YPF Jazz Piano Concours

I attended the YPF Jazz Piano Concours (semi finals) last Saturday. One thing that struck me about the performances was how easily classical music often flows ino jazz music and vice versa. Another thing was the obligatory piece (Con Alma), I thought it was pretty cool how each candidate was able give it a totally different feel and experience to the same piece of music, especially considering that the original was played on trombone. In general, each of the six candidates had a very distinct style, and were able to convert existing works to suit their won styles. This is my first true experience with this kind of music, but I really enjoyed it. I really should start attending these cultural things more often.

Well, I'm no expert, but here's my impression of each of the 6 candidates:

Andrea Taeggi

The most experimental of the bunch. He makes some use of uncommon sounds and instruments, and throws in some weird combinations in his pieces. It was pretty good, but I'm not a big fan of experimental music.

Sandro Savino

Probably the one with the largest ego (typically Italian I would say), but a good showman. He brings a lot of enthusiasm in his music, so naturally he generated quite some applause from the audience. He especially had a lot of fun playing In Walked Bud (his version is much more dynamic than in the Youtube clip, and he added a beat which he repeated over and over again, but it was extremely catchy), and that enthusiaism just carried over to the crowd. Not the best in technique and innovation perhaps, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

Jean-François Blanchard

His music sounds more romantic than the others. Perhaps not surprisingly, seeing he's from France. As a result, his music is somewhat more slower and dreamier than the others (which I like), although he did show off more of his skills towards the end.

Anne Guus Teerhuis

At this point of the competition (especially right after the break), my mind started to drift off, so I found it hard to judge him. His own piece was called "Professor Chaos", which does suit his style. I think his style does need some getting used to, but I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about his performance. Bu then again, what do I know, since he did win the competition in the end. I think the judges were also looking for innovation, and he definitely had that more than the other candidates.

Evgeny Sivtsov

Technically brilliant, which he didn't hesitate to show. His demeanor was somewhat more subdued than the others though, and to me the music seemed to lack some passion the others have. Still, I couldn't help but be impressed with his skills.

Sri Hanuraga

Well, save the best for last, I guess. And judging by the response of the audience, I wasn't the only one who had him as my favorite. Very skilled and very enthusiastic player. But what really won the crowd over was his inclusion of more modern elements. His interpretation of Allegro Barbaro especially was a huge hit with the audience. With the inclusion of some heavy drum work along with some bombastic play on the piano, the whole piece turned into a hybrid of classical music and rock and roll. The drummer even got to perform a mini solo towards the end (which may be a bit over the top, seeing that this is first and foremost a piano competition).