00:00
Forest GIIPUJA
GIIPUJA has been bringing modern jazz with a distinct ethnic flavor to Croatian audiences since 2013. The unusual line-up of double bass, drums, bass clarinet, violin, and various folkloristic instruments from the Istria region, makes for a strikingly original and unique sound. At times, GIIPUJA embraces harsh dissonance, fueled by the interplay of narrow intervals characteristic for the Istrian scale, whilst at other times it uses those same compositional and improvisational principles to create a jubilant atmosphere. This beautiful performance of their project ‘Forest GIIPUJA’ was recorded at Croatia’s Učka Nature Park in 2016. GIIPUJA consists of Damjan Grbac (double bass), Marko First (violin, sopela, mih), Aldo Foško (bass clarinet), and Tonči Grabušić (drums).
01:16
The Mel Lewis Orchestra live at Estival Lugano
Since 1977, Estival is a summer jazz festival in Switzerland, Lugano. Estival offers a thrilling and particularly surprising line-up that explores the rich world of contemporary music whilst promoting the understanding of different cultures, tolerance, and co-existence. The Mel Lewis Orchestra was arguably the most influential big band since the swing era. They were an unusual band, creating new styles, succeeding in an era when big bands were unpopular and remaining integrated during racially tense periods.
02:06
TorTube: La Waltz 2, 3 and More
Jazz fans in television land have come to the right place for their dose of first-rate world jazz: TorTube! Jazz club De Tor in Enschede is one of Europe’s most authentic jazz venues, with an absolutely unique ambiance. Some of the best musicians from Holland and the rest of the world find their way to De Tor to perform for an appreciative audience of jazz fans. La Waltz 2, 3 and More is an episode of TorTube that pulls you into the world of De Tor. Veteran vocalist Humphrey Campbell shares the stage with chromatic harmonica player Hermine Deurloo for a unique mix of spectacular music.
02:48
Ray Charles - The North Sea Jazz
The North Sea Jazz Festival is the largest indoor music festival in the world, known globally as the event where the past, present and future of jazz are featured within three days. Next to a firm base of jazz as the festival’s staple music genre, many others, such as blues, soul, funk, or hip hop, pass by. In 1980, legendary American singer-pianist Ray Charles gave an unforgettable performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague. This mercurial artist pioneered soul music in the 1950s, and helped integrate country, rhythm and blues, and pop.
03:53
Gonzalo Rubalcaba Quartet - Münchner Klaviersommer
'Münchner Klaviersommer' was an annual concerts series that took place from 1981 to 1998 in Munich, Germany. Although the festival's name suggests a strong focus on piano music, it featured countless famous musicians from jazz and classical music – not just pianists. The concerts were usually held in July at The Gasteig, home of the Munich Philharmonic. In 1991, Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba was one of the artists appearing here. Together with Reinaldo Melian on trumpet, Felipe Cabrera on bass and Julio Barreto on drums, Rubalcaba showcased not only his technical ability as a virtuoso pianist in challenging repertoire of Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, but also his skills as a composer.
05:04
Guy Salamon Group - jazzahead!
Annual trade fair, exhibition, and festival jazzahead! is one of the international jazz community's most important events. Hosted in Bremen, Germany, jazzahead! brings together musicians, bookers, agents, organizers, jazz experts, and music enthusiasts. Due to COVID-19, only half of the scheduled performances of the 2021 edition were actually recorded in Bremen. Among the performing artists is Israeli drummer and composer Guy Salamon. He leads the award-winning, eight-piece Guy Salamon Group, whose members originate from countries around the world, such as Israel, The Netherlands, Denmark, Scotland, South Korea, Catalonia, and Portugal. Salamon's music is full of surprises, creative narratives, energy, humor, and sincerity. The players are Guy Salamon (drums), Alistair Payne (trumpet), José Soares (alto saxophone), Hristo Goleminov (tenor saxophone), Teis Semey (guitar), Youngwoo Lee (piano), and Brodie Jarvie (double bass).
05:36
jazzahead! 2023
Annual trade fair, exhibition, and festival jazzahead! is one of the international jazz community's most important events. Hosted in Bremen, Germany, jazzahead! brings together musicians, bookers, agents, organizers, jazz experts, and music enthusiasts at the world’s largest jazz event. In 2023, jazzahead! paid special attention to Germany’s jazz scene and invited thirty jazz acts from all over the world to perform over the course of three days. Among the artists presenting themselves at jazzahead! 2023 is the French reed player duo NoSax NoClar. The intense bickering of Bastien Weeger’s saxophones and Stella Julien’s clarinet embodies the intimate relationship of two reed instruments in their exploration of free jazz and free-form music.
06:07
Jazz de Matosinhos and Sinfónica do Porto: Layas
30 minutes of... Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos and Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música conducted by Dirk Brossé. Casa da Música is a performance hall located in Porto, in northern Portugal. Brossé, born in Ghent, Belgium in 1960, is a versatile composer and a respected conductor on the international music scene. Pianist Jason Moran and cellist J.A. Pereira de Sousa accompany both sets.
07:00
Sammy Price and his All Star Orchestra
Texan pianist Sammy Price (1908-1992) played everything from blues and boogie-woogie to swing and jump-blues. Starting in Dallas as a singer and dancer in Alphonso Trent’s orchestra, he went to Kansas to form the Texas Bluesicians. At the end of the 1930s, and as a house pianist for the Decca label, he backed many stars, including Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Trixie Smith. Price was equally at home playing the blues in a trio, or leading a bigger band playing the jump-blues people loved to dance to. In this 1958 recording, Sammy plays the Comblain-La-Tour Jazz Festival with his band.
07:47
Jazz Open Stuttgart: West Coast All Stars
This live recording is celebrating 50 years of West Coast Jazz. The West Coast Jazz movement had its origins about 50 years ago in Los Angeles. It was essentially a "cool" form of jazz played mostly by studio musicians as a break from their studio work. The West Coast All Stars are specially brought together for this West Coast Night. The performance shows some of the most important early pioneers of this style of jazz - including legends such as Conte Candoli, Carl Fontana and Teddy Edwards. Jazz writer and critic Alun Morgan about this concert: “Altogether a very impressive experience. These guys are all real jazz pros who can turn in a masterly performance at the drop of a hat. Who said West Coast Jazz was cold and sterile? These guys can churn up enough excitement to bring any audience to its feet."
09:19
Visions of Music: Carnet des Routes
Visions of Music - World Jazz invites the viewer on a journey to the roots of music, introducing the enormous impact that traditional music from around the world has had on contemporary jazz. This program features legendary musicians such as BB King, Dino Saluzzi, Tito Puente, Carlos Santana, Zawinul Joe, Manu Dibango, Abdullah Ibrahim, as well as new generation representatives such as Nicholas Payton, Cyro Baptista, and Don Byron. This episode of the Visions of Music series presents the musette, a French musical genre that was first introduced by musicians from the south of France. It is to Django Reindhardt, the "virtuoso with three fingers" that we owe the introduction of the swing to the musette.