‘The coolest guys in jazz’ is a perfect description for one of the most surprising and long-standing artistic duos. After years of regular collaboration, Enrico Rava and Stefano Bollani now occasionally perform as a duo or with other musicians: these are not just reunions, but the result of a mutual desire to resume a dialogue that was never completely interrupted, but only put on hold. This dialogue draws on various sources: jazz standards, of course, but also Brazilian music, Italian songs and original compositions, in a constant interplay of influences and references. The chemistry and creativity of the moment do the rest.

The Programme

A story from the past to fight today’s racism: Uri Caine, a musician and composer with a social conscience, renowned for his ability to blend different musical styles, from jazz to classical, is the author of a poignant and highly significant work dedicated to Octavius Catto, an African-American born in South Carolina in 1839 and raised in Philadelphia – the city where Caine himself was born. Catto became a civil rights activist and was assassinated in 1871. To set his story to music, Uri Caine drew on the African-American tradition, particularly gospel, classical contemporary music and jazz, demonstrating once again that in art, as in everyday life, there should not and cannot be any kind of division.

The Programme
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Biographies

Partly a legacy, partly a powerful and cathartic evocation, this is the best way to pay tribute to Alice Coltrane, a pianist and composer who for too long remained in the shadow of her undoubtedly incomparable husband, who transformed his visions into a musical style so original that he became the undisputed reference point for ‘spiritual jazz’. Today, Lakecia Benjamin embodies the incredible vitality of female jazz with her amazing ability to master an explosive sound and style. A stellar ensemble featuring the veteran Hamid Drake, the powerful young saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, the ‘electronics guru’ Jan Bang of Supersilent and the brilliant pianist Jamie Saft will honour the genius of Alice Coltrane with all the urgency that her ecstatic and compelling music demands.

The Programme

Malika Ayane puts her classical training (studies at the Milan Conservatory and experience at La Scala) at the service of pop, using the splendour of arrangements specially created for La Corelli Orchestra to enhance the profound romanticism of her style, which is a blend of soul music, jazz and the great tradition of singer-songwriting. For the Ravenna Festival, she has conceived a new interpretation of her vast repertoire, reworking it in scores that emphasise its soft rhythms, combining references to Afro-American sounds with a love of melody and ballads. These are the songs that have won her the hearts of Italian audiences. As comfortable on the Sanremo TV stage as she is in more intimate settings, Ayane always gives her audience a personal experience, creating a direct, delicate and yet highly emotional relationship.

The Programme
Biographies

The music of Joe Zawinul returns to the Ravenna Festival after the concert he gave here in 2006, a year before his death, accompanied by a big band. This time the context will be different: a smaller but no less impressive group will retrace the main steps of the Austrian keyboardist’s artistic journey, his musical odyssey. The group includes two former Weather Report members, drummer Omar Hakim and percussionist Bobby Thomas Jr, as well as bassist Gerald Veasley, who was a member of Zawinul Syndicate from 1988 to 1995. Joining them on stage are saxophonist Bob Franceschini, a regular partner of Mike Stern, and versatile keyboardist Rachel Z: five top performers on their respective instruments, who know exactly how to recreate the magic of Joe Zawinul’s timeless music.

The Programme

Crazy gypsy swing to dance to
Experimenting without hesitation, daring to lay hands on even the most sacred things. If someone has done this to the landscape and to nature, creating that exuberant ‘botanical mishmash’ that rises majestically and rebelliously just a stone’s throw from Monte della Chioda, then a group of reckless but well-meaning young people have every right to borrow what they need from swing to infuse verve and danceability into our oldest singer-songwriter tradition, from Carosone to Paolo Conte. If you think this music sounds old-fashioned to today’s young ears, just ask Patagarri: these guys, who have left the stages of TV talent shows to storm the live music scene, have an astounding success with their peers, who find their decades-old songs a veritable epiphany.

Romagna in fiore magazine

Music has always played a crucial role in the almost eighty-year-long tragedy of the Palestinian people: whether traditional, hip-hop or electronic, music has contributed greatly to the defence and development of a collective identity. If the dramatic history of the Palestinian exodus, conflict, occupation and exile has strengthened rather than weakened the people’s sense of belonging to a land and a history, the pre-1948 upheavals and the current diaspora have allowed the Palestinian world to develop a capacity for resilience and to forge links with other cultures. It is an experience that aligns Palestinian music with the typical features of contemporaneity, such as the hybridisation of languages, cultural ubiquity, and the constant tension between tradition and innovation, between the local and the global.

Bashar is a Palestinian artist, singer-songwriter and director who produces pop music from a global perspective. His music challenges stereotypes, highlights social issues and explores themes such as gender equality and diversity.
Whether performing in a wedding dress or singing about gender diversity, Bashar always takes risks and encourages critical thinking.