music
After celebrating a decade of existence, in which it also occupied the Theatro Circo, Julho é de Jazz will once again present a program that will cover the city’s two venues over the course of two weeks. The eleventh edition once again brings together a luxury cast, bringing some of the best names in modern jazz to Braga.
zoh amba sun ensemble
At just 25 years old, saxophonist Zoh Amba is already acclaimed as one of the greatest emerging talents in avant-garde music, collecting praise from renowned improvisers twice or three times her age. After leaving the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she learned the saxophone with the master David Murray (who is also part of the July is Jazz program, with a concert at the Theatro Circo). John Zorn, the godfather of New York free jazz, was also dazzled by the saxophonist’s sound. Through his label, Tazik, Zorn released Zoh Amba’s debut album, O, Sun (2022), and her second work, Bhakti (2022). In his still short but fruitful career, Zoh has collaborated with a wide variety of top musicians, such as William Parker, Marc Edwards, Shahzad Ismaily, Bill Orcutt, Chris Corsano and Jim White. Steve Gunn, Brian Chase (drummer for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) or Tyshawn Sorey. Zoh started out playing guitar, but stopped the day he saw a video of Charlie Parker.
She scoured YouTube in search of the giants of the saxophone: John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, until she came across Albert Ayler, the genius who had the greatest impact on the saxophonist from the small town of Kingsport, in the US state of Tennessee. As her mother hated the instrument, Zoh isolated herself practicing in the forests that surrounded her, letting the mysterious and dense aura of the Appalachian mountain range permeate her saxophone.
During a residency at Roulette, one of New York’s most important avant-garde music venues, Zoh Amba formed the Sun Ensemble. It is with this quartet that he arrives at Julho é de Jazz to present a new album. Accompanied by pianist Lex Korten, bassist Caroline Morton and percussionist Miguel Marcel Russell, Zoh Amba proves that she is not just a rising artist riding the wave of those who came before, but the face of a new generation that deserves its own attention.
zoh amba saxophone
lex korten piano
caroline morton bass
miguel marcel russell drums
support portuguese republic – culture / directorate-general for the arts. rtcp – rede de teatros e cineteatros portugueses
