Questlove’s ‘Summer of Soul’ to premiere ahead of Skopje Jazz Festival 2022
Skopje, 12 October 2022 (MIA) – Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s ‘Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)’ documentary is set to premiere at MKC’s Frosina cinema on Wednesday evening, as part of the 41st Skopje Jazz Festival.
In his acclaimed debut as a filmmaker, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson presents a powerful and transporting documentary - part music film, part historical record created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture, and fashion. Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, just one hundred miles south of Woodstock, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park). The footage was largely forgotten - until now. Summer of Soul shines a light on the importance of history to our spiritual well-being and stands as a testament to the healing power of music during times of unrest, both past and present. The feature includes concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, The 5th Dimension, and more. The film won scores of awards, including an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and a Grammy for Best Music Film.
The official programme of the 41st edition of the Skopje Jazz Festival kicks off on Thursday at the National Opera and Ballet with a concert performance by Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra with Fame’s Chamber Orchestra.
This year’s Skopje Jazz Festival will run through October 16. According to the organizers, this year’s programme was also carefully drawn up guided by the imperative to preserve the festival’s high international rating and the tradition of presenting the best of the world of jazz and improvised music. Ten renowned ensembles from the United States, Brazil, Europe and North Macedonia will be performing at the National Opera and Ballet and the Youth Cultural Center (MKC).
The programme, which stretches over four evenings, is diverse and includes a series of exclusive performances by some of the biggest names in contemporary jazz and creative music today.
The Exploding Star Orchestra will open the festival, led by composer, cornetist, visual artist, musical director and a central figure in Chicago’s avante-garde scene since the 1990s, Rob Mazurek. This is the orchestra’s only performance in Europe (in addition to the one in Lisbon this summer) under the current Exploding Star Orchestra project credited with the 2020 masterpiece Dimensional Stardust. The exclusivity of the performance in Skopje builds up as the Fame’s Chamber Orchestra joins in performing works from the album, as well as a work specially composed for this occasion.
Zulu 3.4 will also perform on the same evening, October 13, at the MKC. Zulu 3.4 is a contemporary instrumental trio from Skopje that includes Damjan Danevski (drums), Martin Dzorlev (keyboards) and Mario Simonovski (guitar). Formed in March 2018 by Damjan Danevski, they were guided by the idea of creating a unique sound and bringing freshness to the local music scene and beyond through the fusion of different styles and using modern technology. Zulu 3.4's music draws inspiration from a wide range of influences, from the distinctly melodic side of Chicago post-rock to some modern jazz and not only jazz fusions, mixtures and crossovers.
Hamid Drake’s Turiya: Honoring Alice Coltrane will continue the festival into its second evening at the National Opera and Ballet. The festival’s programme on Friday will resume at MKC with a performance by noise/funkrock/sound-art trio ABACAXI, followed by a midnight concert by Macedonian jazz band Taxi Consilium to wrap up the first half of this year’s edition of the festival. Taxi Consilium includes members of Cobalt Code Unit, Yordan Kostov Quintet/Ensemble, Filip Bukrshliev Trio, Fighting Windmills, Svetlost + Odron Ritual Orchestra, Shock Troopers, Pijan Slavej.
Saturday, October 15, includes the performance of Brazil’s jazz icon Amaro Freitas and his trio at the National Opera and Ballet, presenting his new album “Sankofa” - a spiritual quest into the forgotten stories, ancient philosophies and inspirational figures of Black Brazil.
Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra, possibly the best of those many bands who meld Afrobeat, Ethio-jazz and big band funk, will be performing at the MKC, followed by a midnight concert by New Future City Radio, a collaboration between Rob Mazurek and Damon Locks, featuring Brazilian percussionist Mauricio Takara (Hurtmold, São Paulo Underground...) for the exclusive performance in Skopje.
Royalty of Brooklyn’s avant-garde jazz scene, Thumbscrew, will open the final evening of the 41st Skopje Jazz Festival. The trio consists of longtime collaborators: guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. The audience will have a chance to taste the sound of their new exciting work “Multicolored Midnight” (Cuneiform Records), the group's seventh album
One of the strongest voices on bass in jazz and improvised music on the international circuit today, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, will close this year’s edition of the Skopje Jazz Festival with his new project (Exit) Knarr. A Knarr is the type of ship built in Scandinavia around the year 1000 that was used to sail the world – just as Ingebrigt Håker Flaten traveled the world driven by his musical adventures. (Exit) Knarr is a homage to the different places he visited, each song capturing the spirit of cities like Austin, Chicago, Trondheim and Amsterdam... The music draws from the bassist's extensive background across various genres and traditions built up over a long career, and one finds as many traces of jazz and avant-garde as from world music and psychedelic rock.
In addition, the festival will present the 2022 Best Young Jazz Musician Award. The Skopje Jazz Festival, in cooperation with UNHCR, continues with the initiative Jazz for Solidarity with Refugees.
