Vive le Jazz | Laura Perrudin | Csaba Palotaï (FR/HU)

The first half of the concert, consisting of two solo pieces, features Laura Perrudin, who began exploring a wide variety of musical genres and sound sources as a young child. In 2008, Philippe Volant built a chromatic, pedal-less harp for her, which she used to bring to life the unpredictable, winding harmonies of her compositions. The next stage of her adventurous musical journey was reached with the help of the electronic chromatic harp, with which she is able to evoke the sounds of Amon Tobin, Björk, Portishead, Mica Levi, and Flying Lotus, as well as the impressionistic harmonies of Debussy, Ravel, and Wayne Shorter. His electronic musical experiments give rise to intense and virtuosic live performances, which are shaped not only by his unique instrument but also by his distinctive singing voice.

In the second half of the concert, Csaba Palotaï, resident artist of this year's Vive le Jazz festival, takes the stage. The guitarist's new program, Soulbread, responds from a ten-year perspective to his solo album The Deserter, which is not only one of the brightest gems in the BMC Records catalog, but also received great international acclaim. The Soulbread repertoire features a return to the leaping finger-picking motifs, with a little electronic deep dive, proto-jazz and some heart-wrenching urban romance. In Csaba Palotaï's hands, the electric guitar becomes the perfect tool for exploring loneliness – another homage to lost souls and fallen heroes. The material will also be released on CD in the near future, again by BMC Records.