ZLATKO KAUČIČ KOMBO BC Bravery of the Brave (SI)
ZLATKO KAUČIČ artistic director
JURE BORŠIČ sax, clarinet
IVAN PILAT baritone sax
FRANCESCO IVONE trumpet
JAN JARNI electric guitar
JANTON LORENZUTTI electric guitar
TIMI VREMEC electric bass
ŽIGA IPAVEC drums and percussion
TOMI NOVAK drums, synths, samples, percussion
ROBI ERZETIČ drums
Acclaimed Slovenian percussionist, drummer and composer Zlatko Kaučič is known for his numerous albums (more than sixty) and lineups in which he has played with world-renowned musicians such as Steve Lacy, Alexander Balanescu, Evan Parker, Peter Brötzmann, Paul Bley, Kenny Wheeler, Ab Baars, Paul McCandless,Barry Guy, Augusti Fernandez, to name only a few. “Bravery of the Brave”, is his musical project dedicated to people who, despite obstacles, demonstrate extraordinary will and strength to resist. Zlatko Kaučič assumed the role of composer, artistic director and conductor of a cross-border ensemble, featuring both former students of Kaučič and acclaimed Italian guests. It is a socially and politically motivated suite dedicated to fighters, individuals, and groups who do not give up and who fight for the good of the community. This is political music, but not only because it expresses affiliations and differences, but because it proposes a social, communal, and participatory practice. The suite was performed and partially recorded in October 2021 at the Italian festival Jazz & Wine of Peace, during one of the peaks of the political, epidemiological, and social crisis. The album received the highest possible ratings. In 2024, in light of recent events, the project was updated into “Bravery of the Brave: Free Palestine”, with concerts continuing in the next years.
LEONHARD SKORUPA NEW QUISPEL OCTET (AT, DE, US, MK)
LEONHARD SKORUPA tenor sax, clarinet, composition
MICHAEL MOORE alto sax, clarinet
BOZIDAR PEIČ cello
MICHAEL VATCHER drums
ASJA VALCIC cello
BOJAN TALEVSKI viola
ROBERT LANDFERMANN bass
GJORGJI PETRUSHEVSKI oboe
The Vienna-based tenor saxophonist, clarinettist and composer Leonhard Skorupa is a real prankster who sets no limits to his imagination. Probably in order to open up a tangible terrain for his urge to walk a stylistic tightrope. The mere enumeration of his musical construction sites is enough to give a vague idea of the Skorupa cosmos. As a bandleader or co-leader, the woodwind player has led such original and well-known projects as the Sketchbook Orchestra, the Sketchbook Quartet, Skorupa 5 and other exciting ensembles in the sphere of jazz and improvised music. He studied with Klaus Dickbauer and Michael Moore and has since released more than 25 recordings. In 2024 Skorupa formed the Quispel Quintet made up of top-tier musicians. Their adventurous compositions and improvisations follow an unpredictable dramatic arc — one that winds through the landscapes of cool jazz and the depths of avant-garde chamber music What they create together is, at times, subtle and refined — and at others, wildly intoxicating. Their album, fittingly, is called “Dipsomania” — an old term for an insatiable craving for alcohol and drugs. It was met with widespread critical acclaim. Writing a new piece of music, Skorupa is commissioned to the opening night of 45.Skopje Jazz Festival, expanding his basic Quispel Quintet with three Macedonian musicians.