Egli Santana Group wins new Bern sponsorship award
The Bernese jazz organizer BeJazz has awarded the newly created BeJazz TransNational prize, endowed with 8,000 francs, for the first time. The first winner is the Egli Santana Group. The prize also includes a performance at the 2015 BeJazz Winter Festival.
The jury - Co Streiff, Gregor Frei and Michael Bonanomi - were impressed right from the start by the group's two wind players, in particular the new discovery Gileno Santana on trumpet. The band is moving into uncharted musical territory and there is a "sense of urgency at the moment, based on the uncertainty of what will happen next", according to the statement.
At the same time, however, the formation, a "promising international band that has what it takes to play the world's stages far beyond national borders", relies on the strong confidence in the improvisational skills of each individual musician. They are independent and different characters who, through their openness and willingness to take risks, know how to drive the Spartan compositions forward step by step.
The BeJazz sponsorship award is aimed at local and national musicians who want to overcome the financial hurdles of cross-border musical collaboration. The focus is on exchanges with musicians from abroad.
More info: www.bejazz.ch/transnational/
