Believe it or not: December isn’t nearly as far off as you think it is. On the bright side, that means Kick Jazz is right around the corner! The annual showcase of local jazz talent at the Vienna institution Porgy & Bess will be, ahem, kicking off on December 5th and 6th.
Kick Jazz is a showcase of Austrian (and in one case, Slovenian/Norwegian) jazz talent presented by Austrian Music Export in cooperation with Vienna jazz mecca Porgy & Bess and Footprints, a project co-financed by the EU’s Creative Europe Programme.
The first evening, December 5th, will feature a selection of Vienna’s finest: the Anna Anderluh Trio, followed by the duo Preuschl / Valcic and Peter Rom’s Wanting Machine; the music continues on December 6th with a solo set by pianist Simon Raab, otherMother, VIRA, and Candlelight Ficus. Both evenings begin at 8:30 p.m. sharp. We can’t imagine why you’d be anywhere besides Vienna on these two evenings – but in case you are, Porgy & Bess live-streams all its concerts, including these two.
Breaking news: mica – music center austria is giving away two pairs of tickets to Kick Jazz 2023! The tickets are valid for either one of the two concert evenings. If you’re interested (and honestly, who wouldn’t be?) just send an email to office@musicaustria.at by December 1st with “Kick Jazz” in the subject line. Bonne chance!
Tuesday, December 5
Anna Anderluh Trio
Anna Anderluh – vocals, autoharp, electronics
Judith Schwarz – drums
Philipp Kienberger – bass
Anna Anderluh describes her music as “pop with cracks”; it combines poetry with social criticism, simple songs with experimental vocal improvisation. With humor and sensitivity, using additional instruments and found objects, she explores the nature of seemingly insignificant details, allowing them to shine without trying to make them into something they’re not. It’s a kaleidoscope of touching, unconventional sounds, mutable and seemingly endless.
PrEuschl / Valcic
Raphael Preuschl – bass, bass ukulele
Asja Valcic – cello
The duo Preuschl / Valcic lures its listeners into a world of low, rich sounds. In a program of music composed especially for cello and bass ukulele, the musicians explore the warm, earthy tones of their instruments in an interplay of improvisation and beautifully interwoven melodies and grooves. Soft and intimate or passionate and virtuosic, they strike just the right balance between form and expression.
Peter Rom: Wanting machine
Peter Rom – guitar
Pamelia Stickney – theremin
Manu Mayr – bass
Michael Prowaznik – drums
Guitarist and composer Peter Rom has been a creative mainstay of the Vienna jazz, electronic, and improvised scene for many years, as part of bands like Synesthetic4, Rom Schaerer Eberle, and Die Strottern & JazzWerkstatt Wien. He’ll be performing works from his critically acclaimed 2021 debut solo album Wanting Machine, of which Falter‘s Sebastian Fasthuber wrote: “…a marvelously calm psychedelic flow with a clever acoustic architecture. It’s rare that a jazz album sounds this good”.
Wednesday, December 6
Simon raab – solo piano
Pianist Simon Raab will be presenting his new solo program, which appears on the ORF/Ö1 record label’s Jazzedition series.
othermother
Arthur Fussy – modular synthesizer
Judith Schwarz – extended drum set
Jul Dillier – prepared piano
The trio otherMother creates a rhythmic symbiosis of sound, where acoustic and electronic sounds melt together and percussive latticeworks are created out of equal parts experimental and club music. With their unconventional instrumentation, extended playing techniques and improvisational approach, the trio tests genre boundaries and translates their personal musical language into any number of stylistic contexts.
Vira (slo/N)
Nina Virant – vocals, keyboards, composition, text
Veronika Kumar – vocals, guitar
Gard Nilssen – drums, percussion
In June, the trio VIRA released its first album, niei, on Druga Godba Records. The music brings together the wide range of musical worlds that touch the Nina Virant’s heart and soul: Balkan chant, jazz, sacred singing, chanson, sung poetry, even echoes of the golden era of Slovenian pop. The two voices are in the foreground, complementing each other polyphonically in just the right proportion. Unexpected vocal acrobatics and percussive textures lend the songs depth and copmlexity, making for a thrilling musical experience.
Candlelight ficus
Niki Waltersdorfer – guitar, vocals
Simon Brugner – drums
Fridolin Krenn – bass
Jonathan Herrgesell – saxophone
David Gruber – saxophone
Johannes Plechinger – trumpet
Johannes Frühwirth – trombone
Lukas Meißl – keyboards
Johannes Kölbl – percussion
Miriam Kulmer – backing vocals
Magdalena Zink – backing vocals
Candlelight Ficus isn’t a common houseplant anymore – the band has grown into a big, thriving musical tree. The crown is carefully trimmed pop music, supported by trunk and roots of soul and R’n’B and enriched with Latin grooves. A few experimental thorns even spear up into the sky…but not to worry; it’s a funky natural event. The music is a well-crafted symbiosis of energetic vibes, musical craftsmanship, meaningful lyrics and an extraordinary live experience. The Ficus is bigger than ever, shining brighter than any candle. The sun is up, the feel-good funk package is here.
Kick Jazz is grateful for the financial support of BMEIA – the Austrian Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs
