Raising the curtain once again on local jazz talent: KICK JAZZ will gather the most promising acts of the up-and-coming local jazz scene at PORGY & BESS on December 6 and 7, 2022.
KICK JAZZ festival offers up-and-coming domestic jazz formations the opportunity to show what they’ve got to a larger audience over the course of two evenings. At Vienna’s jazz club Porgy & Bess, Austrian Music Export presents six selected bands and, in cooperation with Footprints and the Ljubljana Jazz Festival, a special guest. On the first day, the Lofoten Cello Duo, Jelena Popržan Quartet and Jakob Zimmermann Trio will hit the stage. On the second day of the festival, the pianist Martin Listabarth, trio akk:zent and the Yvonne Moriel Quartet will perform. As a special guest at the festival, the Slovenian band Birds of Unknown will perform as an encore act. As in previous years, Austrian Music Export has also invited international promoters, bookers, and festival directors to get a taste of the high quality which charactarizes the Austrian jazz scene.
Although we are thrilled that this event can happen in-person in front of a live audience this year, in case you can’t make it there, all shows will also be streamed on the Porgy & Bess website.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2022, 8:30 pm
LOFOTEN CELLO DUO
Their collaboration began in an art nouveau apartment in Barcelona. Over vermouth and home-brewed beer, the two cellists were excited to continue this now familiar format of fusing Scandinavian and Catalan folk music. They also brought complex Balkan rhythms, melancholic Jewish melodies, sounds from the Caucasus and Middle East, and their own compositions. In addition to both cellos and nyckelharpa, the voices are used, creating a density, unexpected for a duo. Their repertoire combines the diverse oral tradition of ethno music from around the world from ancient times to the present. After “Lynx” (2016) and “Cervus” (2018), they present their new studio album “Octopoda” (2022).
Lineup: Carles Muñoz Camarero, Håvard Enstad: cellos
JELENA POPRŽAN QUARTET
Jelena Popržan has been a well-known figure in this country for a long time. Hailing from Zrenjanin (Vojvodina) and living and working in Vienna for many years, she has already attracted a lot of attention with some of her projects in the past (i.e. Catch-Pop String-Strong, Madame Baheux, Sormeh, etc.). The violist and singer is a musical free spirit, who knows how to find her way on the most diverse terrain and creatively let off steam in any context. Her approach is open and always a varied – you never really know what to expect from her next. In this respect, her new quartet is no different, with whom she once again treads new paths.
Lineup:
Jelena Poprzan: viola, vocals
Christoph Pepe Auer: clarinet, alto saxophone
Clemens Sainitzer: cello
Lina Neuner: bass
JAKOB ZIMMERMANN TRIO
The characteristic features of the JZ Trio’s music are the thoroughly structured compositions and ongoing changes of time signature, which is why the percussion takes a central role in the changeable rhythms. The double bass has a very melodic function in Zimmermann’s arrangement. The themes are mostly introduced in Zimmermann’s left hand and are interwoven in unison with the bass, which clearly aids the increase of melodic expressivity. In clearly specified solo forms, Zimmermann’s compositions offer room for improvisation. In addition, the JZ Trio’s range also includes isolated compositions that can be attributed to funk and provide a contrast to the weight of the content in the compositions.
Lineup:
Jakob Zimmermann: piano
Clemens Rofner: bass
Simon Springer: drums
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2022, 8:30 pm
MARTIN LISTABARTH SOLO
Jazz pianist Martin Listabarth tells his personal stories with the piano, alone. Musically rooted in jazz, but also unafraid of influences from classical music, he follows his individual musical path. On his debut album “Short Stories” he devoted himself to the subject of storytelling: Why do some narratives work particularly well? How is tension built up and released? What makes for interesting characters? On his current album “Dedicated”, he collected stories from a wide variety of people whose passion for a particular field especially fascinates him. In doing so, he picked out certain aspects of these people’s lives and work, and put them to musical use.
Lineup:
Martin Listabarth: Piano
TRIO AKK:ZENT
This trio is a unique combination, already from its instrumentation alone. Catchy tunes and sophisticated melodies packed into multi-layered, complex concept compositions, accompanied by varied improvisations, are the trademark of the three musicians. They create a variant of jazz that draws on influences from chamber music, contemporary music, ethno-funk and orchestral soundscapes. It is no coincidence that accordion greats such as Maria Kalaniemi, Guy Klucevsek, Otto Lechner and Bratko Bibič are a constant point of reference in the trio’s work. In 2021 the trio celebrated its 10th anniversary. The first decade can be described as one of uncompromising experimentation – both behind the scenes and on stage. There is nothing to suggest that the second decade will bring anything less.
Lineup:
Paul Schuberth: accordion, vocals
Johannes Münzner: accordion, vocals
Victoria Pfeil: soprano & baritone saxophone, vocals
YVONNE MORIEL QUARTET
Her EP “sweet life” was released at the end of 2021 and combines jazz with dub, hip-hop and electronics. For the live realization of the primarily electronically-produced EP, with its very reduced and short tracks, Moriel teamed up with Stephanie Weninger (keys & bass synth) and Raphael Vorraber (drums). In numerous jams, they worked on the instrumental realization of the tracks and created their own sound, which brings the music back more into the free jazz roots of the three artists, but loses nothing of its independence. Then the idea was born to bring in Andreas Tausch (guitar) to carry new colors into the music and create constant change and development. In addition to reggae vibes, dub effects, J-Dilla beats and world music elements, the music opens more and more towards free improvisation surfaces and avant-garde sound paintings.
Lineup:
Yvonne Moriel: alto saxophone, flute, electronics
Stephanie Weninger: bass synth, keys
Andreas Tausch: guitar
Raphael Vorraber: drums
SPECIAL GUEST PERFORMANCE
BIRDS OF UNKNOWN (Slovenia)
Lineup:
Patricija Skof: vocals
Tibor Pernarčič: tenor saxophone
Tilen Beigot: guitar
Although we are thrilled that this event can happen in-person in front of a live audience this year, in case you can’t make it there, all shows will also be streamed on the Porgy & Bess website.
mica – music austria is giving away 2×2 festival passes for KICK JAZZ on December 6 + 7 at Vienna’s Porgy & Bess. (Porgy & Bess: Riemergasse 11, 1010 Vienna | start 20:30 each night). If you are interested, please send an email to office@musicaustria.at until Dec. 12, 2022. Subject: “Kick Jazz”.
The musicians’ fees are supported by: BMEIA – Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs
