Soul, funk and R&B in Costa Adeje this weekend

Black Sound Costa Adeje returns to Plaza Salytien on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 September, bringing together four distinctive voices and the BSBand, led by musician and guitarist Sergio “DiEbony” Cebrián.

The festival celebrates the African roots and continuing evolution of genres including soul, funk, R&B and jazz, while exploring their place in contemporary cultural history. It is supported by the Culture Department of Adeje Town Hall.

The event takes place over two nights, with free entry and music starting at 21:00.

Music with deep roots

Black Sound is about considerably more than putting on a couple of evenings of live music. Soul, funk, R&B and jazz are part of a much bigger musical story, with roots in African musical traditions and influences from spirituals, gospel, blues and jazz. Over generations, these sounds developed into new forms, crossed borders and influenced countless other genres.

That history is part of what Black Sound aims to celebrate. The festival describes itself as a meeting point for soul, funk, R&B, jazz and the Motown legacy, with live performance at its centre. Recent coverage of the festival also places its music within the wider history of African and African-American music, from spirituals and blues through gospel, jazz, R&B, funk, soul and reggae.

The result is a festival that should appeal both to people who know their James Brown from their Stevie Wonder and those who simply know that they like music with a decent bass line.

Gwen Thomas brings African roots and gospel

Gwen Thomas is one of the international voices appearing at this year’s festival. His musical journey began in African churches, where gospel had a profound influence on his approach to music. His career subsequently developed across jazz, soul and funk, incorporating African rhythms and musical traditions from West and Central Africa.

Thomas has shared the stage with Stevie Wonder and performed in front of Quincy Jones. He has also been recognised as Best Jazz Artist of Africa at the AFRIMA awards. His background makes him a particularly appropriate artist for a festival concerned with the roots and evolution of black music. His sound brings together gospel, jazz, funk and African musical influences rather than treating them as isolated genres.

According to his biography, Thomas’s family background also spans several African countries, with roots in Gabon, Togo, Senegal and Mauritania. His career has taken him to stages across Africa, Asia and Europe.

Brequette: from Cape Town to the Canary Islands

Brequette was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and has been associated with the Canary Islands for many years. She first became widely known in Spain through La Voz in 2012, having already built musical experience in South Africa and subsequently working in Spain on a variety of shows and musical projects. Her musical interests include soul, jazz, R&B and pop. She went on to develop a career as a singer and songwriter, including a number of connections with the Eurovision world. She was a candidate to represent Spain at Eurovision in 2014 and later performed as a backing vocalist for Spain’s 2016 Eurovision entry.

The Black Sound website describes her as an established soul and R&B performer whose repertoire and style also draw on pop and jazz. Her recorded work includes songs such as “Más (Run)”, “Puzzle Together” and “No Enemy”.

Her appearance at Black Sound therefore brings another interesting thread to the festival: an artist born in South Africa who has developed much of her career in Spain and the Canary Islands.

Alex Dee and the funk connection

Alex Dee is closely associated with the funk and soul scene and has worked with Sergio Cebrián on several projects.

The two are members of M.I.5, an eight-piece band whose show, Secret Service of Funk, came to the Teatro Leal in La Laguna in June 2026. The performance concentrated on the rhythmic and dance-oriented side of soul and R&B, with Alex Dee among the vocalists and Cebrián on guitar. M.I.5 brings together three vocalists with a full rhythm section, and the La Laguna event was billed as a two-hour celebration of funk, soul and R&B.

That connection makes Alex Dee a natural fit for Black Sound, particularly with Cebrián also directing the festival’s BSBand.

Noemi Moncrief brings neo-soul and rock-soul

Completing the four-voice line-up is Málaga-born singer Noemi Moncrief. Her repertoire covers soul, neo-soul, rock-soul, funk and other styles of black music. Her inclusion adds another contemporary strand to a programme that moves between traditional influences and newer interpretations of soul and R&B.

The combination of artists means that Black Sound is not restricted to one particular interpretation of soul or funk. Instead, the programme brings together performers with different backgrounds and musical influences under the same broad umbrella.

Sergio “DiEbony” Cebrián and the BSBand

Holding the whole thing together will be the BSBand, led by guitarist Sergio “DiEbony” Cebrián. Cebrián has decades of experience as a musician, performer, director and educator and is closely associated with groove and funk in Spain. His previous projects include Remembering Prince and O Mr Dynamite – James Brown Experience, while his work with M.I.5 has brought him together with Alex Dee and other musicians from the funk and soul scene.

Cebrián has also given funk masterclasses in both the Canary Islands and Barcelona, bringing an educational element to his work alongside his performing career.

For Black Sound, the BSBand acts as the musical backbone of the festival, providing the live instrumentation behind the featured singers. And that is worth plugging as a major plus. Soul and funk are particularly well suited to a live setting. The rhythm section, vocals, guitar, keyboards and percussion all have to work together, and the interaction between musicians is a large part of what gives the music its characteristic groove.

A celebration rather than just a concert in Costa Adeje this weekend

Black Sound’s organisers are keen to position the festival as a celebration of the cultural history behind the music as well as an opportunity to hear it performed live. That history is enormous. Musical traditions originating in African communities and subsequently developing through the experiences of generations of musicians have influenced popular music around the world.

Gospel, blues and jazz helped create the musical vocabulary from which soul and R&B emerged. Funk subsequently placed rhythm and groove firmly at the heart of the music, while artists and labels associated with Motown helped take soul to international audiences. Those influences did not stop there. They continue to appear in contemporary R&B, neo-soul, hip-hop, funk, Afrobeat and many other forms of popular music.

Black Sound takes that long musical journey and brings it together in a couple of evenings in Costa Adeje. The festival describes music as a universal language capable of connecting cultures, generations and people.

Two free nights in Costa Adeje

For anyone in the south of Tenerife this weekend, there is also a fairly straightforward reason to put Black Sound on the calendar: it is free!

The festival takes place at Plaza Salytien in Costa Adeje on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 September, with the concerts scheduled for 21:00. The Ayuntamiento de Adeje currently lists Black Sound in its official cultural agenda for both dates.

There is no need to travel into Santa Cruz or La Laguna for a substantial evening of live soul, funk and R&B. Costa Adeje gets its own two-night musical outing. And with free admission, it is also the sort of event where you can wander along, listen for a while and decide whether the groove has got you. There is a reasonable chance it will.

Black Sound Costa Adeje 2026: what you need to know

What: Black Sound Costa Adeje 2026
When: Friday 25 and Saturday 26 September 2026
Where: Plaza Salytien, Costa Adeje, Tenerife
Time: 21:00
Admission: Free
Artists: Brequette, Gwen Thomas, Alex Dee and Noemi Moncrief
Band: BSBand, led by Sergio “DiEbony” Cebrián

Black Sound Costa Adeje offers two evenings of live music rooted in a tradition that has travelled from African musical heritage through gospel, blues and jazz to soul, funk and contemporary R&B.

So, if you are in Costa Adeje this weekend and fancy something with a little more groove than the average resort soundtrack, Plaza Salytien could be the place to head.

And if you come home from partying in Costa Adeje this weekend, loudly blasting your fave top tunes afterwards, Spain Buddy accepts no responsibility whatsoever.