Pérez/Patitucci/Blade, Joe Lovano, Ravi Coltrane and Enrico Rava make for a beautiful edition of Bergamo Jazz

What a sound painting. When Danilo Pérez , John Patitucci and Brian Blade make music together, there is simply this telepathic understanding between them that’s thanks to years of working together. Pérez can come up with a musical idea and the other two immediately know what to do with it, resulting in something magical. Of course, on this evening in the packed, beautiful Teatro Donizetti, the opera house built in the 1780s in the heart of Bergamo, there are templates, namely pieces from the repertoire that Wayne Shorter's long-time backing band played with him. ‘Legacy of Wayne Shorter’ is also the title of this concert evening. Special guest: Ravi Coltrane, son of another jazz saxophone legend. It is a magical concert, because you can feel the close connection between the trio at every moment. And Coltrane fits in perfectly with his beautiful lines. When Joe Lovano joins in at the end and everyone pushes forward on the Shorter classic ‘Witch Hunt’, the whole thing really takes off. 

US saxophonist Joe Lovano is now in his second year as artistic director of Bergamo Jazz and has designed the programme together with Roberto Valentino. And he takes up the instrument himself at many concerts to join in for one or two numbers. And yes, there are many American artists performing. Immediately before the Shorter tribute, for example, the Lux Quartet of pianist Myra Melford and drummer Allison Miller, which also includes saxophonist Dayna Stephens and bassist Nick Dunston. A band that plays accessible, imaginative and wonderfully light-footed avant-garde jazz. 

‘Sounds Of Joy’ is this year's festival motto. Joe Lovano gave his own trio album from the early 1990s this title. And many performances in Bergamo also convey these ‘sounds of joy’. The Fearless Five around trumpet legend Enrico Rava (pictured above centre - photo by Gianfranco Rota), for example. The 85-year-old Italian has gathered four young, fearless and highly talented compatriots around him and acts as a focal point in the middle of the band, commenting and directing the action, but always leaving plenty of room for the young heaven-stormers such as drummer Evita Polidoro and above all the fantastic trombonist Matteo Paggi to play their way impressively into the limelight. The American all-star band The Cookers also spread joy in the theatre hall with their music, even if not everything went completely smoothly at their concert. This was a little surprising, as the two trumpeters Eddie Henderson and David Weiss, saxophonists Azar Lawrence and Donald Harrison, pianist George Cables , bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Billy Hart are a long-standing working band. Nevertheless, their vital, catchy mainstream jazz, wonderfully held together and tirelessly driven forward by Billy Hart, is simply a feast for the ears that you can't get enough of.     

Bergamo Jazz is also so much fun because it uses magical venues throughout the city, both in the lower town and in the historic heart of the city, the ‘Città Alta’ (upper town), which towers on a hill above Bergamo. The Teatro Sociale, a beautiful theatre from the early 19th century, is also located there. What a place for US singer Lizz Wright (pictured above - Photo by Gianfranco Rota), who moves effortlessly through soul, gospel, blues, jazz and songwriter pop with her mature, full-sounding voice with an incredible nonchalance and seemingly complete lack of effort. 

The festival also gives space to projects in which young, local jazz talents such as Francesca Remigi, who even comes from Bergamo, and Michelangelo Scandroglio can showcase their talents in international bands. The drummer in British pianist Alexander Hawkins' Dialect Quintet , featuring three Italians, and the bassist in the quartet La Via Del Ferro, with British saxophonist Alex Hitchcock. Two British-Italian bands that are absolutely enriching the current jazz scene with their freshness and innovative vigour. 

To have the grande dame of jazz singing close this year's festival edition in the once again packed Teatro Donizetti could not have been better curated. Because Dianne Reeves simply has everything to inspire. A huge voice with which she can modulate syllables as she pleases, and a warm charisma with which she immediately connects with the audience. What a lovely end to a festival in an absolutely beautiful city that sees itself as a crossroads of history and culture. You could sense this from the moment you entered the venerable venues, as the staff wore long capes that immediately reminded you of the 19th century, when Bergamo's world famous son, Gaetano Donizetti, lived and wrote his operas.