Jazztage Schwetzingen Opening: CIRCE

Alessandro Bravo is no stranger to Schwetzingen. Years ago, Manfred Kern from the Schwetzingen Jazz Initiative heard the Italian pianist at a festival in Umbria and got to know and appreciate him. Invitations to the Kurpfalz followed; now, however, he is coming to the Jazztage for the first time as part of Enjoy Jazz - with a band that has it all. The bassist Igor Spallati, who has been living in Berlin for many years and comes from Perugia, is part of the group. He studied with Greg Cohen and John Hollenbeck, worked with Fred Hersch, Joe Chambers and Jonas Burgwinkel, among others, but also has a soft spot for rock music - for subtlety and for pointed accents. Drummer Ugo Alluni is also originally from Perugia, and via New York, where he studied, he ended up in Berlin. He is naturally involved in the scene there, and has also played with Rossano Emili, the Perugia Jazz Orchestra, Joe Chambers, Alessandro Lanzoni, Marcin Masecki, Tarek Yamani and many others. Roman saxophonist Maurizio Giammarco, born in 1952, discovered his love for jazz at an early age, trying to replay Duke Ellington's records spinning on his home turntable. He quickly rose to prominence in the '70s - and is now considered an Italian jazz legend. He worked with Aldo Romano, Chet Baker, Phil Woods, Billy Cobham, Lester Bowie, Paolo Fresu, Enrico Rava, Steve Lacy, Kenny Wheeler, Uri Caine or Michel Portal - to name just a few of his fellow musicians. He can be heard on 150 albums, not a few of which he recorded as a leader, and he has also emerged as a film composer and author (with a book about Sonny Rollins). Elisabetta Antonini has collaborated with Maurizio Giammarco on several occasions. The singer and composer is one of the most impressive young talents on the Italian scene, romping both in more experimental realms, but feeling at least as comfortable when it comes to straight forward interpretations of standards or even bossa nova classics. She has been on stage with Kenny Wheeler, Paul McCandless, Paolo Fresu, Dado Moroni, Roberto Gatto or Enrico Pieranunz. You can see: The Circe Quintet gathers masterful musicians and promises a brilliant start of the Jazztage Schwetzingen.