GO TO DONIZETTI OPERA
GO TO BERGAMO JAZZ
Concerts in theaters, museums and venues of the City intertwined with cinema and meetings with schools
Coinciding with the sale of new subscriptions to the three evenings at the Donizetti Theater and tickets for the two dates at the Teatro Sociale, the
“Sounds of Joy means the celebration of a musical community born among people for people. It is the celebration of jazz from its origins until today: the dance of life, love and spirit unites us as one,” Joe Lovano specifies, “The idea of jazz improvisation has taken many paths over the years and resulted in a beautiful art form with many directions and influences. This idea has inspired the most innovative and influential musicians in the music world on a global scale.The multigenerational and multicultural sounds that animate the joy of hearing music will come to us through the passion and expressiveness of all the artists we have invited for the 46th edition of the Bergamo jazz festival.”
Keeping faith with its own nature, Bergamo Jazz 2025 will also be a Festival with an international scope, a widespread Festival: in addition to the concerts at the Donizetti and in the theater in Città Alta, already announced in recent months, significant events hosted in small theaters, in museums, and in venues transformed for the occasion into cozy jazz clubs are in fact planned. Nourished will be the representation of Italian musicians, including numerous new talents, and considerable will be the space for jazz conjugated to women, with the presence of established singers and instrumentalists. The next edition of Bergamo Jazz therefore promises to be very rich both in content and in the number of its protagonists: more than 80. And a relevant space will also have interweaving with other arts, especially cinema, and popular meetings aimed at the youngest.
Jazz at Donizetti
On Friday, March 21, the first of three subscription evenings at the Donizetti Theater, beginning at 8:30 p.m., beloved by Bergamo audiences and those from all over Italy and beyond, will be opened by the duo formed by double bass ace Dave Holland and Lionel Loueke, one of the most innovative guitarists to appear on the jazz scene in recent decades. A thick artistic pair that will serve as “openers” to the Wayne Shorter Legacy, namely pianist Danilo Pérez, double bassist John Patitucci, drummer Brian Blade and, in the role of special guests, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, musicians who certainly do not need much introduction.
The evening of Saturday, 22, will also feature an authentic supergroup, The Cookers, seven veterans of endless battles to the tune of all-out jazz, with deep roots in the past but well grounded in the language of the present: trumpeters Eddie Henderson and David Weiss, saxophonists Azar Lawrence and Donald Harrison, pianist George Cables, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Billy Hart.
The Cookers’ concert will be preceded by that of the most international of Italian jazz musicians, Enrico Rava. The trumpeter and flugelhornist, former Artistic Director of Bergamo Jazz from 2012 to 2015, will lead his “Fearless Five,” a lineup that won Musica Jazz monthly’s “Top Jazz 2024” as the best Italian group aligning trombonist Matteo Paggi, guitarist Francesco Diodati, double bassist Francesco Ponticelli and drummer Evita Polidoro.
On Sunday 23, the last evening at the Donizetti will be marked by the first appearance on the stage of the city’s main theater by guitarist Marc Ribot and the return after ten years of one of the most charismatic female voices, Dianne Reeves. Marc Ribot, among the most imaginative six-string specialists, will perform at the head of his brand new quartet “Hurry Red Telephone” – with Ava Mendoza on guitar, Sebastian Steinberg on double bass and Chad Taylor on drums – promising out-of-the-box sounds. The Detroit singer will then set the final seal on Bergamo Jazz 2025 together with her well-rehearsed band that fields Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo, among others.
New season tickets on sale from January 14. Tickets for individual evenings on sale from January 28.
Jazz at the Social
There will be two appointments at the Teatro Sociale in Città Alta, the first of which, on the evening of Thursday, March 20 (always at 8:30 p.m.,) will first feature the “Tributes” trio of pianist Antonio Faraò, a highly experienced musician who is also highly appreciated abroad, and who for this first appearance at Bergamo Jazz will be assisted by double bassist Ameen Saleem and drummer Jeff Ballard, former partner of Chick Corea and Brad Mehldau. Next, in an Italian exclusive, will be Lizz Wright, among the most intense black voices of today who, thanks to a marked interpretive strength, best reflect the African-American cultural humus moving naturally between jazz, blues, gospel, songwriting.
On Sunday 23 (at 5 p.m.) Bergamo Jazz 2025 will broaden its horizons by offering a formidable trio that draws its lifeblood from the blend of improvisation, experimental rock and more, as well as from the extraordinary instrumental mastery of its members. Stick Men, that’s the name of the group, will feature bassist and ultimate Stick virtuoso Tony Levin, a trusted man of Peter Gabriel and many others, as well as a member of various editions of King Crimson from 1981 onward, German guitarist Markus Reuter and drummer Pat Mastelotto, whom most know from hearing him in the last editions of King Crimson themselves.
Tickets on sale from January 14.
Jazz In The City
Bergamo Jazz once again enters small theaters and museums to offer precious musical performances, often considered by both national and foreign press as among the most artistically stimulating offerings of the Festival. Opening the series of concerts scattered around the city will be, on Thursday, March 20, at the Teatro Sant’Andrea in Via Porta Dipinta (5 p.m.), Cuban pianist Aruán Ortiz, from whose fingers flows a musicality in which Afro-Caribbean tradition meets the most advanced jazz. The same venue for the concert on Sunday 23 (11 a.m.) will feature English double bassist Barry Guy, a historic exponent of the boldest improvised music, and Catalan pianist Jordina Millà: the two musicians recently released the album Live In Munich for ECM. The Auditorium in Freedom Square will also be the setting for two dates, both marked by as many “mixed” groups, both in terms of genre and geographical origin, with some leading names in the new wave of British Jazz in the spotlight: La Via del Ferro (Friday 21, 5 p.m.) and pianist Alexander Hawkins ‘ Dialect Quintet (Saturday 22, 5 p.m.).
The former, highly praised by renowned deejay and producer Gilles Peterson, is a quartet that includes London-based saxophonist Alex Htchcock, New Zealand-born drummer Myele Manzanza and two Italian musicians based in the British capital, Roman keyboardist Maria Chiara Argirò and Tuscan bassist Michelangelo Scandroglio. Hawkins, already well-known to Bergamo Jazz audiences, will have Argentine saxophonist Camila Nebbia, guitarist Giacomo Zanus, double bassist Ferdinando Romano and Bergamo drummer Francesca Remigi by his side.
Still on the 22nd, but at the Carrara Academy and at 11 a.m., the duo of accordionist Sara Calvanelli and violinist Virginia Sutera is on the lineup: a performance that promises a continuous improvisational flow immersed in a dimension that is at times meditative and suspended, at times playful and dancing.
Another first for Italy, on Sunday 23 at Sala Piatti (3 p.m.) will be the piano duo of Greek Tania Giannouli and Swiss Nik Bärtsch, among the most interesting pianists on the Old Continent’s musical scene: again, it will be improvisation that will act as a trait d’union to a musical dialogue that will not skimp on sound surprises.
Tickets for all these concerts will go on sale starting January 28.
Sparks of Jazz
Scintille di Jazz is the review, almost a small festival within the big festival, that for years Bergamo Jazz has dedicated, with the artistic advice of Tino Tracanna, to young talent. Five concerts are on the bill distributed in various venues, starting with Circolino di Città Alta, which on Thursday 20 (double set: 6 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.) will feature saxophonist Gianluca Zanello‘s Kairos Trio in action. New entry for Scintille di Jazz 2025 is the Legami Sushi&More restaurant, a venue located in the heart of Sentierone, where Friday 21 (6:30 pm) will feature the duo of saxophonist
Another unprecedented location for Scintille di Jazz will be, this year, NXT Bergamo in Piazzale degli Alpini: this is where the two 11 p.m. “After Festival” events will take place, featuring the Yugen Maki group of Bergamo saxophonist Nicholas Lecchi (Friday 21) and the quartet of double bassist Roberto Mattei (Saturday 22).
Intesa Sanpaolo is Special Partner of the Sparks of Jazz section.
All concerts are free admission subject to availability. Reservations are recommended.
Jazz and cinema: Bergamo Film Meeting inaugurates Bergamo Jazz
The connection between jazz and cinema is renewed with the passing of the baton between Bergamo Film Meeting and Bergamo Jazz. Two events are scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday, March 16, the final day of Bergamo Film Meeting: the screening of the film The Knife in the Water, Roman Polański ‘s first feature film, with music by pianist Krzysztof Komeda (3:15 p.m.); the soundtrack by bassist Danilo Gallo of Ernst Lubitsch ‘s film Kohlhiesels Töchter (Two Sisters) from 1920 (5:30 p.m.).
Let’s meet jazz
This year again, CDpM Europe offers a series of meetings for primary and secondary school students as part of Bergamo Jazz, scheduled at the Auditorium in Piazza della Libertà: with these concert-lessons, Bergamo Jazz aims to bring younger generations closer to a music rich in history and content, which is precisely jazz.
In the mornings between Tuesday, March 18 and Thursday, March 20, secondary school students will be introduced to theArt of Improvisation through the work of jazz greats. A group formed by pianist
Water Itinerary
Back on Saturday, March 22 and Sunday, March 23, Itinerario dell’acqua, an evocative initiative created together with Uniacque, one of the main partners of the Donizetti Theater Foundation and Bergamo Jazz, designed to let people discover or rediscover some of the most beautiful corners of Città Alta. On both days, departing at 8:45 a.m., it will be possible to walk along streets and alleys for about 3 km: 15 stops, including cisterns, fountains, the historic washhouse on Via Mario Lupo and other sites, starting from Colle Aperto and arriving at the Serbatoio di Sant’Agostino, at one of the most famous and popular Gates of Access to the Upper City.
International Jazz Day
On Wednesday, April 30, as has been the case for several years, Bergamo Jazz will celebrate International Jazz Day with a highly symbolic event near the Walls of Bergamo, a UNESCO-protected property that has sponsored International Jazz Day itself since 2011. At dusk, in a location that will be revealed only close to the concert, pianist
Music and dance
Still on the subject of interweaving with other arts, this year’s partnership with Festival Danza Estate will be renewed, with a performance featuring dancer Fabritia D’Intino and musician Agnese Banti.
