35th Belgrade Jazz Festival

Date: 17-09-2019

It is always a pleasure to write about Belgrade Jazz Festival, as it brings great musicians of different styles to top indoor venues in Belgrade. Even for those who do not count themselves among jazz fans, as it is a great festival to visit, as there is a lot of energy in the air, both on the stage and in the crowd. Musicians are routinely mixing styles and genres, so the people in the audience may soon forget they are on a jazz festival.

More concerts, more days

This year, Belgrade Jazz Festival is celebrating it’s 35th birthday. This important anniversary wil be marked by even better line-up than in previous years and with one extra day. The festival will start on October 22nd and last to October 27th, with several concerts each day, both in Kombank Hall and Belgrade Youth Center. More than 30 concerts are planned, with great additional events. During the warm-up period, from September 7th, a series of free jazz concerts will be held on Saturdays, on the plateau in front of BYC.

Belgrade Jazz Festival will bring to Belgrade some of the biggest names of the contemporary jazz scene, both young and old. One of the best French musicians of the younger generation, Theo Ceccaldi, performing with sextet Freaks, and playing some very unusual and attractive pieces. Sextet Axes, led by Portuguese composer and musician Joao Mortaguea and accompanied by strong rhythm section is also highly anticipated.

Jazz straight from the USA

It is symbolic that some of the concerts will be held Kombank Hall, a venue formerly known as Dom sindikata, which played an important role in the history of Belgrade Jazz Festival. The famous Mingus Big Band will again play in the same hall after more than three decades. It was the band that appeared three times on BJF during the early years, in the seventies. Also, it is the first big band from US on the festival in this century. Flautist Charles Lloyd is also a veteran of the festival, and a remarkable artists with a career that spans across seven decades! He is now coming to Belgrade with a new band of much star power on its own.

The festival is also an opportunity for Serbian jazz musicians to show their skill. BJF was a springboard to a successful career form many musicians, especially as there are many critics and other artists in the audience.

For those who wish to pay less, they can get set of tickets early for only 3000 RSD. This set covers all main concerts and events. Tickets can be bought via the website tickets.rs or in Belgrade Youth Center. Sky Apartments have many apartments close to both festival venues, with more than 20 apartments in the very center of the city, on locations such as Terazije and upprer Dorćol.