Belgrade Jazz Festival, if we judge by the quality of the lineup, might be even better this year than in previous ones. Starting on October, 26th, the festival will bring five days of concerts throughout the evening, some in Belgrade Youth Center and some in Center Sava (the final night). Performers include world-class musicians and pioneers of crossover between jazz and other musical genres.
Eyot
Musicians will represent a long list of counties, including those from Western Europe, USA, Canada, Israel, Turkey and the Balkans, with four bands coming from the United States, while bands and musicians from Serbia will also have a strong showing. Belgrade Jazz Festival brings 21 bands in all, two of them performing in Big hall ad two of them in Americana hall each night (three bands on the last night). Performances are scheduled one after another, so the audience can enjoy all the acts, first in the Big hall, starting at 7 PM, and than in Americana hall, starting at 11 PM.
On Thursday, October, 26th, the honor of opening the festival will fall to Serbian band Eyot, accompanied by Jake McMurchie and Pete Judge as special guests. Eyot is combining jazz with some of the music genres which are usually not considered close to jazz, including traditional Serbian music. The evening will continue will more crossover of jazz and folk music of Eastern Europe, with Swedish jazz pianist Jan Lundgren taking the center stage. After the best known Swedish jazz musician, floor goes to his colleagues from Denmark – Jakob Bro Trio, while the Nordic evening will end with the performance by Marius Neset Quartet from Norway.
On Friday, October, 27th, Belgrade will be the host to some of the best jazz pianists of today and to one of the more authentic American jazz bands. Wolfert Brederode Trio will play the material from their new album “Black Ice”, while young Nitai Herishkovits from Israel will be perform an acoustic set. Something very different is than planed, as Marc Ribot & Young Philadelphians will move the festival forward with their disco funk sound. The day ends with the performance by talented young Canadian Kris Davis, a star of world jazz scene and an accomplished composer. She will play with a guest from USA Billy Drummond.
Eva Klesse
Belgrade Jazz Festival will draw especially large crowds during the weekend. Saturday, October, 28th, is the day for all-star European performers. Eva Klesse is a drummer, and she leads a quartet from Germany, which promises a very interesting set. An Italian Giovanni Guidi will perform in Belgrade after seven years break, bringing with him his new quintet “Inferno”. Another quartet will take on from there, this time Émile Parisien Quartet from France. Émile Parisien is the artist with many awards in last several years and this will be his first time in Serbia. The final performance will be the one form Ilhan Ersahin from Turkey, an outstanding sax player who influenced many other musicians.
Sunday, October, 29th, will be the most diverse day of the festival. Several world class musicians will play on Sunday, starting with bassist and composer Mats Eilertsen from Norway, who will perform with septet “Rubicon”, while after Eilertsen it is time for Joshua Redman Trio from USA, one of the big names in American jazz. A special attraction will be the performance by Rodrigo Amado from Portugal, one of most respected sax players in Europem and the night will end with the performance by Peter Evans Septet from USA and their original material.
Donny McCaslin
On the last day of the festival, October, 30th, the BJF will move from Belgrade Youth Center to Center Sava, where the main act will be Donny McCaslin Group, headed by the fantastic McCaslin, who was the force behind David Bowie’s last album, and is the current holder of the best jazz musician award awarded by the listeners of Jazz FM. In the second part of the show in Center Sava, the floor goes to Croatian pianist Matija Dedic, with Vasil Hadzimanov being his guest.
Belgrade Jazz Festival will then again move again to Belgrade Youth Center for the big finale, with mostly Serbian performers – Sanja Markovic, Space Tigers quartet and Tapan duo.
Tickets are available both in Belgrade Youth Center and in Center Sava.
You can read about other current events in Belgrade on our website.
More details: www.bjf.rs
