The Jazz Festival started out in a modest manner in the year 1992 as a project confined to the island of Gran Canaria and featuring musicians from these islands. It instantly began to grow and the uninterrupted yearly editions had venues on all the islands billing renowned international artists, bringing us now to its eighteenth edition.

During all this time it has always presented to the Canarian public the most representative of jazz musicians from the islands (Kike Perdomo, Polo Ortí, José Carlos Díaz, José Carlos Machado, Atcheré, Cristóbal Montesdeoca, The Sugar Hill Band, Esther Ovejero, Javier Infante, Carlos Sánchez, Charlie Moreno, David Quevedo, Fernando Barrios, Iván Rojas, Gran Canaria Big Band, AM Big Band, Ramón Díaz, Santi Roque, Luismo Valladares, René González, Thomas Figueroa, Alabama Dixieland Jazz Band, Larry Jean Louis, Jazzfriends…) and from the rest of the world. Every summer thousands of spectators get together to celebrate the jazz festivities that is now known as the “Festival Internacional Canarias Jazz & Mas Heineken”.

The Festival has support, apart from the outstanding contribution by Heineken, from various Canarian institutions. In a number of editions it has brought together the cinema and jazz, and it is tradition now to feature specialised seminars & Master Classes, given by the most important musicians participating at the festival.

Musicians and groups most representative of jazz from all the different eras and countries playing the most diverse jazz styles have left their mark in the Canaries by means of this Festival:

Greg Lyons, Hermeto Pascoal, Johnny Griffin, Tete Montoliu, Jesse Davis, Benny Green, Yellow Jackets, Bill Evans, Paquito D’Rivera, John McLaughlin, David Sánchez, Kurt Elling, Dewey Redman, Stanley Jordan, Joe Zawinul, John Patitucci, Charlie Haden, Pedro Iturralde, Phil Woods, Arturo Sandoval, Mike Stern, Danilo Pérez, Mark Whitfield, Ximo Tebar, Andreas Prittwitz, Joe Henderson, Larry Corell, Mike Manieri, Kenny Garret, Eric Marienthal, Spyro Gyra, Michael Brecker, Diana Krall, Marisa Monte, Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Tuck & Patti, Terence Blanchard, Scott Henderson, Carmen Lundy, Kevin Mahogany, Herbie Hancock, Chuck Loeb, Bela Fleck, Claudia Acuña, Joe Sample & Randy Crawford, David Sanborn, Eddi Palmieri, Rosa Passos, Tok Tok Tok, Gary Burton, Richard Bona, Nnenna Freelon, Eliane Elias, Gabriela Anders, Maceo Parker, Wayne Shorter, Brian Blade, Incognito, Randy Brecker, Eric Trufaz, Ivan Lins, Steps Ahead, Al Jarreau, Marcus Miller, Victor Bailey, Paolo Fresu, George Duke, Joe Lovano, Lee Ritenour, Carlinhos Brown, John Pizzarelli, Luis Salinas, Hiromi, The Rippingtons, Josh Dion, Christian Scott, Joe Magnarelli & Dave Santoro quintet, Charmine Mitchell, Chucho & Bebo Valdés…