Hot Club of Portugal

The Hot Clube de Portugal Jazz School, now Luiz Villas-Boas School, in honor of the founder of the Club, was created in 1979 by bassist Zé Eduardo. Since then it has been growing consistently, currently having around 360 students. The pedagogical direction is in charge of Gonçalo Marques. The School operates with 3 types of courses: complete, theoretical or practical, and free course, and the approach, in any of these, is very focused on the practical issues of how to play and study the language of jazz. Many of the best musicians in our country studied at HCP, and many of them are now professors at the School, representing most of the professional musicians on the jazz circuit. The Hot Clube de Portugal Jazz School is a founding member of the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ), an organization that has more than a hundred schools worldwide, including the prestigious New School University, Berklee College of Music, Conservatório of Paris, Royal Academy, etc. The Hot Clube de Portugal is an institution of Public Utility, and won the Almada Negreiros 2001 award, from the Ministry of Culture. In 2008, the year in which it celebrated its 60th anniversary, it received the Medal of Honor of the City from Lisbon City Council. It is currently chaired by Inês Cunha. The Escola de Jazz Luiz Villas-Boas / HCP has an agreement with the Irish school Newpark Music Center, where HCP students can complete their degree in just 2 years.