International guitar festival Brno 2010 (English website, hurray) will spice up the summer in Brno with some flamenco and jazz.

I think that the most interesting event is the “Flamenco night” on August 7th – a performance of Spanish guitarist and composer Gerardo Núñez and dancer Carmen Cortés.

All concerts are going to take place in the courtyard New city hall at Dominikanské naměstí sq., only the flamenco night will be held in the courtyard of Špilberk castle.

Pernštejn castle (source: Wikimedia Commons)

One third of the festival is dedicated to baroque music, one third of Concentus Moraviae is consisting of jazz concerts and the last third is based on the concept of musical cross-over.

My personal highlight is the concert of jazzmen Tomáš Liška, David Dorůžka and Daniele di Bonaventura at beautiful Pernštejn castle on Monday, June 7 (details).

Tickets cost from CZK 150 to CZK 300 – I consider these prices to be very fair for the value offered.

Kurt Rosenwinkel Standards Trio (source: kurtrosenwinkel.com)

According to the culture editors of iDnes.cz, who know more about jazz than I do, highlights of the event are:

• Kurt Rosenwinkel Standards Trio / Saturday, April 24 @ Semilasso, CZK 290
• John Scofield Jazz Quartet / Monday, April 26 @ Semilasso, CZK 350
• George Duke Band / Tuesday, April 27 @ Brno City Theatre, Musical scene, CZK 450

The festival has a great English language website with detailed info about the artists and venues. Check it out.

Duke Ellington Big Band (illustrative photo, source: Wikimedia Commons)

Eight bands will perform at jazz fest in Metro Music Bar during March.

It looks like the highlight of the festival may be Cuban band Santy y su marabú (3/13) or B Side Band (3/29), a Brno-based band that will give the spectators a new CD for free.

The legendary jazz guitarist Rudy Linka will perform with his trio in Alterna club on Sunday, November 8, from 8:00 p.m.

Rudy Linka was born in Prague 49 years ago but he has been living and recording in the USA since 1986. He’s bringing two renowed american musicians with him to Brno:

Rich Huntley on drums is a New York City based percussionist . A partial list of the musicians he has played and or recorded with include: John Blake, Seamus Blake, Luis Bonilla, Cameron Brown, Billy Drewes,Richard Kimball, Frank London, Donny McCaslin, Mulgrew Miller, Shunzo Ono, Ralph Peterson, Jack Wilkins and Willie Williams.Rich has studied at Manhattan school of Music.

Dan Fabricatore on bass – based in New York working with musicians as John Abercrombie, Nora Jones, dave Liebman among many others. Recorded with Rudy Linka and Kenny Wolleson Cds Lucky Southern and Simple Pleasures.

Source: alterna.cz

Tickets cost only CZK 160 (€6.18) in pre-sale and CZK 190 (€7.35) at the place, so if you are a jazz afficianado, don’t miss it!

Poster of JazzFest '09

The annual international jazz festival is coming to Brno again! The event will start on April 20 and finish on April 30.

You can explore a detailed schedule on the website of JazzFest ’09, as well as the price of tickets and list of places where to buy the tickets.

Free jazz concerts

If you are short of money or don’t like to pay for something you don’t know well, try these concerts and jam sessions with free admission:

• Ploug – Pettersen – Badenhorst, April 20, 8:00 p.m., Metro Music Bar
• Infinite Quartet & Points Quartet, April 21, 8:00 p.m., Bar u Kouřícího králíka
• Bring-your-own-instruments-jamsession, April 23, 8:00 p.m., Bar u Kouřícího králíka
• Bring-your-own-instruments-jamsession, April 27, 8:00 p.m., Metro Music Bar