Kevin Hays, Alba Armengou, Oliva Trummer and Mola Funk hit the highs at Dolomiti Ski Jazz

Jazz on a mountain top? Turns out it’s a thing, especially when you come all the way to the heights of the Northen Italy’s Dolomite mountains for the 29th edition of their annual Dolomiti Ski Jazz Festival which packs in a busy 10-day programme of gigs in and around the Val di Fassa, Fiemme and Cembra region’s theatres, streets and pubs as well as outdoor terraces and mountain huts. And while it may have begun as a headline grabbing event to keep people interested in the region towards the end of the ski season, artistic director Enrico Tommasini’s careful programming ensures this year’s line-up hit some artistic high notes during my brief stay in this region that’s around 1,300 feet above sea level. A ski lift will take you to the peaks that are some 2,600 meters up into the clouds.

American pianist Kevin Hays (pictured above) is vastly experienced, a Grammy winner and serial collaborator he’s worked with the likes of Chris Potter, Joshua Redman and even in a piano duo with Brad Mehldau. It’s the latter’s trio that sprung to mind here, as Hays, young bassist Alexander Claffy and endlessly versatile drummer Eric Harland found a sweet post-Brad sound. They really clicked from the off and took advantage of the friendly atmosphere at the Predazzo Theatre (and cinema) on the festival’s Thursday night. Opening with a series of originals and choice covers, the peak of the gig came when Hays, slightly unexpectedly, moved to the microphone mid-song and began wordlessly singing in a resonant falsetto to match the melodic lines on the keys. The clever part was to keep the top line simple while his fingers explored elongated chordal contrasts beneath, with powerful support from the excellent bassist Claffy and Harland purring away on the drums. Hays’ wordless vocals turned to impassioned deeper cries, in something akin to Tigran Hamasyan’s vocalised-piano style. Later, a cover of The Beatles’ ‘A Little Help From My Friends’ worked beautifully, its subtle re-harmonisation not obscuring the poignant melody. Claffy was a revelation throughout, his long lines finding interesting harmonic corners around which to pluck vertiginously. Harland’s drums floated in a dreamy offbeat feel utilising two snares and two hi-hats with copious amounts of washy cymbal work, all creating a kind of quasi hip-hop swung-funk groove that really shaped the music. Overall, this is a band with so much more in the tank it would be wonderful to hear them record soon. A melancholy solo vocal/piano reworking of ‘My Only Sunshine’ for the encore seemed to sum up the trio’s bittersweet sound.  

Italy has a fine tradition of raising great native instrumentalists, and it was heartening to see a new generation of players in sextet Mola Funk (pictured top) tearing it up on some choice cover versions and finally tuned originals at the Rifugio Ciampolin bistro’s mountain locale for an afternoon set the following day. With three horns (trumpet, trombone, saxophone), and guitar, bass and drums, this six piece group benefited from a good humoured connection between the musicians, smiles as readily exchanged as tasteful solos. Their canny mix of well-judged heaviness and finesse saw alto saxophonist Marco van Basil standing out with his sweet tone, while drummer Filipo Tonini really impressed with some flamboyant but highly articulate solos.

Back lower down the mountain, singer/guitarist Martina Iori played a charming set of her jazz-folk inflected originals with her quintet. A local star in the making from the Canazei, Val di Fassa region, Iori possesses a strong voice and songs with direct melodic hooks that could propel her beyond her local fame to a wider audience. While her material is very accessible, verging on pop and folk jazz, there’s a nuance and clarity to her vocals that belies a deeper musical grounding, while her controlled phrasing highlighted her technical ability. Iori also draws on the beguiling local Ladino dialect that features in some of her highly personal songs, as inspired by the stunning natural surroundings of the region, as they are her love life and her grounded worldview. Certainly in same ballpark as Becca Stephens, or the UK’s Rosie Frater-Taylor, Iori deftly blended jazz elements too with Matteo Cuzzolin’s tenor saxophone finding some inventive ideas around her gently finger-picked guitar.

Carla Marcotulli, (sister of pianist Rita), closed out the evening at club La Grenz, a charming small venue tucked away among the houses of the Moena district. Her quintet had a deep connection, with guitarist Giuliano Cramerotti making his Telecaster ring out behind Carla’s richly resonant vocals, on a set of reworked standards and some swinging originals. Expat US drummer Bruce Ditmas - whose previous experiences included work with Paul Bley and Jaco Pastorius - brought a welcome intensity to the group’s sound, his weighty ride cymbals adding an incisive groove to the stripped back moments - or boiling up into a rhythmic wave of sound.

The Saturday night double bill began with a stunning concert from Barcelona-born Alba Armengou (pictured above), who proved to be the surprise package of this series of intimate gigs. And with her beguiling mix of boleros, Catalan Cançó, Bossa Nova, Latin, and jazz, all sung in Catalan, Spanish, English, and Portuguese, this 23 year old vocalist and trumpeter is already an artist with a lot to say. Her talents were forged from age seven in Barcelona’s Sant Andreu Jazz Band from Barcelona, the group known as something of a hothouse for gifted youngsters, with singer Andrea Motis among the group’s international star alumni. With her supple voice leading this trio, their alchemy shines thanks to an easy synchronicity between the players. Tramal Levalle’s dextrous nylon string guitar playing spider-webbed through contrapuntal chord melodies and solos, to create a near weightless groove that was utterly hypnotic. Singer/percussionist Vincente López was perhaps the ace in the pack though, his mellifluous tenor voice blending beautifully with Alba’s, as he patted rhythms from his cajon, brushing snare and cymbals to create a wave of rhythmic nuances. His use of a chiming Kalimba thumb piano set up the watery chord sequence of ‘Ya vendrá’ – a melodious highlight from the trio’s most recent album Blancos y Grafitos – found the kalimba and guitar shadowing each other in beautifully, with Armengou’s keening trumpet on top. Alba also added some subtle synth bass lines from a table-top Korg Minilogue, which added yet another facet to this wonderful trio’s effortlessly hip twist on traditional sounds.

Olivia Trummer and her trio of bassist Makar Novikov and drummer Jesse Simpson took over directly from Alba’s trio for the second half of this concert. Trummer has been growing in confidence as an artist for the past decade and here combined her soulfully articulate vocals with impressive piano playing. As with other piano playing vocalists, Trummer has the ability to recast keyboard harmonies to her vocal lines on the fly, and it was this frisson of spontaneous invention that provided the spark for this set. Novikov was the deft melodic bridge between piano and drums – and as Trummer’s husband – seemingly inspired many of her original songs’ optimistic lyrics, which frequently explored the subject of love and its life giving properties. Yet it was a minor-key inflected take on Burt Bacharach’s ‘What the World Needs Now is Love’, with subtle reharmonisations, that offered a meditative reflection on our dark and divided times. Her instrumental ‘Horizon Mood’ was all expanded chords and a spiky odd metered unison line between bass and piano and Simpson’s drums showing a heavier funky side to this talented trio, who are happy to take some risks away from their more easy going songs.

Dolomiti Ski Jazz has clearly hit its stride with quality concerts attended by a loyal audience, and with passionate support from the programming team and the tourist office, all of whom attended every gig, it’s clear this event has become an important part of the region’s cultural calendar. It all bodes well for the 30th edition next year. Jazz in the mountains… it’s all part of la dolce vita in the Dolomites.