Jazz returns to Saulkrasti – “Saulkrasti Jazz Festival” / Article will start

Jazz will return to Saulkrasti this summer – jazz musicians from Latvia, Austria, Israel, France, Armenia, USA and other countries will step on the stage of “Saulkrasti Jazz Festival” from July 22 to 24, but this year the main guest of the festival is guitarist and tap-technician creator Stanley Jordan from the United States, informed the organizers.

In addition to the festival’s main guest, the Stanley Jordan Quartet, artists such as pianist, composer and Steinway artist Markus Gottschlich will perform on the Saulkrasti Jazz Festival stage for three evenings, together with special guest drummer Yogev Shetrit. from Israel, one of the most active musicians in the Baltics, Jaak Sooäär with a particularly international line-up, French bass player SHOB, who visited Saulkrasti in 2019, as well as a post-jazz band from Vienna “Sketchbook”. Latvian artists will also perform at the festival – funk / fusion group “FunCooLio”, Jelgava Big Band, Baltic Drummers League winner Mareks Logins, together with pianist and composer Anna Wibe and bassist from Moscow Anton Davidjants, as well as American flutist Ilona Kudiņa living in America with the project “ Baltic Transit ”.

“Saulkrasti Jazz Festival” will take place in an unusual format this year. For security reasons, the festival does not offer a master class camp for young musicians this year, thus the time of the festival itself has been shortened from six days to three days. The venue of the festival is also different this time – the renewed stage of the city of Saulkrasti, which has become available to event organizers and the public only at the beginning of this summer.

Raimonds Kalnins, the director of the festival “Saulkrasti Jazz”, emphasized: “The last time has been very difficult in cultural life, but we must look ahead and try to find solutions for how to gradually return it to our daily lives.

Although this year “Saulkrasti Jazz” is full of changes, regardless of whether the festival takes place for a week or three days, the quality brand of the festival remains unchanged.

It must be said that these will be three musically very special days, because out of 18 jazz ensembles that have been offered to listeners during the “Saulkrasti Jazz” festival on the main stage of the festival, this year they had to step back. Yes, this, and the decision not to hold a camp, were the most difficult decisions to make this year, but despite that, I am glad to have the opportunity to return world-class jazz musicians to Saulkrasti and the joy of being together in open-air concerts! ”

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