Hajime Sato/"East Wind"
The BluePort International JazzFest (BIJ)
Budapest, Hungary - June 10th & 11th 2011
The BluePort International Jazz Foundation’s mission is to promote Jazz as a cultural activity and, through music, to create a
positive, life-changing experience. We are proud to invite you and your partner to our first public event.
A Gala Dinner in a Musical Setting, Budapest June 10th 2011 at 18.30 at the RaM Colosseum.
JAZZ THE HARMONIOUS MARRIAGE OF MANY MUSICAL GENRES…
”CHOPIN MEETS MILES DAVIS & GIL EVANS” GOLSON, FEKETE-KOVACS & SARIK"
An Evening of Jazz, Classical and Folk Music. The evening will be hosted by: Andras Hajos
The Mission BluePort International Jazz Foundation (read more)
Why Budapest?
An annual BPIJ event will be held in Budapest. Hungary’s classical tradition, its native gypsy music, and its highly developed folk music alongside the ongoing exploration of North American jazz offer a unique “home’ for such happy, innovative celebrations, Hungary’s musicians are exceptionally situated to define this long-awaited merging of jazz and classical voices, The BPIJ is dedicated to the highest musical values with the finest musical talent. Such artistic energy is in ample supply among Hungary’s enormous cadre of strong musicians. The BPIJ aims to enhance the life of jazz and classical music in Hungary by the inviting highly regarded American musicians to participate both with their own bands and with Hungarian musicians. In this collaboration, the BPIJ intends to further the “internationalization” of Budapest’s global significance.
Artistic Director and Music Production: Jim Merod, Founder and CEO of BluePort Jazz (San Diego. California)
Artistic Co-Director and Music Production: Kornel Fekete-Kovacs, Budapest, Hungary; Founder of The Budapest Jazz Orchestra & founder and conductor of the Modern Art Orchestra, Budapest
Executive Producer & Producer: Peter Fodor, & Andrea Duca, Budapest, Hungary
Jim Merod
Seldom, in a long lifetime, we meet genius face to face. Genius is often inscrutable, ineluctable. I've sometimes discovered great talent and extraordinary skill within reach despite my initial non-recognition. When we least expect it, such genius can emerge to glow with the intensity of the sun. Such brightness startles us with tactile force and we must meet that force.
I've lived long enough to know that real genius is like fresh air in asphyxiating circumstances. Jim Merod has long since made the difficult look easy, the impossible seem likely. His strong being came into my world more than twenty years ago. Jim continues in my life as a constant epiphany. He makes no attempt to flaunt his acute knowledge of music, people, art, and life. I've had to take mental notes from our work together to fully understand his iconicity -- a term seldom used but, in this instance, accurate. Although Jim is a widely respected intellectual, he deals with people on an eye-level basis, directly and without pretense. He sees and understands what others see and understand and his modesty allows him to respect all who deserve it. He goes only as far as his artistic partner suggests, but when a cry for help is rendered . . . Jim is there to help.
Over two-plus decades, my intellectual horizon has expanded because of Jim. He has taken me into unfamiliar and fascinating places and, in truth, has become my personal cognoscenti. Literally, I draw heavily from Jim's knowledge and expertise, always to my benefit. One more quality must be noted, as well. Jim Merod's avuncular nature makes him extremely approachable. He deals with reality without heavy hands. He is a teacher, first, a jazz recording guru, no less, and a historian of music, literature and philosophy. His didactic skill is his métier. I admire and respect his merciful heart which has left many happy souls in his wake.
Jim Merod . . . what would tomorrow be without his presence?
Benny Golson
Musician, composer
Gene Bertoncini 2+2=1
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(Gene Bertoncini has worked with the Metropolitan Opera orchestra, the Benny Goodman Sextet; singers Tony Bennett, Morgana King, Lena Horne, Vic Damone and Edye Gorme; jazzmen Buddy Rich, Wayne Shorter, Hubert Laws, Clark Terry, Paul Desmond, and Paul Winter; and arranger/composers Burt Bacharach, Lalo Schifrin and Michel LeGrand, among others. He performed regularly on the Merve Griffin and Johnny Carson shows, and has been one of the most prolific and popular studio musicians in New York City. For the past eight years Bertoncini has performed with bassist Michael Moore in a duo which The New York Times describes as “...one of the finest pairings of jazz strings....”