On July 11, 2014 – “The Mosaic Project” is a celebration of female artists with Terri Lyne Carrington being joined by some of today’s most celebrated female instrumentalists and vocalists in the world, ‘women with voices,’ coming together to support and celebrate each other from a musical and social perspective.
“The Mosaic Project” is a beautiful gathering of great female artists, yet the beauty is also in the fact that you don’t hear gender. You hear many strong musical ideas based in jazz, performed on the highest of levels. For me there is magic in every piece because of the incredible line up of players and guest artists.
“Mosaic Project” is cross generational, cross cultural and ‘cross genre’ in nature, which is pertinent because jazz has increasingly pollinated, allowing it’s language to metamorphose into something one group of people alone cannot claim .
At Sani Hill, Carrington will present the continuation of her work under the title ‘TheMosaicProject 2’, an all-female septet with the unique voice of the renowned Lizz Wright on vocal duties.Line up: Terri Lyne Carrington, Drums/bandleader – Lizz Wright, Vocals – Tia Fuller, Sax – Ingrid Jensen, Trumpet – Rachel Z, Piano – Matthew Stevens, Guita – Josh Hari, Bass
More about Terri Lyne Carrington http://www.jazzonline.gr/en/articlesinterviews/musicians-in-town/item/2715-terri-lyne-carrington.html
More about Mosaic Project http://www.jazzonline.gr/en/jazznews/cd-from-abroad/item/365-terri-lyne-carrington-mosa%C3%83%C2%AFc-project.html
Terri Lyne Carrington Interview http://www.jazzonline.gr/en/articlesinterviews/interviews/item/2717-terri-lyne-carrigton.html
“It would not be hyperbolic to describe Lizz Wright as an awesome talent “ The New York Times
Over the last years Lizz Wright has become a widely known and respected singer in jazz circles. Her deep, rich and gently seductive voice hits no red lights as she drives it across all these musical forms. Lizz Wright continued her genre-defying journey with Fellowship (her last release), a nod to her roots in gospel on the one hand and her gospel of eclecticism on the other. While emphasizing a healthy dose of the rousing hymnody Wright grew up singing in the church (she is, indeed, the daughter of a Georgia pastor), the album borrows from the decidedly secular catalogs of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Gladys Knight, topped by even more modern material from Joan Wasser, of the indie-rock act, Joan as Police Woman. Wright says, “I wanted to do some songs from home and some straight-up gospel, but I also had some other things I want to share that I see as sacred.”
More about Lizz Wright http://www.jazzonline.gr/en/articlesinterviews/musicians-in-town/item/2716-lizz-wright.html
On July 12, 2014
Α Jazz Symphony Project: Terence Blanchard with the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stefanos Tsialis
An exclusive Jazz Symphony Project based on an original idea by the artistic director of Sani Festival, Olga Tabouri-Babali, this is one of the most important moments of this year’s Jazz on the Hill and concerns a highly interesting collaboration between Terence Blanchard the acclaimed, award-winning jazz trumpeter, and the exceptional musicians of Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the Greek-Danish conductor Stefanos Tsialis. This is a unique musical meeting of Greek and foreign artists during an experiment that will combine jazz textures with classical music.
Terence Blanchard early on made a name for himself as a top-tier jazz trumpeter. AveteranofArtBlakey’sJazzMessengers (recommended by Wynton Marsalisas his replacement in 1983), Blanchard began his recording career in a band he co-led with saxophonist Donald Harrison.
“Blanchard is a restless soul. His career is like a jazz chart, filled with unseen turns, twists and handoffs”, according to one writer, while Vanity Fair writes: “He plays the most coolly expressive trumpet in jazz”. He is a five-time Grammy Award winner, while his successes include composing for Broadway shows, becoming the Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and, finally, after serving as the artistic director of the prestigiousThelonious Monk Institute of Jazz for a decade since 2000, he was named the Artistic Director of the Henri Mancini Institute. Blanchardis also known as an acclaimed composer for the cinema – his most recent score being for the 2012 movie ‘Red Tails’ by George Lucas, which was about the Tuskegee pilots. He has enjoyed a special collaborate relationship with director Spike Lee, including his 2002 film ’25th Hour’, for which Blanchard received a Golden Globe nomination, as well as other Spike Lee films such as ‘JungleFever’, ‘MalcolmX’ and ‘InsideMan’.
More about Terence Blanchard http://jazzonline.gr/en/articlesinterviews/musicians-in-town/item/2774-terence-blanchard.html
Terence Blanchard Interview http://www.jazzonline.gr/en/articlesinterviews/interviews/item/2799-terence-blanchard-interview.html
Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra
is one of the two most important symphony orchestras in Greece, with a repertoire ranging from baroque music to pioneering 21st-century compositions. Apart from its regular symphonic concerts, the TSSO covers a broad range of artistic activities, giving regular performances at opera and ballet events, accompanying silent films, etc. Within the framework of grooming a future music-loving audience, the TSSO is intensely active in giving educational concerts. One of the main objectives of the orchestra is the promotion of Greek musical heritage through the presentation of many premieres in Greece and abroad. This framework also includes the promotion of young artists, many of whom have become acclaimed in Greece and abroad. The TSSO is a pioneer in the musical world of Greece, recording albums with prestigious international record companies such as NAXOS, BIS and ΕΜΙ.
Stefanos Tsialis is regarded as one of the leading interpreters in the world of the work of Mikis Theodorakis. His first engagement took him to the Staats Theater in Meiningen as Director of Studies and Assistant Conductor; he was later welcomed back there from 2005 to 2009 as Permanent Conductor and deputy General Music Director. In 1995 he conducted the German premiere of Mikis Theodorakis’s opera ‘Medea’ in Meiningen. This was to be the start of a long working association with the composer.
On July 13, 2014 – Nikolas Anadolis is one of only 5 jazz pianists who have been awarded the Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris (=1st prize) of the prestigious Concours de piano-jazz Martial Solal in October 2010, a worldwide jazz piano contest taking place only once every 4 years. Jazzonline had the opportunity to get an interview with this very promising young musician. He currently lives in New York where is studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston and received one of two full International Presidential Scholarships.
Nikolas Anadolis Interview : http://www.jazzonline.gr/en/articlesinterviews/interviews/item/1836-nikolas-anadolis-interview.html
More about Nikolas Anadolis http://www.jazzonline.gr/en/musicians/item/77-anadolis-nikolas.html
http://www.sanifestival.gr/