Metjazz Preview. On Monday 8 December at 9pm at Metastasio there will be a Fire concert! Orchestra, led by composer and saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and bassist Johan Berthling, both Swedish, is one of the most prominent collectives of contemporary new jazz. The ensemble combines electronics and a string section with traditional jazz instruments with a stellar lineup featuring some of the most significant musicians, also leaders of their own celebrated groups, including the saxophonists Mette Rasmussen and Anna Hogberg, the former Danish, the latter Swedish, the French guitarist Julien Desprez, the Englishman Mariam Rezaei on turntables and electronics, the Swedish singer Sofia Jernberg and the Brazilian drummer and singer Mariá Portugal. The collective is a constantly evolving organism, active for 13 years, and has seen formidable soloists take turns within it, involved by Gustafsson and Berthling based on the musical needs of the different pages proposed. Expressive urgency is one of the characteristics of Fire! Orchestra, which envelops listeners in dense sound textures, finding ideas both in the adventure of the most libertarian jazz, in iconoclastic rock, in electronics and in the sonic research of today’s music. At the Metastasio for the feast of the Immaculate Conception they will propose Words, still unreleased on record: an evening not to be missed for jazz enthusiasts, a prestigious preview of the thirty-first edition of MetJazz, which will take place with its traditional activities – concerts, conferences and meetings – in the months of February and March, under the new artistic direction of Enrico Romero and Giuseppe Vigna.
Mats Gustafsson, saxophonist, composer, festival director, producer and record collector, has been one of the most compelling and generous soloists since the mid-1980s, having collaborated extensively with leading European musicians, such as saxophonist Peter Brötzmann and double bassist Barry Guy, as well as with American colleagues, particularly with the new jazz scene in Chicago. His discography exceeds two hundred and fifty titles. Tickets for the concert on the Metastasio website, full price 20 euros.
