Programme

Undoubtedly one of the most progressive ensembles we’ll see at JazzFestBrno 2025. This trio of British musicians formed in Norway in 2012 and quickly gained a reputation for its unique blend of jazz and electronics.

 

The band consists of Jordan Smart on saxophone, Nick Smart on keyboards, and Jesse Barrett on drums and tabla. Just a year after forming, they signed with Gondwana Records, where they have since released five critically acclaimed albums, the latest being Gift from the Trees from 2023. Their unique sound has received enthusiastic endorsements from respected yet diverse figures such as Bonobo, Tom Ravenscroft, Jamie Cullum, and Gilles Peterson.

Mammal Hands draw inspiration from jazz, contemporary classical music, electronics, and minimalism, citing influences like Pharoah Sanders, Gétachèw Mekurya, Terry Riley, and Steve Reich. Yet, beneath all these acknowledged influences, they have crafted their own inimitable style, to which all three members contribute equally, expanding and deepening it with each album.

Mammal Hands’ intense and hypnotic live performances have garnered wide acclaim in Japan, China, the USA, Canada, Thailand, and across Europe. They have performed at such renowned venues as The Barbican in London, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Modern Skylab in Shanghai, Cologne’s Philharmonie, La Cigale in Paris, and at prestigious festivals in Montreux and Montreal. Now, JazzFestBrno will join that list.

In the context of the JazzFestBrno festival, we have pianist Sullivan Fortner fixed especially from 2022, when he accompanied American singer Cécile McLorin Salvant in an absolutely congenial way. His playing was already so great then that it was only a matter of time before the festival invited him to play a leading role.

 

“Sullivan Fortner, in a casual suit and hat, resembled what was originally called a hipster, a pronounced ‘cool’ dude, looking like he’d skipped to the piano from the bar with unfinished drinking of a cocktail. He was looking into the auditorium, smiling, bantering with his employer like a high-schooler, and just like that, complete wonders were flying from under his fingers through the keys to the ears of the audience. He calmly interspersed the old jazz stride piano technique with romantic runs inspired by classical music, the swinging cabaret or chanson style with modern meditations of the Mehldau type, and he was not afraid of pronounced shenanigans that went beyond the common practice in the field, ” gushed the reviewer of Sullivan Fortner’s concert in Brno with Cécile McLorin Salvant, a creative duo that still works well today, both in concert and on recordings, where the ensemble of musicians is generally expanded and the style of the music goes beyond standard song jazz.

The thirty-seven year old artist was amazingly lucky in where and to whom he was born. Because being born in New Orleans and having the choir director of a Baptist church for a mother just can’t “not leave a mark”. Sullivan started playing the piano at age four and by age seven was already playing the organ publicly at his mom’s church. He honed his innate talent through systematic instruction, culminating in a master’s degree from New York’s Manhattan School of Music.

His first truly professional residency was a year in the band of vibraphonist Stefon Harris, from which he moved in 2010 to the quintet of the famous trumpeter Roy Hargrove, behind whose back he sat practically until the bandleader’s untimely death in 2018. The year before, however, he had already made his first appearance on record in the company of Cecile McLorin Salvant, with whom he had already recorded two albums as a main partner. At the same time his name can also be read in the credits of albums by other artists, not just jazz artists, such as Paul Simon’s In the Blue Light.

Of course, Sullivan Fortner is carefully building his solo career. He made his debut in 2015 with the album Aria, which he recorded as a quartet for the highly acclaimed label Impulse! Each subsequent album has been different, moving towards a kind of personal minimalism that culminated in his most recent release to date, last year’s Solo Game, which he recorded all by himself on a range of acoustic and electric keyboards, drums and a number of other instruments. This time, however, Sullivan Fortner will come to Brno as part of a trio, with which he will show his great strength, which we already know from his last performance in Brno: perfect player empathy and 100% listening to his partners on stage.

In the world of orchestral jazz, few figures are as widely respected as American conductor and composer Maria Schneider. She is practically revered by everyone for whom the big band form didn’t die with Gil Evans.

 

In fact, this legendary innovator of large ensemble sound was a significant mentor to the now 63-year-old artist. Maria Schneider collaborated with Gil Evans after successfully completing studies at several arts colleges, working as his assistant on the last major projects of his life: the tour with Sting and the music for the film The Color of Money.

She founded her first ensemble shortly after Gil Evans passed away in 1988, but it was short-lived. In 1992, the Maria Schneider Orchestra was born, a group that still exists today, even though its leader regularly guest conducts with various ensembles worldwide. Her primary work in composition, arrangement, and conducting naturally falls under her own label. The entire music world respects her in this regard, a recognition formally reflected in her numerous Grammy nominations and wins. She has collected nearly ten Grammys, not counting many other awards.

Maria Schneider won two Grammys – for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album and Best Instrumental Composition – and also earned a nomination for the equally prestigious Pulitzer Prize for her 2020 album Data Lords. The album consists of two parts, The Digital World and The Natural World, with some pieces commissioned by the U.S. Library of Congress. In these compositions, Schneider reflects on the contrast between the natural world and the world of technology, which increasingly impacts each of our lives through digital giants who profit from the data we provide. Her music in this project, like the modern world, is full of contrasts – vivid yet incredibly cohesive.

During her 2025 European tour, Maria Schneider will primarily present pieces from Data Lords, conducting the Norwegian Oslo Jazzensemble, with whom she has collaborated for a decade and premiered some pieces from Data Lords in 2018.

Sometimes it happens that a young virtuoso emerges, shines brightly, and then fades away. The Italian guitarist Matteo Mancuso, who operates in the realms of jazz, rock, and funk fusion, is still relatively young, yet he has been on the scene long enough to prove that the hopes placed in him are not misplaced.

 

“His improvisational skills are light years ahead of the rest of us,” says Al Di Meola, praising Mancuso. “I was absolutely blown away when I heard Matteo. The future of guitar is in the hands of people like him,” adds Steve Vai. Another heavyweight, Joe Bonamassa, chimes in: “I’ve never seen anything like it; it feels like he’s invented a new instrument!”

Matteo Mancuso began playing at the age of ten, taught by his father, a professional guitarist, and just a year later, the young six-string prodigy started performing. Originally from Palermo, Sicily, he trained primarily in Italy, earning a diploma in jazz guitar, and he also completed a scholarship stay at Boston’s Berklee College of Music.

His first band was Snips, a fusion power trio formed in 2017, which created original music and reinterpreted funk and jazz classics. Their rendition of Pee Wee Ellis’s instrumental The Chicken, posted on YouTube, went viral with over two million views. Other similar covers, like Allan Holdsworth’s Fred and Chick Corea’s Spain, also gained substantial attention.

Three years later, Matteo formed the Trio, which performed at European festivals and even toured in the United States. With bassist Stefano India and drummer Giuseppe Bruno, Mancuso recorded his first album, Journey, last year, featuring all-original material that highlights his masterful fingerstyle playing, entirely without a pick, reminiscent of classical or flamenco guitar techniques.

It’s remarkable how many famous guitar virtuosos in jazz, rock, and fusion have Italian roots – often we don’t even realize it: Joe Pass, Frank Zappa, Al Di Meola, Steve Vai, John Pizzarelli, Joe Satriani, John Frusciante, and John Petrucci. By now, it’s clear that the next in this line is Matteo Mancuso – and we’re fortunate to have the chance to witness him at the peak of his ascent.

Asi by stačilo říct, že je držitelkou pěti cen Grammy v oboru jazzového zpěvu, a nebylo by třeba nic dodávat. Tolika poctami certifikované hrdlo jaksi hovoří samo za sebe. A nejen hovoří, hlavně brilantně zpívá.

 

Hudba byl pro Dianne Reeves osud daný do kolébky, narodila se do rodiny, kde byl muzikant, kam oko dohlédlo – otec zpěvák, matka trumpetistka, strýcem byl Chares Burrell, kontrabasista nejen jazzový, ale proslulý i tím, že jako vůbec první Afroameričan byl členem významné americké filharmonie (konkrétně denverské). A aby toho nebylo málo, bratrancem byl slavný klávesista a zpěvák George Duke. Ten také produkoval zpěvaččino první album po podepsání smlouvy s významnou firmou Blue Note, za které byla poprvé nominována na Grammy a vystřelilo ji dokonce na první místo jazzového žebříčku. Hudebně se pohybovalo mezi moderním jazzem, R&B, soulem a fusion, to nejen díky producentovi, ale i muzikantům, které na nahrávání sezval, mezi nimiž byly takové hvězdy jako Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams nebo Stanley Clarke.

V té době už měla Dianne Reeves za sebou řadu zkušeností. Zpívat a hrát na klavír začala v patnácti letech, v roce 1971, byla členkou středoškolské kapely, ze které si ji „k sobě“ vytáhl trumpetista Clark Terry. Po vystudování klasického zpěvu na coloradské universitě se přestěhovala do jednoho z hlavních měst showbusinessu Los Angeles, kde pracovala v klubech mj. se saxofonistou Stanleym Turrentinem nebo pianistou Billym Childsem. Ještě před podpisem smlouvy s Blue Note vydala u malých labelů tři alba coby jakousi předehru k velké kariéře.

Tu lemuje pět Grammy. Tři z nich dokonce za po sobě bezprostředně následující alba, což je v jazzové kapegorii naprosté unikum: živá nahrávka In The Moment – Live In Concert vyšla v roce 2000, pocta slavné kolegyni The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan rok poté a komorní album jazzových standardů A Little Moonlight v roce 2003. Další pak získal soundtrack k filmu Good Night and Good Luck, který v roce 2005 režíroval George Clooney a získal šest nominací na Oscara. A zatím poslední gramofoonek jí spadl do klína v roce 2015 za zatím poslední titul Beautiful Life, moderně orientované, zčásti autorské a zčásti složené z možná pro leckoho překvapivých coververzí Boba Marleyho, Ani DiFranco, Stevie Nicks nebo Esperanzy Spalding.

Kritika o Dianne Reeves říká, že je – pro svoje rozkročení mezi žánry – nástupkyní ve své době podobně neortodoxní Dinah Washington, oceňuje na ní mimořádný vkus, vždy dobrý výběr skladeb, hluboký ponor do textů, ale také vynikající smysl pro improvizaci a dokonalou scatovou techniku. Toho všeho si nepochybně v Sono Centru užijeme dosyta.

One of the most iconic personalities of the contemporary jazz scene, personifying its variability and interconnectedness with other genres, proving that if there is one thing current jazz is not, it is an unexciting soundtrack to the coffee of aunts sitting on spa colonnades.

 

Kamasi Washington routinely performs not only at jazz festivals, but also at gigantic multi-genre events that predict the direction of musical events, such as Barcelona’s Primavera Sound, England’s Glastonbury or America’s Coachella. He fits the bill perfectly, with his always visually stocky physique and even more robust tenor saxophone tone, leading a brilliantly orchestrated pack of musicians reminiscent of a street gang.

Kamasi Washington’s music is unclassifiable; on the one hand, he plays bold and nimble improvisations with a funk edge that could be easily played by Sly And The Family Stone or Miles Davis in their respective eras; on the other hand, he is literally a musical architect who has made use of a massive orchestral sound as well as techniques reminiscent of psychedelic music on his conceptual, mostly three-hour-long album projects The Epic (2015) and Heaven and Earth (2018).

Anyway, Kamasi Washington’s musical roots are basically jazz, but before he literally kicked down the door to the major leagues of the genre, he played with musicians more in the hip hop and electronica realm – he was already friends with progressive black music personality Thundercat during his studies, he has since recorded with the rapper Snoop Dogg and producer Flying Lotus, and the first truly “big album” on which we could notice  his name was Kendrick Lamar’s hip-hop masterpiece To Pimp a Butterfly (2015). On the edge of jazz and other subgenres of black music is the “supergroup” Dinner Party, which he formed in 2020 with keyboardist Robert Glasper, multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin and DJ and producer 9th Wonder.

In May this year, Kamasi Washington’s new album Fearless Movement will be released, featuring, among others, the famous rapper André 3000 and the godfather of funk, the eighty-two-year-old George Clinton. Before the release, Washington let the world know that it would be a dance album, which scared some listeners. “When I say dance, I don’t mean it literally. To me, dance is something that expresses the movement of the human spirit, so it’s actually kind of music. And that’s what I’m going for on the album,” the saxophonist put his statement into perspective.

The album was marked by two things – the fact that some of its material was written during the covid pandemic and the protagonist, in his own words, became aware of his own mortality, and on the other hand, the joyous fact that he became a father to a daughter at the same time. At her age of two he was already playing her his favourite masters, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Erik Dolphy. “I wanted to show her the best music,” he says. He adds that he then sat down at the piano with his daughter and based on a motif she kept strumming over and over again, Asha The First was created for the album.

In Kamasi Washington comes to JazzFestBrno another of the key and highly topical personalities who are now and therefore writing the history of jazz and in a few decades they will be the main chapters of every, even the most superficial study of music historians.

When we say that Jojo Mayer is one of the fifty greatest drummers of all time, it’s not just promotional fluff. This position was certified by the ranking of the most respected industry magazine, Modern Drummer, in 2014.

 

Although he was born in Switzerland, which isn’t exactly a jazz powerhouse – aside from the Montreux Festival, of course – he had a solid musical foundation in his family. His parents allowed him to start drumming on a toy kit at the age of two, and before he could fully find his musical joy, he was already sitting on the drummer’s stool in his father’s band; his father was a professional bassist. At eighteen, he landed his first professional engagement with the band of Jamaican jazz pianist Monty Alexander, with whom he toured prominent European festivals and even had one-off performances with stars like Dizzy Gillespie and Nina Simone.

Jojo Mayer realized that his vision for music, as he heard it in his head, would be best realized in the United States, specifically in New York, where he moved. He quickly became known as a “first call sideman,” a musician who is the first to be called when his instrument is needed for a recording or concert band. Although he remained inspired by his major influences, Tony Williams, Jack DeJohnette, and Buddy Rich, he gradually began developing his own technique, which he could apply to more rhythmic, dance-oriented music that fuses jazz, drum and bass, and jungle into a cohesive whole.

In 1997, Jojo Mayer founded the band Nerve, the cornerstone of his artistic career. Together with bassist John Davis, keyboardist Jacob Bergson, and sound engineer Aaron Nevezie, he created a completely original musical vision that naturally blends programmed music styles with jazz improvisation. The band’s witty motto reads: “Nerve sounds like electronic music, but it isn’t. It doesn’t sound like jazz or rock, but it is.”

Inovátor jazzového kontrabasu na konci roku 2024 vydává nové album, které slibuje nově definovat vztah kontrabasu a bicích, posune groovy na zcela novou úroveň a vytvoří svěží a nadčasový zvuk. Materiál z alba pak zazní na evropském turné ve stejné sestavě, v jaké byl nahrán.

 

Cesta mladého Izraelce z Tel Avivu ke kontrabasu nebyla přímočará, ale ani nelogická: v pěti letech se k hudbě přiblížil přes housle, z nichž po čtyřech letech přešel na kytaru, na níž mu časem učarovaly ty nejhlubší struny. A když v šestnácti vystudoval hru na baskytaru, vlastně automaticky se mu otevřel nový svět kontrabasu – který pak ještě dostudoval.

S koncertováním samozřejmě začínal v malých klubech a kavárnách, ale vcelku rychle se Adamu Ben Ezrovi dařilo proniknout do povědomí posluchačů. Hodně mu k tomu pomohl kanál YouTube – Adam Ben Ezra je jedním z dobrých příkladů, jak tuto moderní platformu použít i v jiných žánrech, než je pop. Na YouTube vydává nejen svoje koncertní záznamy s původním materiálem, ale také originálně zpracované motivy převzaté ze standardů nebo třeba filmové hudby – a u svých příspěvků má už kolem osmi milionů shlédnutí.

Od roku 2013 Adam Ben Ezra v různých formacích, ale i zcela sólově, setrvale koncertuje po Evropě i Spojených státech. Podařilo se mu vyvinout osobitý styl hry, kdy mu kontrabas zároveň slouží i jako perkusivní instrument, nebojí se ani využívání elektronických efektů a v reálném čase nahrávaných smyček. Ben Ezrovy inspirace jsou rozsáhlé, podle jeho vlastních slov sahají od Bacha a Debussyho, přes Chicka Coreu, Jaco Pastoriuse a Stinga, až po flamenco a arabskou hudbu.

K novému studiovému a následně koncertnímu projektu Heavy Drops přizval Adam Ben Ezra bubeníka Michaela Oliveru (Alfredo Rodriguez, Richard Bona). Vydavatel alba uvádí: „Díky Adamovým virtuózním kontrabasovým dovednostem a Michaelovým výjimečným bubenickým schopnostem proráží toto duo novou půdu ve svém zkoumání melodie, rytmu a improvizace a vytváří zvuk, který je skutečně fascinující.“ Máme se tedy jistě nač těšit.

Guitarist Dominic Miller exemplifies a musician who can seamlessly navigate the highest spheres of show business while also performing in small clubs for a fraction of the audience he’s accustomed to in larger venues. And not only are both types of listeners warmly receptive to him, but these audiences also often overlap significantly.

 

It’s true. There’s no denying that Dominic Miller’s long-standing creative partnership with Sting is his main credential, even in his solo career. But it’s not that simple; it undoubtedly works the other way around as well. A significant portion of Sting’s audience repeatedly attends his concerts not necessarily for a specific player but with the firm assurance that, if no other pop singer were backed by outstanding musicians, Sting always would be – thanks, in part, to Dominic Miller, who has faithfully stood behind him for over thirty years. We first saw his name in the credits of Sting’s third solo album, The Soul Cages, in 1991, and he has contributed to the entire discography up to the latest, The Bridge – not only as a guitarist but also as a composer and even the author or co-author of several hits. Sting’s recordings and concerts are simply unimaginable without Miller’s distinctly modulated, unmistakable guitar sound.

Of course, Sting isn’t the only name associated with this exceptionally inventive and thus highly sought-after guitarist. He has worked with a wide range of musicians and bands, from The Chieftains to Level 42, from Phil Collins to Youssou N’Dour, from Chris Botti to Tina Turner. His versatility as a player seems to reflect his interesting heritage and musical roots. Born to an Irish mother and an American father in Argentina, where he lived for the first ten years of his life, he then spent time in the United States before settling in England. He studied music not only in London and at Boston’s Berklee College but also took private lessons in Brazilian music.

His early solo work focused on Latin-oriented jazz, preceding his official debut album, First Touch, in 1995. Dominic Miller has since released nearly fifteen albums under his name, largely comprising his own compositions– with the exception of Shapes (2003), where he recorded guitar versions of classical works by masters like Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven. However, Miller’s primary domain is contemporary musical expression, where his unique guitar sound bridges instrumental, inherently jazz-influenced music with listeners “without a conservatory background.” In this regard, his last three albums – Silent Light, Absinthe, and Vagabond – are true gems in the catalogue of the influential ECM label.

Since leaving the Midwest in 2002 to attend the Brubeck Institute in California, bassist Joe Sanders was lucky to perform and learn alongside some of the greatest jazz figures. And the impressive journey continued: Dave Brubeck, Christian McBride, Terence Blanchard, Ron Carter, Roy Hargrove, John Clayton, Charlie Haden, Herbie Hancock, Charles Lloyd, and Wayne Shorter– an extraordinary roster by the age of forty.

 

After completing his studies at the Brubeck Institute and further training at the Thelonious Monk Institute, Sanders moved to New York in 2007. There, he continued to study through various educational programs while also becoming an active part of the jazz scene. He built rich musical and personal relationships with musicians of his generation and the still-active legends of jazz, allowing him to master both classic styles and contemporary trends in jazz.

2012 was a breakthrough year for Joe Sanders, as he released his debut solo album, Introducing Joe Sanders, on the acclaimed Criss-Cross label. A year later, he joined Charles Lloyd’s band, where Lloyd not only helped Sanders further develop his musical abilities but also expanded his understanding of the philosophical and thoughtful dimensions of shared music.

In 2017, as the leader of his own band, Joe Sanders’ Infinity, he released his second album, Humanity, a musical commentary reflecting on a world full of violence and his desire for compassion and love among people. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Joe Sanders focused on self-education in electronic tools applicable to his music, as well as in production and composition, and he deepened his skills on other instruments, especially piano and drums. In October 2024, he released his third album, Parallels, the result of this self-study, featuring both live recordings and music produced in his home studio, where he played all the instruments himself.

At JazzFestBrno, however, Joe Sanders will bring his original music in a more traditional quartet setup.

Saxophone legend Sonny Rollins is certainly not one of those who butter somebody up. However, he made an exception for his fellow saxophonist James Brandon Lewis: “When I listen to you, I listen to Buddha, I listen to Confucius… I listen to the deeper meaning of life. You help keep the world in balance.”

 

James Brandon Lewis, the son of a preacher, grew up in Buffalo, essentially within the church, surrounded by gospel music, while at home he listened to jazz titans thanks to his parents. This created a cultural foundation for him that he still builds on today, and it also introduced him to a musical environment early on. As a young saxophonist, rooted in clarinet studies that he started at the age of nine, he had the opportunity to meet local artists such as free-jazz saxophonist Charles Gayle and saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. As a young adult, Lewis moved to New York and immersed himself in a variety of musical directions, regularly performing with bassists William Parker and Jamaaladeen Tacuma from Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time band, as well as with trombonist Craig Harris and many others.

He debuted as a leader in 2010, and almost immediately began to attract media attention, with critics praising his profound spiritual gospel roots, from which he never hesitated to venture into free jazz, funk, or hip-hop realms. His album The Jesup Wagon (2021) gained particular attention, where the saxophonist touched not only on gospel but also blues and Southern brass music. An intriguing departure on his journey was his collaboration with the experimental yet tradition-savvy guitarist Marc Ribot, which led to him signing with the respected and discerning label ANTI-.

The saxophonist’s latest experiment is this year’s album The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, which he introduced in Prague’s MeetFactory in October. This partnership with the post-punk band The Messthetics, featuring members of the famous rock band Fugazi, marks an unusual project. However, Lewis’s jazz trio, which has an unconventional lineup of saxophone, electric cello, and drums, also has a certain “punk” dimension. According to Lewis, the alpha and omega of this extraordinary “power trio” is to achieve absolute energy. This party is definitely not shaping up to be a tame gathering.

He is one of the oldest active Czech musicians, and the jazz scene in Brno would be unimaginable without him. Guitarist Milan Kašuba’s birthday evening will be a celebration of his sparkling talent and unbreakable diligence, qualities characteristic of the generation that emerged on the scene in the 1960s.

 

Initially, it did not seem that he was destined for a musical career; he was trained as a goldsmith. However, he sensed from childhood that he had a talent for music, as he attended violin lessons for seven years at his parents’ request. During his goldsmith training in Prague, he borrowed a guitar from a friend and soon was able to play his favourite songs by Jaroslav Ježek, making it clear that music would be his destiny. His first concerts were still in Prague, and after returning to his hometown Brno at the end of the 1950s, he continued performing. At that time, performances mainly took place in cafes. From 1962, he worked as a professional musician with a permanent engagement at the Večerní Brno theatre and also served as a versatile studio musician on the radio.

In the early 1970s, Milan Kašuba took a break from performing to refine his skills, only to return to the scene in the latter half of the decade, marking a significant phase in his artistic life. Together with Jiří Adam, he initially formed a guitar duo, which later expanded with the arrival of violinist Jan Beránek and singer Mirka Křivánková to form the legendary band Ornis. Though Ornis was active for just over three years, it secured a notable position among local bands of its time and gained respect abroad as well. After Ornis disbanded, Milan Kašuba embarked on a solo career, collaborated with Gustav Brom’s big band, performed with various formations on the Czech club and festival scenes, recorded regularly, and from the mid-1990s began teaching at music schools in Brno and later at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts (JAMU).

Milan Kašuba will be joined at his birthday concert by a lineup of jazz musicians one or two generations younger: saxophonist Radek Zapadlo, multi-instrumentalist Jiří Slavík, double bassist Peter Korman, and drummer Martin Kleibl.

At forty-three, this Canadian pianist is one of the brightest stars of jazz piano in her generation – and also one of the most industrious. Rarely does a year go by without her releasing a new album. And if it does, you can bet that the following year she’ll release at least two new works.

 

It’s true: since 2003, when she entered the recording industry with her then-sextet on the respected Barcelona label Fresh Sound with the well-received album Lifespan, she has released twenty-five albums as a leader or co-leader. And that doesn’t include over two dozen recordings where she appears as a “sidewoman.” Few on the music scene are as prominent as Kris Davis.

She began studying piano at the age of six in a classical music setting, but during elementary school, she discovered jazz, which completely captivated her, especially the works of Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. She later studied jazz piano in Toronto. From there, the path led straight to New York, the “capital of jazz,” her first album, and a subsequent meteoric career, built not only on immense talent but also on tremendous diligence. Moreover, she never limited herself to one genre; along with mastering standard jazz, Kris Davis has always embraced avant-garde tendencies, including playing prepared piano and composing uniquely orchestrated pieces, such as her suite for four bass clarinets, guitar, piano, organ, and drums. It’s no coincidence that Kris Davis is part of John Zorn’s circle, having performed his Bagatelles in many places around the world and participating in the Bagatelles Marathon in Prague in 2019.

Kris Davis’ albums regularly appear in annual jazz album rankings, and her record New Standards Vol. 1, on which she collaborated with trumpeter Nicholas Payton, won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album in 2022. Two years earlier, she was named the best pianist by DownBeat magazine, sharing the honour with Kenny Barron, who received the same number of votes.

Her latest album, Run The Gauntlet, the fifth on her own label Pyroclastic, founded eight years ago, was recorded in a trio with bassist Robert Hurst (Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Diana Krall, etc.) and drummer Johnathan Blake (Randy Brecker, Chris Potter, Donny McCaslin, etc.). This stellar trio will also grace the stage at JazzFestBrno.