17th international jazz festival ongoing in Almaty
This is the 17th Festival which was established by its irreplaceable manager Tagir Zaripov, also Director of Jazz School and head of Almaty Youth Jazz Band.
This year musicians from 7 countries of the world have come to take part in the Festival - Germany, France, Austria, Israel, Spain, Italy and Hungary. Kazakhstan is represented by four bands - Almaty Youth Jazz Band, Trio of Dmitry Sevastyanov, NasiafromAsia and a Shymkent band "Sunny City".
"All the musicians who have been coming for all 17 years are always top class masters. We never negotiate with embassies who they should bring. The jazz school and the festival are of the same age and I am happy to see the progress which has happened to us during this period," Tagir Zaripov said.
The festival was opened by the Israeli musicians like last year. In 2017, Israel was represented by Leonid Ptashka and his ensemble. This time it was Yogev Shetrit Trio of a pianist, a contrabassist and a drummer. Their music is based on neoclassic, but as each of their composition evolves there comes jazz, the arrangement becomes more sophisticated, each of the participants improvise their own style. The musicians say they seek inspiration from the surrounding world.
"All of our compositions are original. Some of them are devoted to children, others - to parents and close people. You can hear the tones of different nations almost in every composition. There are tones of Andalusia and Marocco in one of the compositions, where I tried to communicate the scent of childhood - couscous. At times we get inspiration from tours. There is a composition evoked by the impressions of Guatemala. It is the second time we perform in Kazakhstan. Last year, we performed in Astana at Israel EXPO pavilion. The people here are very kind. Perhaps, next time we will play a composition which will be inspired by the memories of Kazakhstan," said the band leader and drummer Yogev Shetrit.
The performance of strong-voiced Peli Barn from Hungary was a total contrast of the Israeli musicians. Like an orchestra man he managed to play guitar, did beatboxing and tapped out tunes with his foot and sang.
"Jazz is starting to be a popular trend worldwide. It was born in the USA and has no limits now. European jazz has especially many directions, like ethno-jazz, folk-jazz and many mixed trends. When foreign guests come here they get to know the culture of Kazakhstan and get admired by our musicians, and it is really important to us," manager of the International Jazz Festival Karlygash Makatova noted.
There are three festival days ahead for Almaty residents. On March 31st there will be a synthesis of jazz and Spanish flamenco. On April 1st it will be the performance of jazz and French chanson.