Zgrabi Zvok Combo
petek, 7. 7.
The Zgrabi Zvok (Grab the Sound) jazz summer school has been part of MareziJazz for several years. In the week before the festival, musicians improve their skills in various areas: individual lessons for their instruments, various theoretical subjects, jam sessions, and of course playing together. Last year's edition of Zgrabi Zvok for the first time produced a smaller band that opened MareziJazz; this year we are repeating the exercise. This time, two combos will start Friday night. Musicians will present the program that they are going to learn during the five-day workshop.
Zgrabi Zvok Big Band
petek, 7. 7.
This year's summer jazz workshop brings yet another interesting surprise to the stage with the most beautiful view. Since Zgrabi Zvok is a child project of MareziJazz, the organizers had the idea of forming an orchestra from the very beginning. This year, for the first time, the workshop will unite a larger number of participants into a big band, which will also perform on the festival stage. Musicians will play a program that they will learn during the week. These arrangements were prepared especially for this occasion by mentor and conductor Sandi Štor.
Jazz Punt Big Band
petek, 7. 7.
Jazz Punt Big Band was founded in 2005 and has since performed over 200 concerts in Slovenia and abroad. Amongst its many achievements, JPBB received outstanding international recognition at two international big band contests, in Hungary in 2013, and Czech Republic in 2015. Members of the big band won gold in both contests and scored the highest number of points among the contenders. In celebration of their 10th anniversary in 2015, JPBB launched a new and highly successful repertoire A Tribute to The Beatles, which has been performed in over 25 concerts, and culminated in the release of their first album. JPBB has also performed at the famous Nišville Jazz Festival in Serbia, and Big Band Festival Šiauliai in Lithuania, to mention a few. In the year of their 15th anniversary, the big band has prepared new concert materials, dedicated to the legendary band Queen, and entitled We Will Rock You.
Since its beginnings, Jazz Punt Big Band has been led by the creative leader and member of the band, Matija Mlakar (trombone), and in 2010, JPBB was joined by Tanja Srednik, a jazz vocalist. Throughout the 15 years, JPBB has collaborated with numerous guest performers, such as the renowned artists Mia Žnidarič, Uroš Perić, Ana Bezjak, Boštjan Gombač, Mike Sponza, Karin Zemljič, Blaž Vrbič and Jaša Šaban. The name, Jazz Punt Big Band, reflects both the members’ love of jazz music, and their affiliation to their hometown of Tolmin, famous for the great peasant uprising (“punt”) in 1713.
Big Band of the Medical Faculty UL
petek, 7. 7.
Ljubljana Medical Faculty Big Band is a standard jazz ensemble established in 2008. Most of their members study medicine in Ljubljana but among them are also some students from other faculties and some young doctors. They play mainly big band standards as well as the most notable Slovenian and international pop songs. Every year they perform at events organised by their faculty (e.g. Students’ concerts, Summer get-together of students and staff), they organise the traditional Christmas and annual concerts and play at various other events. They never charge an admission fee for their concerts because they want to make their music accessible to a wider audience.
Jazz Combo of Waldorf School LJ
sobota, 8. 7.
Once the first saxophone quartet of the Waldorf Music School Ljubljana, which later added a rhythm section (drums, bass, piano), it has expanded over the years to include other instruments. The ensemble, which changes a little every year as new students come and old ones leave. It brings together students (including some interested teachers) of the Waldorf School Ljubljana who are interested in the mysteries of jazz and improvisation, and above all want to play music together as much as possible. The ensemble has been flirting with the music of Frank Zappa every now and then for a few years, but this year it has dedicated all its time to this remarkable composer and has prepared a concert programme to mark the 30th anniversary of his untimely passing. The programme consists mainly of tracks from two of Frank's landmark albums, Hot Rats and The Grand Wazoo, with arrangements by Žiga Fabbro. The ensemble is led by Jan Jarni and Žiga Fabbro.
Bend-it! Orchestra
sobota, 8. 7.
Bend it! Orchestra is a big band from Marezige, which is a part of the Marezige Youth Association. It started its activities at the initiative of Taja Pajmon Rak in March 2018 and initially played music under the artistic direction of the internationally renowned saxophonist Lovro Ravbar, and in August 2022, the young trained jazz trumpeter Primož Štefančič took his place.
Members of Bend-it! Orchestra are both professional and student musicians, which enables mutual transfer of knowledge and energy, which the musicians feel when playing together. This energy and a visible love for making music is what impresses their audience again and again. Despite its short run, Bend-it! Orchestra is not limited by genre and performs on smaller and larger stages at home and abroad. Their greatest success so far is the performance at the international festival FIMU Belfort (France), where they played on one of the 16 stages and impressed a large crowd of listeners under the stage for two consecutive nights.
En Big Band
sobota, 8. 7.
En big band, which was founded in the spring of 2014, tries to bring live big band and other music to the public by performing music of various genres. The members are both established professional musicians and trained music lovers who began their musical education in Slovenian Istria. En big band started its musical journey with standard works by well-known artists. In the future, they strive to prepare a modern repertoire of both Slovenian and foreign composers and arrangers, with the vision of giving young talents, composers, arrangers, and soloists the opportunity to present themselves and their musical message to the public through concert projects and album recordings.
At the beginning, En big band was led by academic musician and trumpet teacher Mitja Bobič. In 2017, professional jazz musician Sandi Štor took over this role. After the art high school in Koper, he continued his education in the Netherlands, where he graduated in jazz trumpet in Groningen. He is also an arranger, composer, conductor and music teacher and works with several ensembles in various musical genres. In addition, in 2018 he founded the JazzObala school, the first jazz education school in Primorska.
En big band has already collaborated with many well-known Slovenian singers (Vlado Kreslin, Elda Viler, Rudi Bučar, Lea Sirk, Anika Horvat, Tulio Furlanič, Žiga Rustja, Eva Hren, Aleks Volasko). In 2019, they carried out the very successful project “En Big Band is looking for your talent”. On the wings of this project, they decided to repeat it and expand the call for singers to instrumentalists - jazz improvisation and composers/arrangers. In 2020, En big band has set itself a new challenge, namely a program of music from cartoons that brings listeners great joy and nostalgia for carefree childhood years.
In 2022, they have prepared a program of new compositions for a big band by Slovenian authors. The compositions were contributed by: Ljudmila Frelih, Ema Marušič, Blaž Pahor, Tomi Purič, Jernej Vindšnurer, Zmago Štih, Robert Vatovec, Sandi Štor and Žan Lešnik. Thus, En big band actively supports Slovenian authors in their composing work. In 2023, En big band organized the third project “En big band is looking for your talent”, which brought 5 new compositions and arrangements for big band of Slovenian composers. They were presented to the public for the first time at a concert this June.
Big Band Theory
sobota, 8. 7.
Big Band Theory is an orchestral formation that brings together musicians with long experience in various groups and musical genres. They share the desire to offer the public a quality and highly original product. The formation follows the classic jazz big band (saxophones, trumpets, trombones, piano, keyboard, guitar, bass, drums and voices) and offers famous songs with a pop, funk and rock imprint, with unpublished arrangements written by the artistic director of the Big Band Renato Rinaldi.
Among the songs in their repertoire, just to name a few, they have Runaway Baby (Bruno Mars), Faith (Steve Wonder), You know my name (Chris Cornel), Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N'Roses), Imagine (John Lennon), Still Loving You (Scorpions), Castle of Glass (Linkin Park), Knock on Wood (Amii Stewart), Whiskey In The Jar (vrs. Metallica), Call Me (Blondie), You Shook Me All Night Long (Ac/Dc), The Power of Love (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) and many more… The repertoire is enriched by saxophones, trumpets, trombones, keyboards, guitar and drum solos.
In recent years Big Band Theory has played at MareziJazz and also in other prestigious locations: Trieste - Piazza Verdi (Trieste Summer); Castle of San Giusto (Trieste Summer); Orazio Bobbio Theater; Franco and Franca Basaglia Theater (Lunatico Festival); Udine - Fair City; Palamostre Theatre; Lignano Sabbiadoro (UD) - Giovanni Bosco Park; Cortina d'Ampezzo (BL) - Piazza Angelo Dibona (Fèŝta de ra Bàndes); Muggia (TS) - Piazza Marconi; Ljubljana (Slovenia) - New Square; Bibione (VE) - Piazza Fontana; Treviso Square; Municipal Park/Arena; Lighthouse.