The 33rd edition of the JazzTime Rijeka festival began on May 22nd and, for the first time since its inception, lasted for four days. The festival introduced an international lineup of exceptional musicians, headlining with the legendary guitarist Bill Frisell and his trio, who played a truly memorable concert on the third day. The concerts, usually taking place in open air venues, were transported to a local jazz club in the Zamet borough due to extremely bad weather, which brought an intimate experience usually not associated with jazz festivals but nevertheless attracted plenty of jazz connoisseurs from around the country.
The first day brought two exciting concerts – Tonci Grabusic Quartet presented their vision of jazz standards in modern interpretation and promoted their latest album, First Take. Supporting them was Ante Jelicic Quintet, who promoted their album Da-Du and evoked sounds of 1960s jazz clubs, thus bringing to life the famous Blue Note releases of the day with Jelicic’s original touch.
May 23rd, the second day, was reserved for representatives of the Italian jazz scene, namely the Daniele Gorgone Quartet and Enzo Favata's project named The Crossing. The artists, rooted in jazz fusion, gave their impressions of this very popular idiom. Damjan Grbac, the festival's artistic director, gave a speech commemorating the recent passing of the festival's founder, Dorian Hatta, and dedicated this year's edition to his memory.
Bill Frisell Trio, featuring Thomas Morgan and Rudy Royston, played a truly memorable concert in front of a packed venue on the third day. All of the 200 tickets were sold out in advance and dozens of guitarists from the region flocked to hear the inimitable guitar virtuoso. Frisell presented his latest trio project, which features minimalistic compositions, beautiful interplay and seemingly endless improvisations.
The closing day of the festival featured another guitar trio, this time by the young and talented Zvonimir Radisic of Croatia, who presented his original compositions. The trio's sound encompasses modern jazz fusion but doesn't abstain from swing, thus creating eclectic soundscapes which impressed the audience. To close the festival on a high note, Grbac introduced Waveform, a Croatian fusion band, whose energetic playing and virtuoso improvisations concluded the 33rd edition of Jazz Time Rijeka, the first since the festival is a vital part of the European Jazz Network.
