The fifth year of the international jazz festival JAZZFESTBRNO will take place in Brno between 21 and 25 April, 2006. Two opening concerts of the event will be hosted by the recently reconstructed Semilasso music hall, the Sunday music feast is scheduled to the new Musical scene of the City Theater Brno, Monday night will present a performance in a bit more chamber environment of the drama hall of the City Theater and the event will close up in the Fléda club on Tuesday.
The festival begins again with a fine intro, one that is sure to be striking. Guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel is often considered as a musician for the 21st century. His compositional inventiveness and improvisational creativity ranks him not only to the top of today´s guitar playing, but the music as a whole. The all star line-up, including Mark Turner and Jeff Ballard, will accopany the leader during his whole European tour with his new album Deep Song. Rosenwinkel´s performance on Friday is going to be his exclusive premier in the Czech Republic. He will be therefore invited to a great society of jazzmen (including Nnenna Freelon, Diane Schuur, Take 6 and many others), featured to the Czech audience the first time by the JAZZFESTBRNO. Slovenian saxophonist and a student of Joe Lovano, Jure Pukl, together with the Ondrej Krajòák Trio will make sure that the evening, which will be topped up by a traditional jamsession, is succesfully kicked off.
The Saturday concert promises a mainstream bacchanalia. Miriam Bayle Band, rarely competitive representative of Czechoslovak jazz vocals, will take care of the first course. The main course will be served by the swinging tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton from the USA. His tenor battle with the Polish phenom Piotr Cieslikowski will be seconded by the Nothing But Swing Trio. This combination will definitely please a wide range of jazz buffs as well as newcomers.
The awaited Sunday festival evening in the most up-to-date venue in Brno, the City Theater Brno, will host the great 4TET with Jiøí Korn, a capella qurtet, which boast not only a perfect music craft, but showmanship and wit as well. Also the French jazz diva Anne Ducros, a pearl of the European vocals on tour with her latest album “PIANO, piano,” will please the audience with her velvety voice. The last third of the musically abundant evening will feature the vigorous Prague Big Band under the baton of Milan Svoboda, with the most competent guest, the legendary pianist Karel Rù¾ièka. The orchestra will celebrate a 30th anniversary and his leader prepared a completely new program for a memorable jazz night.
Both performers featured on Monday night, Czechoslovak Vertigo Quintet and Israeli-American Avishai Cohen Trio represent a carefully and delightfully blended fusion of jazz and their own domestic cultures. Both ensembles have visited Brno in the past and certainly have made a considerable impression on the listeners. The Vertigo Quintet is a new and progressive export item of the Czech jazz scene, gaining success and recognition on the stages of numerous foreign festivals and clubs. The brilliant bassist Avishai Cohen is not only a world class virtuoso, but also a charismatic entertainer, who spreads positive energy all around.
The final day and a sympathetic Tuesday´s festival coda will (after a sophisticated opening by American saxophonist´s Michael Marcus Quartet with trumpeter Ted Daniel and a great and progressive rhythm section) let the French electro jazz group Wise shine. Their flawless groove, electronic effects and a bold stratospheric trupet will bring the audience to the boil at the Fléda club.
The audience can also enjoy late night jam sessions and a masterclass with Kurt Rosenwinkel as well. You can find more info about the festival at www.jazzfestbrno.cz.