Stars Out in Force for Jazz Era

International stars Omar Sosa, Joo Kraus and Regina Carter will be wowing audiences during the upcoming Jazz Era series of concerts in Warsaw. All Jazz Era concerts will be taking place at the Palladium club in Warsaw. On March 19, audiences will be treated to steamy Latin beats during a concert by Cuban pianist Omar Sosa. According to Dionizy Piątkowski, the director of the Jazz Era festival, Sosa has successfully created a fusion of various strands in contemporary jazz, including African beats, Latino energy, unconventional jazz improvisation, melancholic blues and the "buena vista" sound of Cuba. Three years after his daring concert for the 10th anniversary of Jazz Era, Sosa is coming to Warsaw to introduce his new band called the Afri-Lectric Quintet. The Warsaw performance will feature a special guest, trumpeter Joo Kraus. One of the most popular musicians of the young generation, Kraus has for years been involved with the nu-jazz and electric-jazz scene of Germany, making a major contribution to the sound of bands such as Kraan, Tab Two, Soulounge, Jazzkantine and De Phazz. The joint concert by Sosa and Kraus in March will be their only gig in Poland. On April 14, the Jazz Era series will feature a one-night-only performance by violinist Regina Carter, regarded as the world's finest female violin player and one of the most expressive violin soloists. Carter was the first jazz violinist to play on Il Cannone Guarnei del Gesu, a priceless, over 200-year-old violin which used to belong to Niccolo Paganini, no less. In Warsaw, Carter will present her latest project called Reverse Thread in which she delivers jazz interpretations of ethnic and folk ballads, playing them with reverence, verve and emotion. The Reverse Thread album has been nominated for this year's Grammy Awards. In terms of the highlights of this spring, Piątkowski also points to the first Polish performance by an Indian group called the Bollywood Brass Band. They will perform their East Meets Jazz project May 19, a splendid prologue to summer festivals and concerts. The Bollywood Brass Band is a pioneering ensemble which has come up with a perfect combination of Indian ethnic and dance music, hits from Bollywood movies and improvised jazz. Source: The Warsaw Voice