"In 2007, the Jazz Stage moves further up the ladder of the leading stages of the festival, through showing the international audience the current trends of jazz by presenting world famous artists.In running themed days, and thus putting the performances into context, the stage’s organisers also wish to call foreign jazz fans’ attention to the outstanding Hungarian artists. Parallel to this, they open the gates of the genre as wide as possible: offering in their program fusion jazz, danceable funky acid jazz, swing, jazz-rock based on Cameroon folk music, crossover supported with distorted guitar, and of course traditional big bands.
Another new thing is that after the concerts DJs will play fun and danceable tunes (funk, acid jazz, nu jazz, soul, etc.), and by doing so the stage is hoping to provide a regular base for jazz lovers, who can return to the stage anytime of the day.
This year the Jazz Stage has secured several excellent stars in their international line-up. Mike Stern – who despite being 53 still has a face of a kid – is a living legend. His rocky, jazzy guitar sound has been his trademark for 30 years. He was 20, when he became a member of Blood Sweat & Tears, which he left to join Miles Davies’ group. Throughout his 20-year solo career he has always carefully selected the musicians who he collaborated with; among others, he’s worked with such artists as Jaco Pastorius, Bob Bergl, Richard Bona and Me’Shell Dgeocello. He is accompanied at the Sziget by two other legendary musicians, drummer Dave Weckl (former Chick Corea), and bass player Anthony Jackson.
French trumpet player Erik Truffaz is one of the very few musicians who is regarded as a prominent figure both by the jazz circles and the electronic music world. His name can be found among the performers of jazz festivals as well as hip-hop and drum’n’bass parties. During his teenage years Truffaz was a both into jazz and rock, which resulted in a rare openness. On his records, he is merging features of many different styles with elements of predominantly acid jazz, funk and electronic music. His band is one of the most current exports of French culture. They were the first French band to be signed by the legendary Blue Note.
Etienne Mbappé, Cameroonian bass player/singer is one of the biggest of the last decade’s newcomers. He spent his “apprentice years” with Joe Zawinhul and Salif Keita, and there is not much he doesn’t know about jazz and world music. As in folk tales, and in the music business, he hit the road in search of his own sound and solo career. In his solo works jazz, African folk music, funk, rock and classical music play an equally important role. He sings his songs in the Cameroonian dialect Douala resulting in an amazingly clean, yet exciting, immediate, and timeless music. It’s the first time we can see him in Hungary.
Gary Willis, the trendsetting former bass player of Tribal Tech, surprised his fans with quite a bold piece of work last year when under the name Slaughterhouse he teamed up with drummer Kirk Covington (former Tribal Tech bandmate) and Spanish sax player Lliberty Fortuny, and put a completely mad, experimental work together, in which the trendy jam band approach meets with the lo-fi sound.
They play their instruments without the least inhibition in a way that would make any teenage kid shy away. They spice up the funky bases and jazzy harmonies with noises and loops, but even hearing the most brutal sonic parts, it’s obvious: this music is made by the most trained and skilful musicians in the world. The outcome is a bit as if Primus made a cover version of Miles Davies’ Bitches Brew album. This will be their first performance in Hungary.
Of course, we didn’t forget about the best representatives of our domestic jazz scene. Beside the well-known names (Balázs Elemér Group, Babos Project Special, Dresch Quartet, Modern Art Orchestra and Hot Jazz Band), the Jazz Stage opened its gates wide open to different genres.
As the 21st century is all about mixing styles, the stage will proudly present Váczi Eszter és a Szörp, the group that plays acid jazz; the unusual vocal-piano-horn band Borago which incorporates Bartók’s heritage into jazz; or European Mantra, who empower their fusion themes with guitar riffs borrowed from metal. Fresh acts that are still searching for their own voice could be real specialties too: like Veronika Harcsa and her Quartet, the talented young trumpet player Lőrinc Barabás and his hip-hop acid jazz band Eklektric or the rhythm organ based ethno-fusion of the two percussionists,"
Source:
Sziget.hu
10.08.2007