The festival enters its 17th year with a series of concerts that will fill not only the South Moravian metropolis with funky music, but also Prague as part of the "travelling" concerts. The year-long festival programme is starting to take off and the organisers are adding two more names. The previously announced French band Electro Deluxe is now joined by Fun Lovin' Criminals and the most prominent jazz-funk formation from Iceland - Mezzoforte.
The French-American group Electro Deluxe is a big name in their homeland, selling out large venues. Their energetic blend of soul, funk and hip-hop simply pulls audiences in. A big part of their charm is the big band section, but it only accompanies the core of Electro Deluxe on home stages. In the form of a seven-member tight ensemble they have already played several times in he Czech Republic. At both Czech concerts, in Brno (23. 10., Sono Centrum) and in Prague (24. 10., Lucerna Music Bar), Electro Deluxe will be joined by the B-Side Band. Electro Deluxe will play only in the Czech Republic in this unique big band line-up. “We have a special relationship with the Czech Republic and especially with the city of Brno. From our first concert in Brno, we have felt a unique atmosphere and a very strong energy emanating from the audience," says Electro Deluxe bandleader Thomas Faure.
The Fun Lovin' Criminals '"infectious blend of cinematic hip-hop, rock 'n' roll, blues-jazz and Latin-soul" burst onto the New York music scene with their debut album Come Find Yourself. Two years later, with their hit Scooby Snacks, which played with samples from Quentin Tarantino films and spent 17 weeks in the Billboard chart, they took over the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury with their wild set. Since then they have recorded five more albums. They will perform at the Sono Music Club in Brno. The trio of Brian Leiser (bass, keyboards, trumpet, harmonica, vocals), Frank Benbini (drums, vocals) and Naim Cortazzi (guitar, vocals) will arrive in Brno on 10 October 2024.
The instrumental jazz-funk formation Mezzoforte is one of the most interesting things Iceland has given to the music world. The core of the formation, Eyþór Gunnarsson (keyboard), Jóhann Ásmundsson (bass) and Friðrik Karlsson (guitar), has remained unchanged since 1977. The band was founded by a group of fifteen and sixteen-year-old teenagers. Their 1983 album Suprise was a turning point and helped define their unmistakable sound - its building blocks being catchy melodies, tight grooves and exciting solos. They dominated London's clubs and discos at the time and have maintained their recognisable style ever since. But in more than forty years of playing together, they have not lost their unique creative playfulness. They will perform in Brno on 8 November at Metro Music Bar.
Fun Lovin' Criminals and Mezzoforte, along with the previously announced Electro Deluxe, add to the long line of big names in funk and jazz that the Groove Brno festival is bringing to the Czech Republic in 2007. Among them were twenty winners of the prestigious Grammy Awards and a long line of nominees for this award, who have attracted thousands of spectators to the South Moravian metropolis. In 2023, Groove Brno headed to Prague for the first time.
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