Evento
SATURDAY 18 NOVEMBER, 9:30 PM
Kathrine Windfeld Big Band featuring Gilad Hekselman e Immanuel Wilkins
Immanuel Wilkins saxophone
Gilad Hekselman guitar
Kathrine Windfeld piano, compositions
André Bak, Rolf Thofte Løkke, Magnus Oseth trumpets
Göran Abelli, Gustaf Wiklund, Anders Larson trombones
Jakob Lundbak, Magnus Thuelund, Roald Elm Larsen, Ida Wretling, Jacob Danielsen saxophones
Johannes Vaht bass
Henrik Holst Hansen drums
If the opening of the Guimarães Jazz 2023 edition can be perceived as an homage, or a testimony (depending on the point of view), of the orchestral jazz tradition of New York (as we know, one of the epicentral cities of jazz’s entry in the flux of modernity), its closing will present to the festival’s audience one of the most highly praised examples of the new wave of European orchestras, due to its original crossing of the stylistic and compositional specificities of jazz with the matrixial principles of the classical music from the Old Continent: the big band directed by the Danish composer and arranger Kathrine Windfeld, one of the most highlighted names of the Scandinavian music of the present. At this particular concert, the music of the ensemble led by Windfeld will be interpreted by fifteen Scandinavian musicians of undeniable technical competence and expanded by the contribution of the soloists Immanuel Wilkins and Gilad Hekselman, two highly skilled musicians of the new generation of jazz whose musical sensibility matches perfectly the expressivity conveyed by the compositions of the young Danish composer.
A native of Denmark, Kathrine Windfeld is considered one of the precursors of the new wave of European orchestral jazz, due to her delicate compositional style informed by sophisticated harmonies and impregnated by a poetic tone. The career of this composer, arranger and pianist, inaugurated after a period of studies in jazz and musicology, began its first chapter in 2011 with the foundation of her sextet, a formation which is still active today, although the following years were defined by an inflexion of focus to the composition for big bands. In 2014 Windfeld founded her own orchestra of fifteen musicians and recorded her debut album, “Aircraft”, which was succeeded by three other discographic editions under her ow name, namely the most recent “Determination”, released in 2021 (in collaboration with the Bohuslän Big Band), a recording that decisively contributed to establish the critical reputation of the young Danish composer. Besides the work directing her own ensembles, Kathrine Windfeld is also a regular collaborator of some of the most prestigious European jazz orchestras, such as the Frankfurt Radio Big Band or the Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, collaborations that attest the current status of prominence held by this rising star of global jazz.
Gilad Hekselman, born in 1983 in Israel, is considered since his arrival to New York, in 2004, one of the most prominent guitarists of this city’s musical scene, due to his collaborations with great names of contemporary jazz such as Chris Potter, Eric Harland or Fred Hersch, and to his persistent and relevant trajectory as leader. Hekselman’s discographic career was inaugurated in 2006 with his debut album “Split Life” and, since then, he added three other chapters to his body of work, thereby establishing his reputation within the circuit of North-American jazz.
Of Afro-American descent and solid academic education at the reputed Juilliard School, the saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins is currently considered a rising star of contemporary jazz, thanks to his collaborations with crucial luminaries of music such as, among others, Jason Moran, Bob Dylan or Wynton Marsalis. In parallel to his collaborative work, Wilkins develops a pertinent activity as composer and leader that was recently materialized in his debut album, “Omega”, released in 2020 and recorded alongside Micah Thomas, Daryl Johns and Kweky Sumbry.