European Jazz Expo in Cagliari, Sardinia

OLGA ZHURAVLEVA,

Olga Zhuravleva

Contributor since 2009

Olga writes regularly about design and for the first time about jazz

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European Jazz Expo in Cagliari, Sardinia

Published: December 29, 2009

European Jazz Expo
Cagliari, Sardinia
November 20-22, 2009

The hot summer slowdown is finished for Sardinia. Quietness and sophisticated melancholy embraced the island and made it a perfect place for jazz.

From November 20th to 22 the Sardinian capital Cagliari hosted the annual jazz festival, known for the last five years as the European Jazz Expo. The event has an impressive history with guests like Miles Davis Miles Davis
1926 - 1991
trumpet , Chick Corea Chick Corea
b.1941
piano , Horace Silver Horace Silver
b.1928
piano , Herbie Hancock Herbie Hancock
b.1940
piano and B.B. King B.B. King
b.1925
guitar, electric . Attracting numerous visitors to the halls of Cagliari Fair, the festival offered a vivid mixture of traditional and experimental jazz, folk, blues, rock, hip hop and electronic music.

This year European Jazz Expo remembered two great trumpeters: Miles Davis Miles Davis
1926 - 1991
trumpet and Lester Bowie Lester Bowie
1941 - 1999
trumpet . The living legend of Italian jazz Enrico Rava Enrico Rava
b.1943
trumpet became one of the key figures of the festival, playing at the opening with his quintet and returning the following days for several breath-taking performances.

Major highlights of the Expo became the concert by Paolo Fresu Paolo Fresu
b.1961
trumpet , followed by the presentation of his new book Musica Dentro ("music inside") and Marcus Miller Marcus Miller
b.1959
bass, electric 's project "Tutu Revisited," interpreting the recording Tutu by Miles Davis.

A special concert was held on November 21 to remember Lester Bowie Lester Bowie
1941 - 1999
trumpet , a beloved guest of the Sardinian jazz festival in the past. The powerful line-up included Antonello Salis (accordeon), Famoudou Don Moye Famoudou Don Moye
b.1946
drums (drums), Enrico Rava Enrico Rava
b.1943
trumpet (trumpet) and Lester's brother Joe Bowie (trombone), supported by the great collective Sousanphonix led by Mauro Ottolini. Compositions with quotes from gospel, funk and reggae, memories and jokes by Lester's friends recreated an atmosphere for which Bowie was remembered: life-loving, energetic and open to experiments.

As a true Italian event, the European Jazz Expo could not do without food. For that reason one of the most renowned chefs of the island, Luigi Pomata, was invited to present his skills in haute cuisine. Pomata and a few other famous chefs have created several dishes inspired by jazz, experimenting with traditional recipes and mixing top quality ingredients in an unconventional way. The food idea proved very appropriate: the public had maintained its energy for three days from afternoon till late at night, determined not to miss any moment of the strong program of this extraordinary jazz event. In total, 50 performances by 200 musicians in eight halls were held in Cagliari.

The next European Jazz Expo will return to Cagliari in November 2010.

Photo credit
Agostino Mela