THE EUROPEAN SONGBOOK
Have you ever wondered what the jazz repertoire would look like today if musicians like Louis Armstrong or Charlie Parker had chosen compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Guiseppe Verdi, Franz Lehár or Ennio Morricone for their improvisations?
The "Three Wise Men" provide an interesting and completely new answer to this question with their new project, the "European Songbook". The often quoted Great American Songbook is a collection of melodies by American composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Cole Porter. This famous songbook was compiled between 1920 and 1950 and forms the heart of the classic jazz repertoire. All the great jazz musicians have taken some of their musical material from this pool of melodies.
Frank Roberscheuten, festival director, bandleader, jazz workshop promoter and one of Europe's most distinguished jazz saxophonists, together with his colleagues, the Italian pianist
Rossano Sportiello and drummer Oliver "Bridge" Mewes have selected 15 titles from European music history from Johann Sebastian Bach to Toots Thielemanns from Franz Lehar to Ennio Morricone and reworked them into swinging jazz standards.
The members of the "Three Wise Men", three musicians from the Netherlands, Italy and Germany, have been working together for 18 years and have demonstrated their exceptional musical format in around 1500 concerts throughout Europe. Roberscheuten's virtuoso clarinet and saxophone playing, deeply rooted in the tradition of jazz giants such as Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, skillfully combines the "Sound of the 30s" with completely new improvisations.
Born in Milan and now living in New York, Rossanno Sportiello is considered by experts to be one of the world's best pianists of traditional jazz. The New York Times wrote about him that he is the best import from Italy since Barolo. With his virtuoso multi-stylistic playing, he keeps audiences around the world in suspense.
Drummer/percussionist Oliver "Bridge" Mewes from Germany, swing drummer par excellence, provides the rhythmic foundation on which the trio moves with no less virtuosity
There are no musical boundaries for the Wise Men.
They incorporate their accumulated playing experience into their new project. Their almost telepathic interplay and their common language, that of classical jazz, make their new project one of the most interesting ventures in traditional jazz today.
Look forward to the 3 Wise Men and the European Songbook!
Admission 5 pm
Start 6 pm
Seated event
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