5 Million Pesos is a monthly concert series featuring young jazz in and from Austria, presented by Radiokulturhaus Vienna and the Radio Ö1 jazz department. The April edition is a 5 Million Pesos special: a triple bill and live broadcast from Vienna’s RadioKulturhaus.
On April 8th, for the sixth time, the RadioKulturhaus and the Ö1 jazz department present a special edition of the “5 Million Pesos” series of young Austrian jazz: the Radiokulturhaus’s Grosse Sendesaal will host a supersized edition of the Ö1 radio show “On Stage”, which will simulcast the concert live from the broadcasting hall. As usual, three very different ensembles will take the stage, representing the diversity of domestic jazz but united in the independence of their approaches and the originality of their musical statements.
Hals
Anna Anderluh – voice
Amina Bouroyen – voice
Verena Loupetsberger – voice
Anna László – voice
The four female vocalists of HALS are already known in the Vienna jazz scene for their work with other projects. Anna Anderluh, Amina Bouroyen, Verena Loipetsberger and Anna László call their harmonically complex, lively, virtuosic music “free-fall a cappella”; their repertoire includes unconventional arrangements of jazz, pop, and contemporary music, as well as original material. Hals manages to showcase the individuality of their voices at one moment, only to combine them into an organic whole in the next. They’re not afraid to plunge into maelstroms of collective improvisation, returning to precisely tuned ensemble singing in an instant.
Niklouds 4tet
Nik Holler – alto saxophone
Simon Raab – piano
Tobias Vedovelli – double bass
Matheus Jardim – drums
30-year-old Styrian saxophonist Nikolaus Holler has made a name for himself as a member of Christian Muthspiel’s Orjazztra and the 13-person collective Little Rosie’s Kindergarten. After experimenting with lo-fi hip-hop during the pandemic, the Vienna-based musician was drawn once again to “analog” music, and started the Niklouds 4tet in 2022. To fill out the group he selected pianist Simon Raab, bassist Tobias Vedovelli, and drummer Matheus Jardim – all members in good standing of the young Austrian jazz scene in their own right. Nikolaus Holler’s warm, supple alto saxophone is at the focus of the band; the repertoire includes material touching on extramusical current events, such as the composition “Mahsa Amini”. Their set will celebrate the release of the quartet’s debut album.
Beate Wiesinger & E C H O Boomer
Beate Wiesinger – double & electric bass, voice
Astrid Wiesinger- alto saxophone
Alois Eberl – trombone
Florian Sighartner – violin
Clemens Sainitzer – cello
Philipp Jagschitz – piano, synthesizer
Michał Wierzgoń – drums
In founding her band E C H O Boomer in 2017, the Upper Austrian bassist Beate Wiesinger created a planet all her own; the release of the band’s second album, Timeless Warrior, at Popfest Wien in 2023, marked a widening of her sphere of action. The septet is a unique hybrid of jazz combo, pop band, and chamber ensemble – often in the course of a single piece – and with saxophonist Astrid Wiesinger, violinist Florian Sighartner, cellist Clemens Sainitzer, keyboardist Philipp Jagschitz, and drummer Michał Wierzgońa, a gathering of some of the best sidemen and -women the Austrian scene has to offer.
Concert & live broadcast: April 8th, 7:30 – 10 p.m. @ Radiokulturhaus / “On Stage”, hosted by Andreas Felber