John Zorn, Snarky Puppy headline 60th Ljubljana Jazz Festival
John Zorn, a saxophonist and composer who is considered one of the top contemporary jazz artists, will be an early highlight on the first day of the festival on 18 June, when he performs his project The Hermetic Organ at Cankarjev Dom.
A day after, jazz lovers will be treated to a musical marathon called Bagatelles, for which Zorn created 300 new compositions in just three months in 2015.
A total of 14 groups will play more than 50 of the songs he wrote for Bagatelles in 20-minute sessions, with performers including jazz greats such as Marc Ribot, Kris Davis, Peter Evans, John Medeski and Mark Feldman.
The organisers said Tuesday that this would be the first of only nine planned Bagatelles marathons, all of which will be performed at jazz festivals.
Another highlights will be Grammy award winners Snarky Puppy, a genre-crossing band that will play the popular open air venue Križanke on 22 June.
Other major acts include British musician Nubya Garcia (20 June), and an ensemble of Slovenian musicians working in New York, which will perform on opening day.
All in all, thirty concerts are scheduled at eight venues, making the Ljubljana Jazz Festival "one of the most high-profile jazz events in Europe," according to programme director Bogdan Benigar.
There will also be several accompanying events, including an exhibition chronicling 60 years of the festival in posters, an exhibition of concert photographs by Žiga Koritnik, and a series of documentaries and lectures.
The detailed programme in English is available at http://www.ljubljanajazz.si/index.php/en/.