Three weekends of jazz
(archive article - Sunday, July 12, 2009)

Celebrating ten years, the Paradise Jazz Festival this years spreads itself far and wide. ZOE CHRISTODOULIDES reports
It’s become an annual ritual for avid music lovers; a picturesque drive that takes you up near Polis and then down the rugged coastal road to Pomos. And it’s usually quite a weekend to remember as all sorts of jazz bands come together to give crowds a summer treat. But this time round it’s all a bit different as what used to be a weekend extravaganza is about to expand threefold. The Paradise Jazz Festival is undergoing a serious facelift.

On occasion of the festival’s 10th anniversary, organisers decided that one weekend just wasn’t enough to pay tribute to all the good jazz musicians around. “Instead of squeezing all performances into a mere couple of nights we thought it was a better idea to go all out and multiply the fun,” explains owner of Paradise Place, Socratis Efstathiou. Some of the names performing will be familiar from past years but there’s also been an attempt to spice things up with new and exciting names that give audiences something a little different to indulge in this time round.

The first weekend, dedicated to all things funky, begins this Saturday with a Latin and Samba Jazz night starring the familiar Trio Smiles group who’ll be warming things up before Jazz-Times 09 hit the stage. This opening night can best be viewed as a sort of warm up to the main part of the event that will be running through the whole of the next weekend.

The big shebang all starts on Friday 24 with the new work of Savvas Houvartas and his seven-member band, a project that they are busy recording in the studio at the moment. You’ll get to hear original compositions; mainly instrumental with a few Greek lyrics sprinkled in for good measure. You’ll also be able to pick up on strong elements of improvisation as the Mediterranean melodies give you good reason to put your hands together in warm applause.

The Saturday night will involve performances by two bands. First up will be the GoJam group, jetting in from Greece to give a show for the very first time in Cyprus. A young group with plenty of energy, exactly what you’ll get to hear is best left as a surprise. Suffice to say it’s innovative and upbeat. The second band playing on the night is The Takoushis/Karapatakis Quartet, a great line up boasting some of the island’s best artists.

Sunday comes along to give an interesting twist to the whole event with a classical jazz afternoon for those lazy moments where you just want to enjoy a cool drink and kick your feet up. And this is where one of our island’s best known jazz musicians step into the picture.

Expect a powerful performance with Irinaeos Koullouras on acoustics bass as he brings three musicians of his choice to play along in a performance with the band members taking on the role of The Meeting Point Jazz Quartet. “In my opinion this is the absolute highlight of the whole event,” says Socratis. “It’s a brilliant line up and a performance of pure classic jazz. This tends to be very popular with British music lovers who come along to the festival.”

One member of the group, none other than Ofer Ganor, is an old friend of Koullaras from New York with whom he now performs around the world. This time round the duo will be joining forces with two other great musicians of their generation, Asaf Yuria on tenor saxophone and Doron Tivish on drums. Then there’s special guest on vocals, Ioanna Troullidou.

It will all draw to an end on Sunday August 1 with the European Trio and Slovenian Saxophonist, Jan Kus - the trio first got together in 2008 and are heavily influenced by modern European jazz. We don’t want to spill the beans but the last night also brings along a little surprise as dancers prepare to do their thing. All you have to do is sit back and prepare for take off.

10th Paradise Jazz Festival

Three weekends of live jazz music with local and foreign bands. July 18- August 1. Paradise Place, Pomos. July 18: €10. July 24: €12. July 25: €20. July 26: €15. August 1: €15. Tel: 26-342537/ 99-516932. paradiseplace@cytanet.com.cy. www.paradiseplaceproductions.com