Elina Duni, Myra Melford and Jacques Schwarz-Bart dazzle at Leibnitz International Jazz Festival

Southern Styria is a beautiful corner of Austria. And it is also famous for its fantastic wine. Some of the region's white wines are top class. What does this have to do with a jazz festival? Quite a lot, because the Leibnitz International Jazz Festival proudly adds the words ‘Jazz & Wine’ to its website, posters and programme. It traditionally opens on the first of the four evenings in the over 300-year-old episcopal wine cellar of Seggau Castle, situated above the town of Leibnitz. And on the two following festival evenings in the town's cultural centre, the region's winegrowers always invite the audience to taste their exquisite wines before the concerts. Connoisseur's heart, what more could you want!

When a festival has such an exciting, varied line-up every year as the one in Leibnitz, then the trip to Styria is even more worthwhile. The artistic director Otmar Klammer proves year after year that he has a fine nose for artists, concert dramaturgy and who suits which venue. Having the Berlin trio I Am Three open the festival in the Schlosskeller was a perfect fit. Saxophonist Silke Eberhard, trumpeter Nikolaus Neuser and drummer Christian Marien delved deep into the oeuvre of Charles Mingus while also combining their own creativity and love of composition in the spirit of the bass legend. The result sounded wild at times, but just as thrillingly groovy and was characterised by improvisation and dense interactions.

Myra Melford and Satoko Fujii – Photo by Peter Purgar

The following day, however, French woodwind player Laurent Dehors and his 13-piece Orchestre Tous Dehors put on a colourful circus at the Leibnitz cultural centre with their project ‘Ok Boomer’. Together with the rhythm section, a front line of eight wind players staged a real jazz happening, which can sometimes sound infantile and like music for children, but always surprises in a wide range of jazz, rock and traditional music. This orchestra exuded positive vibes. And at the end, the band leader himself showed how a bagpipe can be incorporated into this colourful, wild cosmos of sound as the leading instrument with a twinkle in his eye. What a contrast the French offered to the duet on two concert grand pianos directly in front of them by the US-American Myra Melford and the Japanese Satoko Fujii. Two avant-garde pianist stars who think and improvise freely despite notated material, sometimes even inside the pianos. And who came up with unpredictable soundscapes that sometimes challenged the listener's mind.

Jacques Schwarz-Bart band – Photo by Peter Purgar

But there was also more gripping music to be heard in Leibnitz. For example, the Johnology Trio from Hungary, with the still young pianist János Egri Jr., his renowned father János Egri on bass and the American Chris Parker on drums. A fine trio that swings and creates in a virtuoso and refreshing way, even if the classical jazz trio tradition is palpable. The ‘Harlem Suite’ by Guadeloupe-born saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart and his extraordinary quintet with bassist Reggie Washington, pianist Grégory Privat or singer Malika Tirolien offered a rousing and energetic excursion into Harlem jazz in Leibnitz with plenty of improvisational freedom, mainly used by the pianist and the bandleader himself. In contrast, the highly acclaimed French singer Cyrille Aimée sounded a bit unexciting. Sure, her Latin version of the Jacques Brel classic ‘Ne me quitte pas’, for example, was pretty great, but this was primarily due to her marvellous trio of accompanists, who somehow stood out more than the singer herself on this evening.

To round off the festival, everybody headed back up to the beautifully situated Weingartenhotel Harkamp for the brunch concert. And the Styrian weather god seem to like jazz in the open air, as the sky was bright blue on this Sunday morning after a few rainy days. And so people sat in the warming late autumn sun in front of the small stage, the beautiful natural surroundings in the background, and were enchanted by the Albanian-Swiss singer Elina Duni and her excellent trio with the British guitarist Rob Luft and the Scottish drummer Corrie Dick. With soulful Albanian folk songs, a Swiss-German love song, Serge Gainsbourg's swinging ‘Black Trombone’ or the Brazilian sounds of Luiz Bonfá. With her dark, full, warm-sounding, emotional voice, Elina Duni is able to interpret all of this magically. What a magnificant finale to a festival that continues to surprise in its twelfth year.