All-Stars band commemorates Mani Planzer
Mani Planzer from Lucerne, lateral thinker and networker between musical styles, chairs and benches, would have turned 75 this year. To mark the occasion, jazz lecturer Thomas K. J. Mejer arranged classics from Planzer's "Suite Catalane" and "Esperar" for the DKSJ All-Stars Band.
Planzer, who died in 1997, was one of the most independent and inspiring musicians of his era, writes the Lucerne Central and University Library, which manages his estate. He wrote orchestral music, chamber music, vocal works, music for theater and films. He founded and led the Mani Planzer Big Band and the MorschAchBlasorCHester, which experimented with composed and improvised music.
The DKSJ All-Star Project was initiated in 2007 by the Directors' Conference of Swiss Jazz Schools (DKSJ). The musicians are jazz students from the music academies in Bern, Basel, Lucerne, Zurich and Lausanne and were selected by the respective school management.
The ensemble will be touring the five cities of the participating music academies from 13 to 17 October 2014 with the Mani Planzer program, which includes the "Suite Catalane" and "Esperar" arrangements as well as works by the idiosyncratic Mani Planzer Big Band.
The festival kicks off on Monday, October 13, from 8.30 pm at the Jazzkantine Lucerne. Further concerts: 14.10.2014, Bird's Eye Basel; 15.10.2014, Chorus, Lausanne; 16.10.2014, HDK Bern; 17.10.2014, Mehrspur Zurich.
