The Madeira Jazz Collective (MJC), was founded in January 2015. It arose from the desire of the Portuguese-Venezuelan trumpeter Alexandre Andrade to bring together Madeiran musicians in a project in which creativity, individual experiences, friendship, interaction and pro-activity are linked by the universal language of Jazz.

Inspired by Art Blakey’s “Jazz Messengers” or the “San Francisco Jazz Collective”, a rotation of musicians who identify with the philosophy and objectives of the project is planned for each year or season, thus being open to new talents and “promises”.

The group’s repertoire is mostly centred on originals. As a starting point, they have the themes composed by its members for the opening concerts of 2015, 2016 and 2017 editions of the Funchal Jazz Festival. The group also makes specific incursions, whenever necessary, into music from similar formations in the field of Jazz. In its first edition, the collective presented itself as a septet. The current line-up includes six members.