Estensione invernale del JazzAscona, il Jazz Cat Club, giunto al suo quarto anno di vita, gioca oramai nella “Champions League del jazz”:  il programma per la primavera presentato dal direttore Nicolas Gilliet è sontuoso. Giudicate voi:  Georgie Fame (23 gennaio), Olaf Polziehn Trio feat. Harry Allen (13 febbraio),  Ron Carter Quartet (12 marzo), le cantanti Stacey Kent (23 aprile) e Catherine Russell (14 maggio). Tutti i concerti si svolgono nella Sala del Gatto di Ascona, con inizio alle 20.30. Prenotazioni allo 091 785 19 51 oppure  Questo indirizzo e-mail è protetto dallo spam bot. Abilita Javascript per vederlo. . Sito ufficiale: www.jazzcatclub.ch.

di Ariane Burckhardt

The 27^th edition of JazzAscona presented a successful mix of, on the one side, great international artists and, on the other side, emerging musicians from the Swiss scene. JazzExperience was strongly desired by the festival's artistic director Nicolas Gilliet and by George Robert, musician and director of the Jazz Department at the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland. True to its name the project aims at offering space to talented musicians to literally experience jazz at a professional level and to live the experience of an internationally renowned jazz festival.

The 25 young musicians who participate in the project are divided into five different bands: the Italian Connection, the French-Swiss Connection, Streeo, Zelao, and Sax Thing.

Every day, from June 25^th to July 2^nd, the five bands take part in workshops led by guest star artists who, for two hours, share their knowledge and passion with the young musicians. The project furthermore includes daily performances on the JazzAscona stages, offering visibility and a chance to impress the audience to the music students.

On Monday 27^th we had the great pleasure to sit in Lillian Boutté's workshop, in the evocative setting of the Teatro Gatto in Ascona. The New Orleans singer showed up accompanied by banjo artist Don Vappie and pianist Phil Parnell and immediately set things straight: “We're here to have fun: divertimento.” All three proved to be eager to share what they themselves have learned about music and one had the impression that if there hadn't been a time limit, they would have gone on speaking for hours. As every classic lessons has it, the teachers quizzed their students on their knowledge of old time New Orleans classics, insisting on the importance of origin as key to understand modern jazz: a bit unprepared, the students knew very few of the names their teachers mentioned. Boutté, Vappie, and Parnell then took their place on stage and delighted us with the notes of the famous spiritual The Saints, during which one of the more courageous students decided to sit at the drum set to accompany the three in their performance. Once the initial uneasiness disappeared, vocals gradually stepped in followed by two saxophones and a further bass – creating an atmosphere of gathering and divertimento, typical of New Orleans where, as Vappie recounted, “everything came together, probably because of this idea that music is a part of a larger whole”, something he sees as extremely important to understand the role of music and attitude of musicians in The Crescent City. Lillian Boutté gave a last encouraging message to her students of the day, concluding that “if you hear it, it can't be wrong..”.

Later on in the week, we visited the workshops for a second time, when legendary drummer Duffy Jackson stepped on the Teatro Gatto stage to share his view on music: his approach could be describe as a physical one, both with regards to a musician's relationship with his instrument – Jackson held the bass as if he were holding a woman – and to the relationship with the other musicians on stage: “look at your fellow musicians' hands when you play, don't look down at your drum sticks or at the keyboards; you've got to feel what the others are playing and where they're going..”. Duffy Jackson was fully at ease as a teacher and one could tell that he wasn't new at the job. 15-year-old drummer Jerome Cardynaals was obviously paying great attention to Jackson's words because as he took his seat at the drum set and started playing with a confidence that hushed those present, he displayed a musical maturity that even some of the older students looked at with awe: it might have been his gaze fixed on the bassist right next to him or maybe it was the smile he displayed every time he sat at the drums that made that one moment unforgettable. An enthusiasm that also other ExperienceJazz participants visibly shared, although not all participated as constantly and curiously as one could have hoped for. They might still have a small lesson to learn in professionalism but when one sees them on stage, one cannot stop oneself from smiling and wishing them good luck for their futures. Stay tuned on www.jazzascona.ch to discover who will be back in Ascona for the 28^th edition!