A fire, followed by a nasty flood, destroyed the Hot Clube de Portugal, a historical and cultural landmark in Lisbon and one of the oldest jazz venues in the world. The HCP was founded in 1948, during the Portuguese fascist dictatorship, to promote jazz and related new music, and it had made its home in a cellar in the centre of Lisbon since 1955.
Throughout the years, many renowned jazz artists (Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Max Roach, Pat Metheny, Craig Taborn, Maria João, Mário Laginha, Bernardo Sassetti, Carlos Bica, and many others) played and jammed here. At the Hot Clube, I witnessed some of the most amazing musical moments of my life and I have fond memories of the few times I had the privilege of playing there.
It was a second home for several generations of musicians and will be sorely missed.
* the Hot Clube de Portugal bar/concert room, back in 2006 – photo by Joaquim Mendes (Wikimedia Commons)
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Because of this unfortunate incident, the December 29th-30th concerts with Maria João’s OGRE project have been canceled.
The New Year’s Eve (December 31st) gig at Fábrica do Braço de Prata is still on.
