Three or four words about JAZZ AT BRAN CASTLE, 10th edition,
25-26-27 August, 2023
The jazz festival hosted by Bran Castle will kick off its 10th edition on the last weekend of the summer, as it has been doing since 2013. No less than 10 concerts will take place on the three stages, located in places steeped in history and spirituality, bringing together the top names in world jazz. Artists from 13 countries will give recitals bringing us close to tones from Israel, Italy, England, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Bulgaria, Germany, Switzerland and Canada (as well as Haiti), as well as Serbia, Croatia and Romania. We will have new projects with many influences from the nu-jazz, experimental, fusion and rock spheres.
The first evening is dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the State of Israel, a formidable melting pot of jazz talent, and the opening band is the OFER MIZRAHI TRIO, which proposes music that interweaves Western jazz expression with distinct harmonies from the world of Eastern culture, as well as a unique performance featuring the whale-guitar, played by the titular instrument, who will be assisted by Talia Erdal on cello and David Hai Michaeli on double bass.
The second band of the evening is the ZIV RAVITZ TRIO, with musicians from different geographical areas: Israel, Italy and France. Gathered around one of today’s drum magicians in world jazz, the renowned Ziv Ravitz, Federico Casagrande on guitar and Christophe Panzani on saxophone are breaking new ground with their original and harmonious way of achieving the great performance, the interplay, that unique synergy.
Saturday will start in a spiritual place: the Evangelical Church in Râșnov. And there couldn’t be a more fitting setting for Kit F Downes, Hayden Chisholm and the PJEV women’s choir from Zagreb. The organ, saxophone, surpeti effects and five celestial voices will take you to another dimension, bring peace to your soul and let your mind fly. As every year, admission to the concert in the Evangelical Church in Râșnov is free.
2023 continues the initiative of the previous edition, offering you, with free access, the performances on the Romanian jazz stage, located in the Castle Park, where on Saturday, from 4 pm, you will meet or re-meet the pianist George Păiș, a virtuoso who shows us that the generations to come love, study and practice this universal music.
Also Kit Downes – this time as a trio – will open Saturday evening on the Bran Castle stage. KIT DOWNES TRIO ENEMY, with Petter Eldh on bass and James Maddren on drums, takes us through an intense, complex and energetic style. Their music is dense, „wildly free” and aims to push boundaries, both creatively and technically.
Norway – a country that never ceases to amaze with its impressive number of first-class artists – makes its voice heard through the double bass of Arild Andersen, probably the greatest active European musician. The (not at all) cool and brooding North blends with the sunny and lively Italy. Daniele Di Bonaventura‘s bandoneon will give Arild Andersen’s musical reply in an electrifying concert.
The evening will end with a very rare concert by the Bulgarian-German group BODUROV TRIO (Dimitar Bodurov, piano, Mihail Ivanov-Misho, double bass, Jens Düppe, drums) with the Israeli-American trumpeter ITAMAR BOROCHOV. The project presented is based on elements of Bulgarian folklore, combined in a unique and distinctive style with contemporary jazz and classical composition. The result is a dynamic performance with a rich palette of sounds and skilful improvisation.
We will be back on Sunday at 16:00 in the Castle Park where, with free access, the second session of local jazz will take place during this 10th edition of the Festival and where the protagonists will be young artists evolving under the stage name of JazzQuarters Trio. They are Bodo Tăbârca (drums), Dimitrie Cristian Milea (bass) and Vlad Briciu (keyboards), they have worked together in other musical contexts, but the JazzQuarters Trio project is a fresh incarnation of the formula, with an original repertoire or adapted according to a personal artistic manner.
On Sunday evening, a truly iconic group for jazz will take the stage: the COLIN VALLON TRIO, featuring pianist Colin Vallon, together with Patrice Moret on bass and Julian Sartorius on drums, who record on the prestigious ECM Records label and perform on major stages around the world and yes, in our country.
The festival will be rounded off by the French-Canadian supergroup TRIO M.O.M., bringing together brothers Louis and François Moutin, drummer and bassist, probably the most powerful and inventive rhythm section of the world-renowned and thriving hexagonal jazz scene, who have co-opted Haitian (now Canadian) saxophonist Jowee Omicil into this explosive project, the result exceeding the most fanciful expectations of jazz and jazz-rock lovers.
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