“Technopolis” City of Athens is hosting its celebrated jazz festival for the 14th consecutive year

From Thursday 29 May up to Sunday June 1, music ensembles from 12 countries (Hungary, Israel, Greece, The Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Luxemburg, Portugal, Cyprus, Italy, Belgium and Turkey) will play at the Technopolis Jazz Festival.  The “Athens Technopolis Jazz Festival” will feature the most representative groups and ensembles in jazz, all with great international presence, which will perform a wide range of music genres. “Technopolis” City of Athens becomes the center of the jazz world for the 14th consecutive year and invites everyone to its Athens Technopolis jazz festival.

Free Admission

Technopolis – City of Athens: 100 Pireos str, Gazi, Tel.: 210 3475518, 210 3453548
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Access:

Metro: “Keramikos’ Station, Trolley: No. 21 (from Omonia Sq.) - stop “Fotaerio”, Buses: 049, 815, 838, 914, Β18, Γ18, stop “Fotaerio”

Sponsor: Fischer Premium Pilsner Beer
With the support of «Jazz & Τζαζ» magazine

Detailed Schedule of Events:

Thursday 29.05
· 20.00 – 21.00 The City of Athens Big Band
The City of Athens Big Band was formed in 1998 at the initiative of virtuoso pianist Mr. Yiannis Terezakis and has since had a very active and significant presence in the music happenings in the City of Athens and all of Greece. The City of Athens Big Band repertoire includes performances of historic compositions and orchestrations by the pioneers of the Big Band philosophy as well as a wide spectrum of contemporary, quality jazz works. The City of Athens Big Band has performed in all major concert halls and art and music festivals in Athens, Thessaloniki and the provinces. Renowned maestros and composers of jazz and contemporary music have conducted the City of Athens Big Band, including William Russo and Don Owens. Meanwhile, istinguished Greek and international soloists have performed with the Band. The artists who make up the City of Athens Big Band are among Greece's most competent soloists and are renowned for their skills in jazz improvisation as well as their flexibility in interpreting various jazz styles with accuracy.

· 21.00 – 22.00 Egy Kiss Erzsi Zene (Hungary)
Erzsi Kiss in vocals, and Arpad Vajdovich (bass), Janos Bujdoso (guitar), Csaba Nemeth (drums) play a musical fusion of classic jazz with rock highlights and jazz-rock style, filled with elements from Central European and Balkan songs that blend with punk techniques, incoherent, fictitious language, and large doses of humor. The result is truly charming and in some cases exhilarating music, which explains the group’s 18 year-long presence in the Hungarian jazz scene and five successful albums. The diversity of their music sometimes makes you want to dance to it or other times to get emotional listening to it or to let your mind depart in a journey in vast green fields or a French cabaret! The group is currently working on their new album.

http://www.kisserzsi.hu/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNCAi01i2nY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91ASzuQbIM0

· 22.00 – 23.00 Tamuz Nissim Quartet feat. Shauli Einav (Israel)
Tamuz Nissim’s warm and expressive voice has led her to paths closer to the more modern aspects of the vocal jazz scene. With a flexible and penetrating technique and an approach that bursts with freshness, the singer, songwriter and pianist from Tel Aviv has already given us some excellent samples of her art, through various projects and her last album, “The Music Stays In A Dream’, that was released last year with the contribution of some great Greek jazz musicians. Through mostly original music arrangements that cover a wide spectrum of musical expression, Tamuz Nissim shows us that she has strong artistic reserves that seem to renew jazz itself with their brilliance and sensitivity. In the Technopolis festival, Tamuz will play with the experienced Israeli saxophone player, Shauli Einav.
http://www.tamuzmusic.com/

http://www.shaulieinav.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zyUn_wnhic

· 23.00 – 00.00 Singularity Project (Greece)
With a name that could derive from theoretical physics or science fiction (and soon to be reality), this creative ensemble consists of piano player Vaggelis Stefanopoulos, saxophone and flute player David Lynch, the Nigerian guitar player Adedeji Adetayo, the Cuban bass player Yoel Soto and drummer Ioannis Aggelopoulos. The music created by Singularity Project ranges in all genres of contemporary jazz - having as its starting point this basic and fundamental sound-rhythm that could derive from African music and then develop and occupy any available space, from simple spirituals to extensive and avant-garde contemporary jazz compositions. Each of their works is an autonomous and self-ruling journey in our world, or in our imagination.

http://vagelisstefanopoulos.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGXeQQiceJE

Friday 30.05
· 21.00 – 22.00 Rembrandt Frerichs Trio (The Netherlands)

Rembrandt is a pianist of wide range and perspective on his approach to music. Along with his drummer Vinsent Planjer, and bassist Tony Overwater, a very powerful, unique and dynamic approach to jazz has been formed, one with obvious influences from Middle Eastern and western classical music. Their latest record titled “A Long Story Short” focuses on Rembrandt's unique ability in composition and merging the more rhythmic and harmonic western approach along with the more rhythmically refined eastern approach, thus creating an exciting new take on Jazz. Rembrandt studied in the Netherlands and New York, and his first album released in 2007 was nominated for an Edison award. Tony Overwater is considered to be one of the most prominent bassists in Europe, whilst Vinsent Planjer has a very unique approach on drums.

http://www.rembrandtfrerichs.nl/

http://www.youtube.com/user/rembrandtfrerichs?feature=mhee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ-VOiH1vm0&list=UURuBFalT4CthooecbB2vKvw

· 22.00 – 23.00 Ximo Tebar Band (Spain)
Besides being one of the most experienced musicians of the modern Spanish jazz scene, the virtuoso guitarist Ximo Tebar is considered an artist who takes further a peculiar “Mediterranean sound” that has been developing for decades in the international jazz scene and focuses on vibrant Spanish music elements. As a jazz musician he has played with many famous artists, such as Johnny Griffin, Benny Golson, Joe Lovano, Tete Montoliu, Lou Donaldson, Tom Harrell and others. He has played in all major jazz festivals in Spain and Europe, he has lived and worked in New York and has received many awards and distinctions.
Besides the now classic “Son Mediterraneo”, his albums include tributes to Tony Bennett and Erik Satie.

http://omixrecords.wix.com/omixweb#!ximo-tebar-website/c1znr

http://www.jazzspain.net/web/ximotebar/ximotebar.htm

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD39B1B86966DB5B1

· 23.00 – 00.00 Lylit - Löscher Duo (Austria)

A project consisting of guitar and voice with an extensive repertoire of original compositions, influenced by R'n'B, Soul and Jazz; this describes the world of the singer Lylit and the guitarist Matthias Loescher. Through their individual as well as their common musical accomplishments, their careers have found its places in the international music scene. Lylit has toured with numerous artists like Ty, Parov Stelar, Walkner.Möstl, etc. In the last couple of years she has been writing for her solo project and got signed from the former head of Motown, Kedar Massenburg. Her debut LP will be released later in 2014. Loescher, on the other hand, after finishing his studies with John Abercrombie in the US, has already toured, produced and released albums with his own projects, such as the ML4 and THE RUFF PACK.

http://www.lylit.com/

http://www.matthiasloescher.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzkaJNu-hvE

Saturday 31.05

· 21.00 – 22.00 Reis / Demuth / Wiltgen (Luxemburg)
Piano player Michel Reis, bass player Marc Demuth and drummer Paul Wiltgen formed their first trio in 1998, while still in high school - but that did not stop them from becoming the upcoming, special talents in the jazz scene of Luxemburg, a country small in size but rather “large” in the European music scene. Naturally, the three musicians followed their own separate ways, but in 2011 they decided to reunite and that is when their true talent emerged. With respective differences taken into consideration, Reis, Demuth and Wiltgen follow in the musical paths created by the legendary e.s.t. in 21st century European jazz: they incorporate strong elements from the classical and popular music tradition of Europe in their contemporary jazz original compositions.

http://reisdemuthwiltgen.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYevpc3q53E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFjPKv2-_0k

· 22.00 – 23.00 Lama Trio (Portugal)

The group consists of bass player Goncalo Almeida - the band leader - Susana Santos Silva (trumpet) and Canadian Greg Smith (drums). As a music group, they play a wide range of contemporary jazz, from the mainstream to the more “extreme”, from the more peculiar to the more international, all combined under an artistic/expressive body that easily goes beyond easy labels and classifications. That is what we see in Lama’s two albums, “Oneiros” and the live recorded “Lamacal”, which feature a wide range of music we could describe as “electro-acoustic chamber jazz”. However, these accounts only tell half the truth about the Lama Trio...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PheYZzUUnA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ7gD_HKxjg

· 23.00 – 00.00 Symmetry (Cyprus)

This quartet is the collaboration of Marios Toumbas (piano), Haris Ioannou (saxophone), Michael Messios (contrabass) and Ioannis Vafeas (drums). They are musicians with very deep knowledge and great experience in many music fields - in this quartet, however, they play exclusively jazz: their own original compositions (of M. Messios) or jazz standards. All four of them have graduated from the famous Berklee College of Music and other international music schools and have long experience in many music genres (among which Greek artful music). Their main path of musical expression, however, is contemporary jazz and although they have worked as group only for a short while they have found common ground and that makes Symmetry one of the best jazz bands in Cyprus.

Sunday 1.6
· 21.00 – 22.00 Niccolo Faraci (Italy)
Contrabass player, composer and generally, sound engineer with some very interesting projects in the contemporary Italian jazz scene, Niccolo Faraci has released some very special albums, such as the recent “It Came to Broadcast the Yucatan” or 2012’s “Tokyo 2674”. His work in these albums shows a deeper artistic / internationalist / ecological way of thinking that finds its way out in both music and the cinema screen. His travels in both Europe and the Near or Far East have enhanced his world music perception, without, however, actually departing from the jazz principles that have been cultivated for decades in the Italian jazz scene. At Technopolis, he will play with his trio, consisting of himself and two excellent musicians from his homeland: Lorenzo Paesani (piano, keyboard) and Francesco Miccolis (drums).

http://www.niccolofaraci.com/videos.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC_o9p7vfc4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcwZkC-8zus&feature=youtu.be

· 22.00 – 23.00 OakTree (Belgium)

The band OakTree is the collaboration of cello player Annemie Osborne, accordion player Thibault Dille and vocalist Sarah Klenes. At first, their musical range included rearranged jazz standards combined with original composition and free improvisations, which they explored further and today it opens to multiple music traditions. As a result, OakTree now embraces jazz and pop, the French chanson and Latin music, classical and Balkan music and takes the listener on exciting journeys based on the peculiarities of the group’s unusual composition (vocals - cello -accordion). Their album, “A dos d’ames”, is a beautiful example of their music and their so broad creative boundaries.

http://www.oaktreetrio.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7SYW-HBzEE

· 23.00 – 00.00 Ilhan Ersahin's Wonderland feat. Hüsnü Senlendirinci (Turkey)

A great Turkish saxophone player, who was born in Stockholm and studied in the USA. A musician who embraces contemporary American jazz and its ideology, but who also considers Middle-eastern and Balkan culture as a main ingredient of his music and manages to incorporate it in his own compositions and creations in a very natural way. His music ranges from traditional Turkish and gypsy music up to contemporary electronica. A special place in his music range is reserved for his work with the groups titled “Instabul Sessions” in whose music we can find some of the most beautiful and charming faces of contemporary world jazz. The case of Ilhan Ersahin is one of the most peculiar and worth mentioning ones in today’s jazz scene. The Wonderland story began twelve years ago, when Ersahin met Husnu Senlendirici, one of the main exponents of the gypsy/balkan musical tradition, an impressive feat for a musician under 40 years old. He is a Turkish celebrity from a traditional musical family whose fame stems more from his musical acumen than from his frequent TV appearances.

http://www.istanbulsessions.nublu.net/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W_Lgq6m6JY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8_MdA_oGhM