This season of concerts under the stars starts in style with one of today's greatest jazz musicians, this year's Grammy winner, Miguel Zenón, with the support of the great local musicians JazzIstra Four.
Find out what made a boy who grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico's largest social settlement, one of the most influential alto saxophonists of our time on Thursday, May 30. on the first night of Jazz Waves. The performance of this musician, composer and arranger will bring a cross-section of an extremely rich career during which he collaborated with numerous jazz legends, including Charlie Haden, Fred Hersch, David Sánchez and the SFJAZZ Collective. Together with pianist Luis Perdomo, he won the Grammy award for the best Latin jazz album this year with the album "El Arte Del Bolero Vol.2", thus crowning his work so far.
Although today he lives at a New York address, this Puerto Rican, a scholarship recipient of the prestigious MacArthur and Guggenheim foundations, remained connected to his roots and devoted part of his life to the role of an educator through his own music program Caravan Cultural, founded in 2011 with the aim of organizing in the rural parts of Puerto Rico free concerts of the greatest jazz musicians and allow local musicians to perform with them.
On the day of the concert Puerto Rico and Istria will meet with Manhattan and the Lower East Side, and the audience will have the opportunity to witness a passionate performance.
Support for the musical genius Zenón comes from the ranks of the local Jazz Istra Four, which consists of:
Branko Sterpin, prominent Croatian trumpeter from Pula, graduated from the jazz department of the Music Academy in Graz. He played in the HGM Jazz Orchestra Zagreb, in the HRT Jazz Orchestra, and since 2008 he has been the leader of the Pula Big Band. He is the winner of the Status of the Croatian Music Union award for the best trumpeter.
Marko Črnec is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer. Črnčec is one of the most famous Slovenian contemporary musicians, a rising star of the European jazz scene and a gifted pianist with a wide range of musical influences from classical jazz to modern fusion music. At the age of 19, he graduated the piano at the Conservatory of Music and Ballet in Maribor, and a few years later he did it again, this time on jazz piano at the Music Academy in Graz. He has released four albums.
Vedran Ružič is a visual artist and jazz musician (double bass and bass guitar). He attended the Jazz Conservatory in Klagenfurt and graduated in 2018 from the Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka, majoring in painting. He is the author of six jazz albums, the screenwriter of two films and the winner of the Porin award in 2017 in the category of the best jazz music album. Before this year, he was awarded the Status award in 2012 and 2023 in the category of the best jazz double bassist, and in 2020, the best jazz bassist.
Marco Quarantotto, a drummer from Pula and a prominent figure on the Croatian music scene, collaborated with musical groups like Nola, Goribor, East Rodeo and T.B.F. In 2009. he moved to London, where he continued his musical career. To date, he has collaborated with many internationally respected musicians and producers. In 2019, he founded his original trio ŪROK and in November of the same year released his debut album for Chant Records in New York City. The album was included in the list of the best jazz albums of the year in Rolling Stone Magazine 'Best Of Jazz 2019'.
