EMJO (European Movement Jazz Orchestra) - Live In Coimbra (2011)

Prepare yourself for a big surprise. The European Movement Jazz Orchestra may be formed by young musicians still in the beginning of their very promissing careers, but what they offer here is a fantastically performed, fresh, enthusiastic and very pertinent vision of the big band model. With German, Slovenian and Portuguese participants, this project founded in the context of the European Union was started in 2007 and uses only original compositions writen by the people involved. Among the top soloists are trumpeters Matthias Schriefl and Susana Santos Silva, alto saxophonist Uwe Steinmetz, tenor saxophonists Phillipp Gropper and Jure Pukl, trombonists Lars Arens and Joern Marcussen-Wulff, pianist Kaja Draksler and drummer Tobias Backhaus. The pieces are signed by Jurgen Friedrich, Jure Pukl, Paulo Perfeito, Robert Jukic, Kaja Draksler and Matthias Schriefl. The conductor in this live recording (in the Portuguese festival Jazz ao Centro) is Izidor Leitinger and the music heard corresponds entirely to the EMJO program of intentions: it’s what is being called “European jazz”. Jazz with an European spirit, diverse but globally identified, either because of its “classical” feeling, or because it incorporates popular or folk motifs, like the “blasmusik” of the German fanfares. Curious enough?