A concert by Matúš Jakabčic and his quintet with the Brno Philharmonic opens the fifth year of the subscription concert cycle Jazz & World Music. The evening will include six pieces: from Jakabčic’s original works, through jazz standards to Bach’s Brandenburg concertos. The orchestra will perform under the baton of Pavel Šnajdr.
This Slovak composer, arranger, guitarist, producer and teacher is well known to Brno audiences, but he is performing for the first time with the symphony orchestra. “He has recorded some twenty-five albums, with local and foreign ensembles and soloists. He performs at festivals in Europe, the USA, Japan, Israel and Cuba. We are glad that he will be the one opening our jazz season,” stated the director of the Brno Philharmonic, Marie Kučerová.
In the first half we will hear his original composition Between 2 Worlds, written to a commission by the Košice State Philharmonic nine years ago. The three-quarters-of-an-hour-long composition is a synthesis of classical music and jazz, with solos from the members of the jazz quintet, but in some parts the jazzmen fall completely silent and the main solos are taken by the symphony orchestra. After the intermission there is another of Jakabčic’s works with the name 269 Sumner st.: “It is an address in the East Boston quarter, where I stayed during my studies at the Berklee College of Music. It was pleasant, comfortable living, and I think that is reflected in the mood of the piece. The theme was written while I was abroad, and I worked it into this form after my return home,” stated Jakabčic. He also presented the following composition Room # 55. “With Juraj Griglák and Martin Valihora we had a trio with the name Madhouse and this piece was written for it. Later, in 2009, I reworked it for symphony orchestra and quintet and renamed it Room # 55. I saw a Madhouse as a big house with many rooms, each with its number, and something going on in each of them. The listener can form their own impression of what is going on in room number 55 while listening,” he adds.
This will be followed by the melancholy Autumn Leaves by Joseph Kosma. In contrast the work by Vernon Duk Autumn in New York is about the enchanting colours of autumn in the big city. Johann Sebastian Bach also found a place among the jazz standards in the programme by Matúš Jakabčic. The sublime three-part 1st movement off the 3rd Brandenburg Concerto becomes a place for solo improvisation.
Jazz & World Music in this year’s season will involve another five concerts. “With great pleasure we are opening the fifth season of Jazz & World Music in Besední dům, and it is an occasion to perhaps balance the books a little. This subscription series is in one area exceptional among the range of concerts held under the wing of the Brno Philharmonic. The score is often only the starting point of what we hear, or even there is no score at all. Jazz and world music are wild genres. The colouring and mood of the concert tends to be influenced by the momentary disposition of the performers. Besední dům and the focused philharmonic audience are thus elegant inspiration for jazzmen and musicians from various parts of the world who bring to us in Central Europe their authentic art, a raw musicality not found in written notes performed in a gold-framed hall,” adds Vilém Spilka, dramaturge of the Jazz & World Music cycle.
Programme of subscription cycle Jazz & World Music:
28 November 2018 from 7.30 p.m. in Besední dům
Sarah McKenzie Trio
Sarah McKenzie vocals, piano
Pierre Boussaguet double bass
Hugo Lippi guitar
30 January 2019 from 7.30 p.m. in Besední dům
Tingvall Trio
Martin Tingvall piano
Omar Rodriguez Calvo double bass
Jürgen Spiegel drums
20 February 2019 from 7.30 p.m. in Besední dům
Renaud Garcia-Fons & Dorantes
Renaud Garcia-Fons five-string double bass
Dorantes piano
13 March 2019 from 7.30 p.m. in Besední dům
David Helbock
8 April 2019 from 7.30 p.m. in Besední dům
Albayzyn
Cristina Aguilera flamenco dance
Luis Mariano guitar
Juan Angel Tirado vocals
Matúš Jakabčic/ photo Jena Šimková
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