Cerkno Jazz Festival Opens With International Programme of the Traditional and Avant-Garde (Videos)

By , 17 May 2018, 09:53 AM Lifestyle
Cerkno Jazz Festival Opens With International Programme of the Traditional and Avant-Garde (Videos) jazzcerkno.si

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STA, 16 May 2018 - Jazz Cerkno, one of the most interesting jazz festivals in Slovenia, opens on Thursday, featuring ten concerts and paying tribute to Slovenian percussionist and drummer Zlatko Kaučič and Japanese jazz pianist Satoko Fujii. 

"Zlatko Kaučič: The Plurality of Rhythm" will feature photos, posters, articles, reviews and recordings as well as some of Kaučič's instruments and artefacts.

The exhibition, to close on 27 May, was put up by the Cerkno Museum in cooperation with the Idrija City Museum to honour Kaučič's 40-year career.

Kaučič, 65, has significantly helped shape the festival, having appeared at it since the very beginning, usually to present his new projects or line-ups.

On Friday, he will perform together with the international line-up Parker/Fernandez/Leandre/Kaučič.

Like Kaučič, saxophone player Evan Parker, double bassist Joelle Leandre and pianist Agusti Fernandez performed at Cerkno before, but this is the first time they play together.

Fujii, 59, is another avant-garde jazz musician that will be in the focus of this year's festival, performing with the quartet Kaze and also giving a solo concert.

The festival will feature Slovenian saxophone player Igor Lumpert who will present the last album 11 together with the quartert Innertextures.

His fellow saxophonist Cene Resnik will perform with Free Stellar Trio alongside pianist Giorgi Pacorigo, drummer Marko Lasič and Rob Mazurek from Chicago, the US, while Mazurek will also play with his Chicago/London Underground.

Mario Batelić, one of the organisers, says the festival's basic principle has not changed much since the beginning: "the focus is on the diversity of countries and jazz musicians coming from them, but most importantly on the diversity of jazz visions of individual musicians".

"We want to make sure the line-ups use different instruments and combine them in different ways, which also guarantees freshness," he said in an interview posted on the website of the Slovenian Music Information Centre.

"We follow legendary musicians and new trends in contemporary jazz, and are happy to invite both younger musicians and established musicians who have already played here."

The festival, held for the 23rd year, will be accompanied by a panel discussion and workshops ranging from music and photography to cooking. It will close on Saturday.

The festival’s website, in English, can be found here.

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