Full line-up of Estival Jazz online
The official line up of the Festival will feature Ben Harper, Gilberto Gil, Judith Hill, Stanley Clarke, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Mark Lettieri, Beppe Donadio as guests. An absolutely not-to-be-missed 43rd edition with an artistic bill of great quality.
JULY 7, 2023
Beppe Donadio
Mark Lettieri Group
Ben Harper & Innocent Criminals
Judith Hill
The first notes chosen for the official opening of Estival on Friday, July 7, are entrusted to Beppe Donadio, singer-songwriter, pianist-singer, class of 1968, born in Brescia but Ticino by adoption.
After him on the Reformation Square stage we will have guest Mark Lettieri, the virtuoso American guitarist and member of Snarky Puppy, who will warm up the square with his adrenaline-fueled fusion. A Grammy-winning guitarist, composer, and session player, Mark Lettieri is a longtime member of Snarky Puppy and has played on every continent.
The evening continues with a super guest, Ben Harper. Winner of three Grammy Awards and author of a piece of current music history, Harper will be in concert with the Innocent Criminals.
To end the first night on a high note, California singer-songwriter Judith Hill will take the stage. For several years she was a backing vocalist for some of the most important American bands and artists, including Stevie Wonder, The Roots, Michael Jackson, and Elton John: always on big stages, but never as a lead singer. In 2013 comes the real turning point for Judith. She decided to participate in "The Voice" highly followed music talent, winning over the audience with her expressive, mellow and soulful voice.
Judith in Lugano will present tracks from her latest album "Baby I'm Hollywood," a splendid mix of soul, wonderful piano ballads, psychedelic funk-a self-produced record featuring a free, focused and reborn Hill.
JULY 8.
Stanley Clarke 4ever
Gilberto Gil
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80
The second night of Estival begins with the notes of Stanley Clarke. A 4-time Grammy winner and considered a contemporary jazz legend, he was the first bassist to perform as a front man on world tours, and the first to be a star on both electric and acoustic bass. In Lugano he appears with his exciting new band 4EVER. A band that emphasizes the jazz fusion legacy of such historic groups as Return To Forever, in which the leader himself played.
The evening continues with an absolutely prestigious guest: Brazilian artist Gilberto Gil who returns in concert with his Aquele Abraço Tour. A monstrous career that began at a very young age in the 1950s inspired by Luis Gonzaga's bandoneon, radio, and the religious processions of his homeland, Northeast Brazil. Then the arrival of bossa nova with Joao Gilberto, a sound that starting from the depths of Brazil's heart reaches stages all over the world. The meeting with Caetano Veloso, with Gal Costa and Maria Bethania, a generation of baianos at the height of the new musical movement, the MPB, Musica Pupular Brasilera, of which he is one of the founding fathers. And then the collaborations with some of the sacred monsters of the international scene, from Bob Marley to Stevie Wonder to Sting, certifying the planetary diffusion of a musical language that is so particular and at the same time mixable with pop, rock and jazz.
Of Gilberto Gil one cannot fail to remember his political commitment, first as Councillor for Ecology in Bahia, then as Minister of Culture in Brazil's two Lula governments. A career sealed by more than 60 albums, millions of records sold worldwide, 9 Grammy Awards, and countless awards, from UNESCO Ambassador for Peace to the Legion of Honor in France and many, many more.
And to close the 43rd edition of Estival in style, the sweeping rhythms of Seun Kuti & Egypt 80.Like his father, Seun struggles with music for the affirmation of his people. A saxophonist and singer, Kuti cites Miles Davis, African-American musician and poet Gill Scott Heron, rappers Timbaland and Dr Dree among his inspirations, while remaining true to his father's spirit. In his own work he takes into account the history of black music in recent years, introducing inflections of rap and new soul into the din of the 'locotics' of afrobeat.
