The Jazziest of jazz comes definitely from the United States, the homeland of jazz music. In addition to Lizz Wright, Jazzkaar is delighted to represent two other great musicians. Firstly, one of the world’s top-notch alto sax players, Rudresh Mahanthappa, who performs a program inspired by Indian music called Samdhi. Secondly, the highly sought-after and much loved bass player – and recent Grammy recipient – Christian McBride will put in an appearance.
Bassist extraordinaire, Christian McBride, has been one of the most important and most omnipresent figures in the jazz world for 20 years. He is one of the most recorded musicians of his generation, having appeared on close to 300 recordings as a sideman before the age of 40
Beginning in 1989, this Philadelphia-born bassist moved to New York City to further his classical studies at the Juilliard School. Since then he’s worked with the best of the very best – Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Rollins, J.J. Johnson, Ray Brown, Milt Jackson, McCoy Tyner, Roy Haynes, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny. In the R&B world, he’s not only played with, but also arranged for Isaac Hayes, Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, Lalah Hathaway, and the one and only James Brown.
Nowadays he is touring around with the crème de la crème of jazz: Chick Corea, Sonny Rollins, Pat Metheny, Wynton Marsalis etc and his groups vary from trio to the size of a big band. In 2011 he released his first big band album, titled “The Good Feeling” for which he won the Grammy for Large Jazz Ensemble Performance.
In Jazzkaar McBride is performing in a trio featuring drummer Ulyssess Owens and 22-year old pianist Christian Sands.
Rudresh Mahanthappa (40) is a New York-based jazz alto saxophonist and composer who is consistently heralded by critics as one of the most original composers in his field. As well as McBride, Mahanthappa is also an esteemed teacher at the New York New School University
His rare ability to synthesize South Indian music concepts with a seemingly boundless range of unexpected influences frequently characterizes him as one of the most important artists in the music today – a distinction the Jazz Journalists Association recently echoed by naming him Alto Saxophonist of the Year three consecutive times from 2009-2011.
On the Jazzkaar festival only very reputable musicians are playing aside him – David Gilmore on guitar, Rich Brown on bass and Gene Lake on drums.
The best of Estonian Jazz artists are also taking part in both of the concerts. The gurus of Estonian jazz including Raul Vaigla, Peedu Kass, Mai Jõgi and Ahto Abner are making music with McBride and the 26th April Rudresh Mahanthappa presents the Young Jazz Talent of Estonia 2011, Joel Rasmus Remmel with his trio. On that concert Jazzkaar will announce the recipients of the Estonian Jazz Awards 2012 for the sixth time.
Both of the concerts are supported by the Embassy of the United States of America.
The Tallinn International Festival Jazzkaar is supported by the City of Tallinn, the Estonian Cultural Endowment, the Estonian Ministry of Culture, foreign institutions and local partners. The golden sponsor of Jazzkaar is Elion; the main sponsors are Eesti Päevaleht and ERGO. Among the sponsors are the Estonian Air (official flying partner), Aktaprint, Tallink and Info-Auto. Jazzkaar’s partners are Clazz, RGB, and Tallinn Harbour. The official accommodation partner of the festival is MyCityHotel
The official address of the Marina Pavilion is Sadama 25/4, Tallinn. The Pavilion will be set up in cooperation with Jazzkaar’s production partner, RGB, and the Tallinn Harbour.
The tickets are on sale via Piletilevi retailers (www.piletilevi.ee). The tickets for the concerts of the Jan Garbarek Group and Lizz Wright are also available at the TicketPro retailers (www.ticketpro.ee)