Music groups from twelve countries (Hungary, Slovakia, Portugal, Denmark, Spain, Austria, Holland, Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Luxembourg and Belgium - in order of appearance), are present this year.Greece will be represented by Nicolas Anadolis Trio, chosen by the three-member committee set up for this purpose, formed by George Kontrafouris (professor at the Ionian University and famous jazzman), George Haronitis (editor of the magazine Jazz & Jazz) and George Hatzinasios (famous composer).
Tuesday 24/5
21.00 City of Athens Big Band with Veronica Mortensen
Traditionally, the official opening — and closing — of the Festival has been kicked off by one of the City of Athens’ four ensembles — the Big Band, under the direction of the hugely experienced pianist and conductor Yiannis Terezakis. The Big Band’s repertoire consists of unique pieces (compositions and orchestrations) from classical and modern jazz. The composers featured in the Big Band’s programme belong to the pantheon of jazz greats and it is a delight to hear such music being expertly played by a large orchestra comprised of our very own musicians. The orchestra has performed in all the large concert halls and music and arts festivals of Athens, Thessaloniki and the regions, and collaborates with top soloists, such as the American trumpeter Bobby Shew…
22.00 GoJam Group
The GoJam Group was formed in 2002 by Yiorgos Tsiatsoulis and Petros Varthakouris. Their repertoire was then comprised mainly of jazz covers as well as their own versions of pieces for accordion and bandoneon by Galliano, Piazzola, etc. In 2004 Lefteris Chavoutsas and Yiannis Angelopoulos joined the Group and it evolved into GoJam, developing an original repertoire comprised of original compositions by each member. Their desire for direct artistic expression has shaped the band’s unique, complex sounds. The music that arises is a mixture of elements from Greek musical tradition and the traditions of other countries as well as of the individual influences, listening and musical experiences of the group’s members.
23.00 Fanfara Tirana
A band that faithfully expresses the traditional music of Albania and the broader region with an exceptional quality. Fanfara Tirana is comprised of virtuoso musicians and their music is described as ethnic jazz. The band has won honours and brilliant reviews not only in Albania but in many countries throughout the world and has built up an enthusiastic fan base throughout the whole of Europe. The Greek public first encountered this wonderful band at the Half Note Jazz Club, where they received a unanimously enthusiastic welcome, thrilling the audience with their rhythms.
Fanfara Tirana is the leading wind orchestra of Albania, with a completely new and impressive approach to the country’s traditional music, providing a role model for other Balkan wind orchestras. Their melodies are based on the clarinet, sax alto, trumpet and tenor saxophone, expressing their own improvisational style.
Wednesday 25/5
21.00 - Hybrid Trio + 1 - Hungary
Varga Gergely: saxophone, Tálas Ãron: keyboards, CsÃzi László: drums, and featuring Tóth István on guitar
Hybrid Trio was founded in late 2008 when the band members were still students at the Miskolc Conservatory. The Trio are now students in the Jazz Department of the Academy of Music, where they met guitarist István Tóth Jr, who also joined the group. The band’s music is characterised by the contemporary sounds of modern jazz and jazz fusion. Through their music Hybrid Trio attempt to break out of traditional jazz boundaries, creating a new and fresh sound environment.
22.00 - KatarÃna KoÅ¡Äová & The Illusions Trio - Slovakia]
Singer KatarÃna KoÅ¡Äová’s career took off in 2005 when she won the first Super Idol contest in Slovakia. Yet her approach to music is quite different from what one might expect from the winner of a television talent show. Her aim is always to produce quality music, and her style incorporates elements from jazz, folk, chanson, etc. KatarÃna writes her own lyrics in Slovakian, drawing on the folk traditions of her country. Alongside her are the Illusions Trio, a band that flirts at the borders of jazz, rock and funk. The band was formed in 2008 by Andrej Karlik on guitar and Michal Fedor on drums, two young musicians who have already made their name on the Slovakian scene. The Illusions Trio are rounded off by pianist Jozef Cingel and the band won honours at the well-known Bratislava Jazz Days competition in 2010.
23.00 - Bernardo Sassetti Trio - Portugal
Bernardo Sassetti: piano, Carlos Barretto: bass, Alexandre Frazão: drums
Pianist Bernardo Sassetti is undoubtedly one of the most important jazzmen in Portugal today. Since the 1980s onwards he has stamped his own profound artistic personality on his country’s jazz scene, as a musician with a powerful and permanent creative and professional relationship with jazz. The same goes for his Trio, one of the longest-serving and consistent jazz groups of Portugal. The three musicians performed together for over 14 years before they decided to form the Trio. The Trio’s music is distinguished for the quality of its compositions and the freshness of its improvisation — always leaving room for surprises…
Thursday 26/5
21.00 - Ibrahim Electric - Denmark
Stefan Pasborg: drums, Jeppe Tuxen: Hammond B-3, Niclas Knudsen: guitar
Ibrahim Electric have emerged over the past few years as one of the most popular European jazz groups. Its members — in addition to their popularity as a band — have already made names for themselves as independent figures on the Danish jazz scene on their respective instruments. Although they originate from different musical worlds, together these three musicians create an “inspired mixture” in which no style is forbidden! Guitarist Niclas Knudsen comes mainly from the contemporary jazz scene, although his origins and inspiration have their roots in Afro-Cuban music and blues. Organist Jeppe Tuxen is located within the traditions of soul, rock and the organ-funk of the sixties. Drummer Stefan Pasborg has worked with contemporary jazzmen such as Tomasz Stanko and Marc Ducret, but he is also clearly influenced by the drums of New Orleans and Africa. Together, these three create a musical energy reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane and others, offering the listener a fantastic live show.
22.00 - Nono Garcia & Tito Alcedo - Spain
Tito Alcedo and Nono Garcia started playing guitar as children in Barbate, a sun-drenched village outside Cádiz in Andalusia, where flamenco was born. The duo’s music has absorbed many influences: from the so-called late ‘70s rock of Andalusia to the jazz of Django Reinhardt and Brazilian music. The result is a mixture, with the marked character of these two talented musicians. Nono and Tito’s consistency, identity and virtuosity creates a listening experience on two guitars, a unique music soaked in jazz and world folk music influences, yet with the profound mark of the Spanish south, wild and creative Cádiz, a city washed by two seas, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
23.00 - Michaela Rabitsch & Robert Pawlik - Austria
Michaela Rabitsch is a singer and composer and the only top female jazz trumpeter in Austria. The American magazine Jazzscene has even described her as “a modern-day female Chet Baker”. Michaela and her partner, the composer and formidable guitarist Robert Pawlik, provide a truly pleasurable musical offering, with a repertoire that includes melodies from jazz, pop and Latin. Robert’s guitar can create a pure musical environment into which is diffused the feeling, expressive voice and sensitive interpretation of Michaela on trumpet. Their original, atmospheric compositions are unique and charming. This wonderful jazz duo from Vienna breaks ground with their unplugged interpretations and impresses with their moving and pleasurable pieces. Michaela Rabitsch and Robert Pawlik are a duo that sits in for a whole group — Austria’s answer to Tuck & Patti.
Friday 27/5
21.00 - Pantelis Stoikos & Trio Balkano
Pantelis Stoikos is one of the most creative trumpeters in the contemporary Balkan world jazz scene. He first became involved with music in 1990 and in 1994 had his first trumpet lessons alongside learning the piano. He continued his studies at the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki and won distinctions in many areas of music. He focuses on the sounds of his region, Macedonia, expanding this music with jazz and classical music styles. Since 1997 he has collaborated with the Florina Brass Band and a large number of groups and artists from traditional music, jazz, improvisation, contemporary music, etc. The Trio Balkano, with Lakis Tzimkas on bass and Alexandros Papadopoulos on drums emerged from his duo Improvisation in Balkan Jazz. The band is pushing back the boundaries of tradition and entering the realm of contemporary jazz with its own identity.
22.00 - Marzio Scholten Quartet- The Netherlands
Marzio Scholten: guitar, Yaniv Nachum: saxophone, Stefan Lievestro: bass, Mark Schilders: drums. Guitarist Marzio Scholten is considered one of the most talented and promising jazzmen on the contemporary European scene — both as a guitarist and as a composer. His compositions are characterised by a beautiful sense of melody combined with a contemporary approach to sound and rhythm. Improvisation has an important place in his music — as does the method of mixing contemporary jazz with elements of other musical genres. From this perspective, Scholten’s music can be described as contemporary creative jazz or, more accurately, simply as contemporary music: with depth and intensity and full of colour. The Marzio Scholten Quartet was formed in 2003 and is Marzio’s longest-lasting active band. Although the band has undergone many changes to its line-up, Marzio Scholten remains at the core of its music, and it is with this band that he performs at concerts and international festivals.
23.00 - Nikos Anadolis Trio - Greece
Half a year ago Nikos Anadolis was the triumphant winner of the Martial Solal International Jazz Piano competition, held every four years in Paris. This major distinction paved the way for appearances all over the world and came to crown a fine career that Nikos had embarked upon at the age of four. This is when he began to improvise on the piano, also taking lessons in classical piano eighteen months later. His career has been filled with classes and studies, the high point coming when he was made a Presidential Scholar at Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2008, where he continues his studies with great distinction. The talented Nikos Anadolis composes music and makes appearances at famous jazz clubs (such as the Blue Note in New York) and festivals. With his Trio, comprised of Dimitris Gouberitsis (double bass) and Sotiris Anadolis — the old A Priori! — Nikos Anadolis will represent Greece at the 2011 European Jazz Festival.
Saturday 28/5
21.00 - Martha Mavroidi Trio
Martha Mavroidi, a young singer whom we met through her work with Heimerinoi Kolymvites and Savina Yannatou, presents music influenced by the traditions of the Balkans. Martha has studied musicology in Athens, ethnomusicology in Britain and America and contemporary music in the Netherlands. She has studied saz with Periklis Papapetropoulos, Byzantine music with Yiannis Arvanitis, Bulgarian song with Tzvetanka Varimezova and vocals with Giorgos Samartzis. She has also collaborated with many composers of contemporary and ethnic music and was a member of the UCLA Bulgarian Choir. In Greece she collaborates with Heimerinoi Kolymvites, Savina Yannatou, Antonis Apergis and Kostas Theodorou and has performed with Mode Plagal, Lizeta Kalimeri, Domna Samiou and Ross Daly. She has composed music for the films “Princess’ Taste”, “Pink River”, “The Guide” and for the dance theatre productions “M” and “Papagalos”. Her album “The Garden of Rila” contains nine of her own songs, one by Antonis Apergis and one by Pantelis Stoikos.
22.00 - Ondrej Kabrna Trio - Czech Republic
Ondřej Kabrna: piano, Jakub Antl: bass, Jan Chalupa: drums
The Trio was formed in late 2009. The band’s repertoire is comprised primarily of original compositions with a fusion and classical music influence. Their CD, entitled “Timeways”, was released in 2010 and was very favourably received by the critics. The Trio’s music consists of compositions by pianist Ondrej Kabrna and bassist Jakub Antl and they perform regularly in Prague and all over the Czech Republic. Kabrna is a very popular pianist with many collaborations.
23.00 - Nils Berg Cinemascope - Sweden
Nils Berg: wind instruments, projector, Christopher Cantillo: drums, Josef Kallerdahl: bass
Nils Berg is on the frontline of Nordic jazz. Continuing the tradition of pioneering musicians such as Lars Gullin and Jan Garbarek, Nils Berg now presents his own version of jazz in an era of globalisation. Utilising YouTube, he borrows videos from all over the world and writes new music over these clips. Alongside the Trio from Stockholm, on the display, there may be a class of koto students from Japan, a virtuoso balafon teacher from Ghana and youngsters from Brunei entertaining themselves in a canteen. The total creates a work of art which is well worth seeing.
Sunday 29/5
21.00 - David Laboriel Trio - Luxembourg
After his studies in the USA and the Netherlands, David Laboriel founded his Trio in 2003, releasing his first album with them. Having also worked with many international ensembles (The Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg with Didier Lockwood and the New York Voices, the Orchestre National de Jazz Luxembourg with George Duke, Randy Brecker, and others), this exceptional musician established his reputation as one of the great new guitar talents. David Laboriel’s band has faithful followers in Luxembourg, Belgium and France and plays original compositions and standards in a ‘50s and ‘60s retro jazz style to the delight of his audience.
22.00 - Christian Mendoza Group - Belgium
Pianist Christian Mendoza was born in Peru, although he is a permanent resident of Belgium. He was initially self-taught, later studying at the conservatories of Ghent and Brussels, with brilliant teachers from the local jazz scene. He also participated in workshops and seminars with leading American and European musicians. Since graduating in 2006, Mendoza has worked with different ensembles, from duos to big bands, working in traditional to contemporary styles. Christian Mendoza also draws upon world music, contemporary classical, salsa, free improvisation and even pop music. He works with dance bands, has his own Trio, and whereas he is active as a sideman for other groups he also has his own, the Christian Mendoza Group, with which he won the Tremplin Jazz d’Avignon prize in 2009.
23.00 City of Athens Big Band