Richard Bona and other jazz stars will perform in the Art of Riga Jazz 2022 concert series

The autumn concert series Art of Riga Jazz of the international improvisation, jazz and global music festival Rīgas Ritmi will take place in November and December this year, where Spanish singer and trombonist Rita Payés, world-famous American bass guitarist Richard Bona together with Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez, and the Italian new jazz band XY Quartet will delight lovers of high-quality jazz.

 

One of the rising stars of the new Spanish jazz generation, Rita Payés, will perform for the listeners in Riga on November 11 at the Latvian Radio Studio 1. She will be joined by the well-known Spanish classical guitarist Elisabeth Roma, who is also Rita's mother, as well as the convincing double bassist Horacio Fumero.

 

Cameroon-born American bass guitarist, singer and multi-instrumentalist Richard Bona will perform on November 16 at the VEF Palace of Culture. He is one of those African musicians who best knows how to fuse native African musical traditions, European influences and American jazz. In collaboration with the musical director of the projects of the world-famous producer Quincy Jones – the excellent Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez – Bona's acoustic palette has been given new colors and vigor. These two talents have revealed many affinities between Central African and Afro-Cuban music. It is a meeting of two generations in one ocean – the one where the most passionate music in the world floats. As result a new trio was formed together with the great Cuban drummer Michael Oliveira.

 

The Italian new jazz band XY Quartet will invite listeners to the Latvian Radio Studio 1 on December 9. The band has been active for 11 years, uniting saxophonist Nicola Fazzini, bassist Alessandro Fedrigo, vibraphonist Saverio Tasca and drummer Luca Colussi in one musical direction. All together create original and innovative music, using different musical and artistic languages and offering modern arrangements, freely flowing between jazz and contemporary music.

 

Art of Riga Jazz is a special series of improvisational and jazz music concerts and master classes for musically passionate listeners who appreciate high-quality artistic performance and new nuances of musical sound. As part of this series, such world-class artists as American guitarist Charlie Hunter and singer Lucy Woodward, American guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg, American steel guitar master Roosevelt Collier, American drummer Terry Bozzio, American trumpeter Christian Scott, British singer ALA.NI, British pianist Bill Laurance, Portuguese singer Salvador Sobral, Norwegian singer Kristin Asbjornsen, German guitarist Joscho Stephan, German pianist Ralf Schmid, Brazilian singer Paula Morelenbaum, Beninese guitarist and singer Lionel Loueke, British/Danish/Swedish trio Phronesis, international male a cappella group Accent and other great musicians have already performed in Riga. 

 

The concert series is supported by Riga City Council, State Culture Capital Foundation, Embassy of the United States of America, Embassy of the Italian Republic, Latvijas gāze, Tele 2 and other lovers of quality music.

 

All concerts start at 7 PM. Tickets are already available at ekase.lv.