the Teatro Stephens (Marinha Grande), at the Fólio Festival (Óbidos), and participation in "Serralves em Festa" (Serralves in Festa) (Porto).
In 2021, the Orquestra Jazz de Leiria released its first album, celebrating 10 years of existence. The album "Dez" (a double album) features the participation of 14 different guests and was released by Sony Music. In 2026, it released its second album entitled "Bridges".

The artistic direction is in charge of César Cardoso.

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