Jazz Festival Aglantzia 2011

The Municipality of Aglantzia organizes for the fifth consecutive year the Jazz Festival. The entrance to the Festival is free. Food and drinks will be available.

Program

Thursday 16

20:30
Alexi David's PATRIOT ACT
(USA, Cyprus)

Band:
Phil Stewart - drums
Geoff Vidal - tenor & soprano saxophones, clarinet
Tom Abbott - alto saxophone, clarinet
Alexi David - double bass, tambourines, gong, bouzouki, siren, whistles

Cyprus-born and NYC-raised Alexi David combines his two cultures with his mix of Rembetika, Jazz, and Blues. His compositions fuse all these genres, and his interpretations of other composers, range from Charles Mingus to Vasilis Tsitsanis.

21:30
Dan Bárta and the Robert Balzar Trio
(Czech Republic)

Band:
Dan Bárta - vocals
Robert Balzar - double bass
Stanislav Mácha - piano
Jiří Slavíček - drums

Dan Bárta is one of the most talented Czech vocalists, the owner of a very distinctive voice, an artist who incorporates rock, musicals, funk, blues and jazz into his music style. He was awarded "Singer of the Year" by The Academy of Popular Music for the years 1994, 1998-2004 and 2008.

Robert Balzar Trio was formed in 1996 and recorded their first CD called "TRAVELLING", which was voted CD of the Year by Czech Radio Jazz Test, in 1998. In 2000, they recorded their second CD titled "ALONE" which was voted the Best Czech Jazz CD of the Year, and the group was voted Best Czech Jazz Band of 2000. "OVERNIGHT" (2005) was nominated for the Czech Grammy Awards. They also released the CDs "TALES" and "THEYORIES".

22:30
Residents Of The Future
(Israel/Germany)

Band:
Yuval Ron – electric guitar
Ofir Shwartz – keyboards, synthesizers, laptop
Roberto Badoglio – electric bass
Yatziv Caspi – drums

They perform original tunes, written and arranged mostly by guitarist and band former member Yuval Ron. The music reveals influences of modern jazz icons, and a mixture of many other contemporary artists from the progressive rock, fusion and metal genres. The music places a constant emphasis on harmonic richness, rhythmical sophistication, dialogue between the players and an extensive use of synthesizers, laptops and other electronic instruments.

Friday 17

20:30
Quintessence Modern Jazz Quintet
(Cyprus, Greece, Spain)

Band:
Mauricio Gomez – tenor, soprano saxophone
Stelios Papazoglou – electric Guitar
Andreas Panteli – piano
Stathis Eleotriviaris – contrabass
Andreas Stefanou – drums

The group was formed in 2010 in Rotterdam. The musicians are influenced by the modern-jazz wave of our time, which brings a mixture of colors from the traditional-jazz world and the popular music of today. The band plays original compositions and arrangements of pieces from modern jazz composers like Aaron Parks, Seamus Blake, Aaron Goldberg, Kurt Rosenwinkel.

21:30
Christos Rafalides, Evi Siamanta and Friends
(USA, Greece, Cyprus)

Band:
Christos Rafaelides - vibraphone
Evi Siamanda - vocals

Charis Ioannou - saxophone
Marios Toumbas - piano
Irenaeos Koullouras - contrabass
Ioannis Vafeas - drums

Christos Rafailidis is a Greek, on top of the modern jazz scene. One of the greatest vibraphonists, collaborated with various jazz legends and performed in venues that receive only the best jazz musicians in the world. Created, in New York, one of the most important bands of Latin jazz, the Manhattan Vibes. The CD entitled "Echoes" consists of his own compositions, ten remixes of Mimis Plessas, written in the 60s.

Evi Siamanta is a brilliant singer who has collaborated with important Greek and foreign artists like the composer Plessas, Frangoulis, Bregovic, Korkolis, the Manhattan Vibes and many others. She has also worked with the Grammy Award winners, Donny McCaslin and Mark Ledford. Recently, she teamed up with Mimis Plessas and Christos Rafalides in the album entitled "Echoes".

Charis Ioannou, Marios Toumbas, Ireneos Koullouras and Yiannos Vafeas are very talented musicians, well known in the Cyprus’ jazz scene. Their contribution in spreading of jazz music among the music lovers in Cyprus was significant.