BMW Welt Jazz Award in April. The Anat Fort Trio und Giovanni Guidi Quintet at the Double Cone of BMW Welt.

Munich. With the Anat Fort Trio and the Giovanni Guidi Quintet on April 5 and 12, two further outstanding jazz ensembles will demonstrate their skills. After a total of six concerts between March and April following the theme “Key Position”, the BMW Welt Jazz Award jury will pick two ensembles to compete in the finale on July 9.

The third ensemble onstage at the BMW Welt Jazz Award 2022 will be the Anat Fort Trio on April 5. Pianist Fort ranks among the Israeli artists raised in New York that continue to put their mark on contemporary jazz. Fort has since returned to Israel, a move that in no way slowed down her international career. Since 2007, she has been publishing her albums at the Munich-based label ECM with her most recent album “Birdwatching” featuring Italian clarinetist Gianluigi Trovesi as star guest. As so many of her great jazz pianist colleagues, Fort prefers performing as part of a trio working together with bassist Gary Wand and drummer Roland Schneider. Various experiments including her most recent collaboration with tango guitarist and vocalist Shlomo Ydov notwithstanding, the trio has been her ensemble of choice for over 20 years and a constant throughout her artistic career. The resulting trust allows for unparalleled freedom of improvisation, as seen on their most recent album “Colour”, released by Sunnyside Records, and soon to be heard at BMW Welt.

Only one week later, on April 12, the Giovanni Guidi Quintet will show their skills in the Double Cone of the BMW Welt. While still a teenager, pianist Guidi truly impressed trumpeter Enrico Rava, Italian super star of jazz, during Rava’s jazz workshops and has been his permanent accompanist ever since. In that capacity as well as increasingly with his own projects and ensembles, Guidi has since been making his name on the international stage. For his current programme “Avec le temps” he and his fellow trio members, Chicago-born bassist Joe Rehmer and Portuguese drummer João Lobo, were joined by two other prominent names of the Italian jazz world: woodwind player Francesco Bearzatti and guitarist Roberto Cecchetto. The ensemble prefers impressionist, lyrical and bluesy sounds, as seen in their homages to poet, composer and chansonnier Léo Ferré or the recently deceased trumpeter Tomasz Stańko.

Evening concerts of the BMW Welt Jazz Award 2022
March 8, 2022         Julia Hülsmann Trio
March 22, 2022       Jacob Karlzon Trio
April 5, 2022           Anat Fort Trio
April 12, 2022         Giovanni Guidi Quintet
April 19, 2022         Marco Mezquida Trio
April 26, 2022         Ashley Henry Quartet

The concerts in the Double Cone of BMW Welt are offered free of charge; however, seating is limited and cannot be guaranteed. Doors open at 6.00 pm, the concerts start at 7.00 pm. BMW Welt follows the latest rules regarding social distancing and hygiene that apply to events. Current information on the concerts of the BMW Welt Jazz Award can be found at www.bmw-welt.com.

Among all participating visitors helping their personal favorite win the audience award a miniature of the 19th BMW Art Car designed by John Baldessari will be raffled off. For more than 40 years, the BMW Art Car Collection has fascinated art and design enthusiasts as well as lovers of cars and technology with its unique combination of fine art and innovative automobile technology.

The final concert featuring the two shortlisted finalists will take place at the auditorium of BMW Welt on July 9, 2022 at 7.00 pm. Tickets are available at München Ticket.

This year‘s events will again be hosted by Hannah Weiss, winner of the BMW Welt Young Artist Jazz Award 2019.

Jury
The jury, headed by Oliver Hochkeppel (journalist for music and cultural affairs, Süddeutsche Zeitung), consists of Heike Lies (Musicologist, Music and Music Theatre Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs of the state capital Munich ), Christiane Böhnke-Geisse (Director of schwere reiter Musik), Roland Spiegel (Editor and jazz expert at German broadcasting station Bayerischer Rundfunk BR‑KLASSIK) and Andreas Kolb (Editor-in-chief of JazzZeitung.de and nmz – neue musikzeitung).