The jam sessions are one of the defining features of Guimarães Jazz. Their improvisational nature reveals the more informal side of jazz, allowing the audience to listen in a setting that is more direct and closer to the musicians. This year, the jam sessions at the Café Concerto of CCVF and at Convívio will be led by the quintet of Italian pianist Tommaso Perazzo, a highly talented musician who made a strong impact when he performed at the festival for the first time last year, alongside the legendary bassist Buster Williams. Joining Perazzo will be a group of emerging musicians from the international jazz circuit, all of whom are instrumentalists of exceptional musical skill: Marcello Cardillo, who also performed in the same memorable concert with Buster Williams, on drums; the meteoric British trumpeter Alexandra Ridout; saxophonist Dylan Band, and finally, the young Gavin Gray on double-bass.