MEDIA RELEASE Jazz and fado music will be filling the air at the Avantgarde Jazz Festival this weekend Zagreb, July 4, 2012 – The cycle of July concerts of the 2nd Avantgarde Jazz Festival begins on Friday, July 6, in Maistra’s hotel Eden with a concert of a great jazz trio, The Bad Plus, and a day later, on July 7, the same stage will host Ana Moura, one of the most popular and best contemporary fado singers. Ivo Perkušić Band will perform the opening act for Ana Moura. The Bad Plus band consisting of a bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer David King is undoubtedly one of the greatest jazz successes of the last decade that has transcended the framework of jazz music with their albums: These Are The Vistas (2003), Suspicious Activity? (2005) and Prog (2007). Since their debut album, the band has been constantly touring, playing and creating a diverse and ecstatic hybrid audience at jazz clubs, symphony halls and rock venues (they were an opening act for The Pixies, Wilco, etc.) in the U.S. and worldwide. A catalogue of disparate impacts which The Bad Plus brings to the stage through original compositions and numerous remakes is a triumphant combination. This is not a jazz trio for which "the rock influence" simply means to play loudly or refer to Led Zeppelin, Nirvana and The Pixies. Along with deep experience of writing and performing in several genres, these guys are clever and bold improvisators with the ability to build, distort, destroy and rebuild and reinvent everything from the beginning, without losing the "song" out of sight. For the past ten years The Bad Plus King have broken down the walls of jazz convention and created an uncompromising body of work. Few jazz groups have recently amassed such acclaim, and few have inspired such controversy. Their faith in the band ethos and their personal brand of avantgarde populism have put them at the forefront of a new instrumental music movement, drawing audiences both traditional and mainstream. Ana Moura is the first Portuguese singer who performed in the famous Carnegie Hall in New York and the youngest to ever be nominated for one of the prestigious awards of the world music scene, the Edison Award. She was born in Santarem, the bustling capital of the Ribatejo province in the centre of Portugal's heartland on the Tejo River northeast of Lisbon. This city of half a million souls is also one of the historically richest cities of Portugal - an ideal place to develop an appreciation for fado. Growing up in a family of musicians, she has sung fado since her childhood and, like every ambitious faddist, in the beginning she found inspiration in singers like Amalia Rodrigues, the celebrated singer who has become synonymous with the whole style. She has emerged as a leading voice of traditional fado just as the venerable idiom is enjoying a renaissance of popularity. Today, Ana Moura is one of the most famous fado singers in the world. She is a frequent guest at jazz festivals, has performed with many famous artists including the Rolling Stones in 2007, with whom she recorded two songs “No Expectations” and “Brown Sugar”, and Prince in 2009. She has published four solo albums, and the audience in Rovinj will have an opportunity to enjoy the songs from her album “Leva-me aos Fados”, released in 2009. 1 Ivo Perkušić Band will perform the opening act for Ana Moura fronted by an actor and TV host, Ivo Perkušić, accompanied by the guitar playing of Joe Pandur, Milo Stavros on drums and Pavle Sviličić on mandoloncello. Since his enrollment at the Academy of Dramatic Art, Ivo Perkušić took seriously his singing lessons and has performed in numerous theater plays and musicals. During his musical career, he has become particularly attached to the Portuguese music and fado. In his own specific way, he represents male faddists and their rich tradition of singing. Melodiousness of the Portuguese language is for him the music in itself, and fado draws him with its great strength and deep poetic messages. Concerts start at 9:30 pm, entrance allowed from 8:00 pm. Tickets for the concerts of The Bad Plus and Ana Moura can be purchased at Maistra hotels: Monte Mulini, Lone, Eden, Park and Adriatic and at all Eventim points of sale, as well as online at www.eventim.hr. Ticket price for the concert by The Bad Plus Band is HRK 100.00 (standing ticket) and HRK 150.00 (seating ticket), and for Ana Moura HRK 150.00 (standing ticket) and HRK 250.00 (seating ticket). This year, Avantgarde Jazz Festival offers a special 20% discount on the regular ticket price for guests who book their accommodation in Maistra hotels. The second edition of the Avantgarde Jazz Festival, with Maistra as its general sponsor will again this year provide the audience a series of musical treats over a three-month period at various locations. McBride Trio, Yellowjackets, 3 Cohens Sextet, John Scofield's Hollowbody Band, The Tierney Sutton Band are the names that we have already seen and heard in this year's edition of the Avantgarde Jazz Festival, but the top music program also continues throughout July. A week after The Bad Plus Band and Ana Moura, on Saturday July 14, in Maistra’s hotel Eden there will be a concert by one of the greatest living jazz singers in the world, Kurt Elling, accompanied by Charlie Hunter, while on Sunday, July 15, Omar Sosa Afreecanos Quartet will perform on that same stage fronted by a composer and a pianist Omar Sosa. The 2nd Avantgarde Jazz Festival will be concluded on July 22 by the performance of the band Playing for Change in Maistra’s hotel Eden. At the upcoming concerts of the Avantgarde Jazz Festival, the audience will have the opportunity to enjoy not only music, but also the delights of Vina Laguna. After tasting the wines, they will easily understand the meaning of their slogan: "Lightness of being in Istria", and as a special gift, Vina Laguna will award the luckiest and most loyal wine enthusiast with one quadruple bottle of wine. Avantgarde Jazz Festival is supported by: Maistra, Rovinj Tourist Board and Zagrebačka banka Media coverage: Jutarnji list, Glas Istre, Novi list, Gloria, Soundset, Tportal.hr, Pulski.hr, HRT Radio Pula hr. Upcoming concerts of the 2nd Avantgarde Jazz Festival: 14/7/2012 Kurt Elling / Charlie Hunter / Hotel Eden / 9.30 pm 15/7/2012 Omar Sosa Afreecanos Quartet / Hotel Eden / 9.30 pm 22/7/2012 Playing for Change / Hotel Eden / 9.30 pm 2 FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: www.avantgardejazzfestival.com The Bad Plus www.thebadplus.com YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9hOSZGMXlI Ana Moura www.anamoura.com.pt YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o066bAwbt0&feature=plcp Official press photos: Wetransfer MEDIA CONTACT: Nikolina Putica +385 99 3158 197 press@avantgardejazzfestival.com 3