‘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
Texts
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.

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 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.