A gig by hypnotic British trio Mammal Hands combining jazz and electronics will open the twenty-fourth annual JazzFestBrno festival at the Fléda club. Newly additions to the line-up are the May concerts of pianist Nikol Bóková with her trio, double bassist Klára Pudláková with MAOMAH, and guitarist David Dorůžka, who will be launching a new joint album with the Piotr Wyleżoł Quartet entitled When the Child Was a Child. From the beginning of February to May, the festival will offer thirteen gigs by some top world jazz stars, as well as performances with a club atmosphere from the Club Life series in the stylish Cabaret des Péchés.
Brno will be opening its arms to welcome the winner of five Grammys, singer Dianne Reeves, one of the most acclaimed names in orchestral jazz, nine-time Grammy winner Maria Schneider with the Oslo Jazz Ensemble big band, jazz piano stars and Grammy winners Kris Davis and Sullivan Fortner, Italian virtuoso guitarist Matteo Mancuso with his blend of jazz, rock and funk, as well as cult icon of the contemporary jazz scene, American saxophonist Kamasi Washington. Jojo Mayer, one of the fifty greatest drummers of all time, will be bringing his unique ME/MACHINE project - an improvisational duet between machine and man. The line-up will also feature Israeli jazz double bass innovator Adam Ben Ezra, guitarist Dominic Miller, who has been Sting's creative partner for over thirty years, brilliant double bassist Joe Sanders and avant-garde saxophonist James Brandon Lewis with their entourages. Guitarist Milan Kašuba, one of the oldest Czech musicians still playing and a legend on the Brno jazz scene, will be celebrating his 85th birthday on 30 April, International Jazz Day.
"The festival line-up reflects the current state of jazz. Just as genres are becoming less important for the upcoming generation, our line-up is also changing," explains Vilém Spilka, the festival's artistic director, adding: "Important criteria for us when selecting the bands is their creativity, ability to improvise and therefore come up with new music on stage. This has always been the hallmark of jazz, and the music influenced by it, taking the live gig experience to another level. That is what people come to our festival for."
The British trio Mammal Hands will be appearing at the Fléda club on 1 February as one of the most progressive ensembles of this year's festival. Since they first got together, they have earned a reputation for their unique blend of jazz and electronica as well as their intense, hypnotic live performances. "They draw inspiration from jazz, contemporary music, electronics and minimalism, but have taken these influences to shape their own inimitable style," says Spilka.
Festivalgoers know pianist and Grammy winner Sullivan Fortner from 2022, when he showed an almost telepathic talent in accompanying American singer Cécile McLorin Salvant. Sullivan Fortner will be appearing at Cabaret des Péchés on 18 February, this time as a trio. "With this line-up, he will showcase that huge advantage we are already familiar with from his last performance in Brno: perfect player empathy and a flawless bond with his partners on stage," adds Spilka.
Few figures in orchestral jazz are as widely respected as American conductor and composer Maria Schneider, winner of nine Grammy Awards and seventeen nominations. Her great mentor was the legendary big band innovator Gil Evans, with whom she collaborated on the Sting tour and on the soundtrack to The Color of Money. On 6 March, Cabaret des Péchés will host Maria Schneider and the Norwegian Oslo Jazz Ensemble, playing numbers from the album Data Lords, for which she won two Grammys and was nominated for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize.
Italian virtuoso guitarist Matteo Mancuso, who fuses jazz, rock, and funk, will be playing at the Sono Centre on 13 March. Mancuso is famed for his masterful fingerstyle playing, reminiscent of the technique used by classical guitar or flamenco masters. He has been lauded for his artistry by many of the instrument's older virtuosos. "His improvisational skills are light years ahead of the rest of us," enthuses Al Di Meola. "I was pretty stunned when I heard Matteo. The evolution of the guitar is firmly secure in the hands of people like him," says Steve Vai. And Joe Bonamassa adds: "I have never seen anything like it... He is completely reinvented the instrument!"
On Sunday 16 March, the Sono Centre will host singer Dianne Reeves, who returns to Brno six years after her triumphant concert at the Janáček Theatre. Her virtuosity, improvisational skills and style saw the charismatic Reeves become the first artist in history to receive the Grammy Award for Best Female Vocal Performance for three consecutive recordings in the jazz and R&B category. "Listeners and critics love Dianne Reeves because she offers genuine artistic quality in a very accessible package," adds Spilka.
One of the most iconic figures on the contemporary jazz scene, American saxophonist Kamasi Washington, will be performing his only domestic concert in 2025 at the Sono Centre on 18 March. He will be coming to Brno as part of the tour for last year's Fearless Movement album. "Kamasi Washington routinely plays at jazz festivals, of course, but also at giant summer events like Primavera Sound, Glastonbury and Coachella. He regularly collaborates with rappers Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and producer Flying Lotus. So, we are delighted that we have managed to attract him to the intimate setting of the Sono," Spilka emphasises.
On 19 March, the Goose on a String Theatre will see the arrival of Jojo Mayer, one of the fifty greatest drummers of all time according to the most respected industry magazine Modern Drummer. Mayer has created his own playing technique that fuses jazz, drum and bass and jungle. "He will be bringing his ME/MACHINE project to Brno - an improvisational duet between a machine imitating human behaviour and a human imitating machine behaviour," says Spilka.
At the end of 2024, Israeli jazz double bass innovator Adam Ben Ezra released a new album, Heavy Drops, which promises to redefine the relationship between double bass and drums. The material will be performed on 8 April at the Cabaret des Péchés. "Ben Ezra has managed to develop a distinctive style of playing where the double bass also serves as a percussive instrument, and he was not afraid to use electronic effects and real-time recorded loops," says Spilka.
Two-time Grammy-nominated guitarist Dominic Miller, who has enjoyed a creative partnership with Sting spanning more than 30 years, will be playing twice on April 15 at Cabaret des Péchés. "Since 1991, he has been involved in every one of Sting's albums not only as a guitarist, but also as a songwriter, even writing or co-writing a few hits. You ca not imagine Sting's recordings or concerts without that unmistakable modulated sound of Miller's guitar," says Spilka. But Miller has also worked with plenty of other musicians and bands - from The Chieftains to Level 42, from Phil Collins to Youssou N'Dour, from Chris Botti to Tina Turner.
Fans can look forward to a double concert at the Cabaret des Péchés on 28 April. Brilliant double bassist Joe Sanders will be performing his own music in a quartet. Even back in his younger days, Joe performed alongside some jazz greats such as Dave Brubeck, Terence Blanchard, Ron Carter, Roy Hargrove, John Clayton, Herbie Hancock, Charles Lloyd and Wayne Shorter. The second part of the evening will be provided by saxophonist James Brandon Lewis with a trio praised by saxophone legend Sonny Rollins himself: "When I listen to you, I listen to Buddha, I listen to Confucius... I listen to the deeper meaning of life. You keep the world in balance." James Brandon Lewis comes from deep spiritual gospel roots and has never been afraid to venture into free-jazz, funk, or hip-hop waters. His hugely energetic jazz trio has an unconventional saxophone - electric cello - drums line-up.
International Jazz Day, on 30 April, will see guitarist Milan Kašuba, one of the oldest Czech musicians still on the scene, celebrate his 85th birthday at Cabaret des Péchés, and the Brno jazz scene is unimaginable without him. "The evening will be a celebration of sparkling talent and indomitable graft, virtues that are characteristic of the generation that came onto the scene in the 1960s. Milan Kašub will be accompanied by his long-time buddy and acclaimed bassist Petr Kořínek, alongside a flourish of younger jazzmen: singer Geraldine Schnyder, saxophonist Radek Zapadlo, multi-instrumentalist Jiří Slavík, double bassist Peter Korman and drummer Martin Kleibl," adds Spilka.
Forty-three-year-old Canadian Kris Davis, who will be appearing with her trio on May 12 at Cabaret des Péchés, is one of her generation's brightest jazz piano stars. Her avant-garde tendencies make her part of the musical circle around John Zorn. In Brno she will be presenting her latest album Run The Gauntlet, which she recorded in a stellar trio with bassist Robert Hurst (Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Diana Krall) and drummer Jonathan Blake (Randy Brecker, Chris Potter, Donny McCaslin). "This all-star trio will also grace the JazzFestBrno gig," says the artistic director.
The first half of this year's festival will end with concerts by two stars of the contemporary Czech jazz scene at Cabaret des Péchés: Pianist and composer Nikol Bóková brings her trio to Brno on 14 May. "Nikol is one of the most keenly followed and successful artistes of the young generation. Last year alone, she performed in Japan, Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy, among other places," Spilka points out. Double bassist Klára will precede the trio Pudláková and her ensemble MAOMAH. 21 May will see guitarist and composer David Dorůžka launch his new, almost purely acoustic, album entitled When the Child Was a Child (Bivak Records) with his Polish bandmates Piotr Wyleżol, Michał Barański and Michał Miśkiewicz. They will be preceded by Helicopets, featuring the young Polish guitarist and composer Adam Baran.
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