Potter / Mehldau / Patitucci / Blake + Youn Sun Nah
Potter / Mehldau / Patitucci / Blake
Chris Potter (sax), Brad Mehldau (piano), John Patitucci (bass), Johnathan Blake (drums)
Chris Potter, widely recognised for being one of the most influential sax players of his generation, joins Brad Mehldau, possibly the finest Jazz pianist of the last 20 years, to create a spanking new quartet, alongside another two great musicians, John Patitucci on the double bass and Marcus Gilmore on the drums.
This star-spangled quartet due to release their first album in March 2024 are bang on track to give a magnificent concert at the 59th Jazzaldia.
Chris Potter is a leading light of contemporary Jazz, a saxophonist and composer with boundless creativity and mesmerizing improvisational skills. His energetic, sophisticated, dynamic and expressive style ranges from vigorously classic Jazz to the most avant garde fusion.
Brad Mehldau is one of the most highly acclaimed pianists of his generation. Terms like sensitivity, elegance, innovation, sophistication and strength define the musical personality of this marvellous North American pianist, capable of creating and performing music replete with nuances, evocative and narrative.
John Patitucci, a composer and performer who has worked with the Jazz greats like Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard… With pop stars such as Sting, Aaron Neville, Natalie Cole, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Milton Nascimento and Joao Gilberto. And with big-name composers including Henry Mancini, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Ry Cooder…
A prodigy on the 6-string electric guitar and the double bass, Patitucci is a model for countless bass players who admire his complex language, his versatility, his technical precision and his characteristic sound.
Youn Sun Nah
Youn Sun Nah (vocals), Eric Legnini (piano, keyboards), Tony Paeleman (piano, keyboards)
Youn Sun Nah has a moving voice covering a broad spectrum of colours, timbres and hues, a character drawing on her Korean roots and myriad musical influences. These qualities enable her to express a wide range of emotions, making her one of a kind, not easily comparable to other singers. The Korean performer is an exceptional improviser and has the particular skill of being able to sing in several languages: Korean, English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.
Youn Sun Nah was born in Seoul on 28 August 1969 into a family with a passion for singing and music; her father was a choir conductor and her mother a singer. She set out on her musical career at the age of 23 with the Korean Symphony Orchestra, going on to participate in Korean musicals for which she has bagged numerous accolades. A lover of French culture and song, she visited Paris in autumn 1995, deciding to move there to study French chanson and Jazz. Her natural inclination towards this style of music became obvious when she started playing in clubs throughout the city in 1996-1997. Since then she has never stopped working and racking up success, having recorded around a dozen albums, received numerous recognitions and taken her performance to top festivals and prestigious stages worldwide.
At the 59th edition of the Jazzaldia, Youn Sun Nah will present her album Elles, penned for release on 26 January 2024. Long known for her ability to approach several styles and perform numbers by widely varying artists such as Tom Waits, Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye and Metallica, in Elles (2024) Youn Sun Nah offers a selection of covers paying tribute to the voices of the women who have marked her career: from Nina Simone to Roberta Flack, and including Björk, Maria João, Sarah Vaughan, Grace Jones and Edith Piaf.
Backed by the subtle and creative work of Jon Cowherd, Youn Sun Nah reimagines standards old and new in charming fashion, across genres and taking little account of musical eras and borders.
