Close-up Slovenia: Jazz & Beyond w/ Jure Pukl Analog AI, Mrk & Širom

At the beginning of June, we turn our attention to Slovenia: The one-day festival Close Up Slovenia: Jazz & Beyond focuses on the country's creative and surprisingly diverse contemporary music scene. In collaboration with the Slovenian Cultural Center Berlin (SKICA Berlin) and the Slovenian Music Information Center (SIGIC) and curated by Bogdan Benigar, the concert evening in the hall and at JAKI presents a stylistically broad close-up between jazz, avant-garde and cross-genre approaches.

The program includes three outstanding positions: Širom (folk avant-garde), Mrk (jazz fusion) and Jure Pukl Analog AI, an international quartet between contemporary jazz and experimental soundscapes. An evening that makes the openness and vitality of the Slovenian music scene impressively audible.

Program
6 pm | Concert hall
Širom
The interweaving of diverse musical approaches and means, sound stories and unbridled musical imagination and craftsmanship is the overarching guiding principle of the Širom Trio, whose members come from the Prekmurje, Tolminsko and Kras regions.
More than a dozen instruments can be found in the repertoire of Iztok Koren, Samo Kutin and Ana Kravanja - and at least as many musical forms. The result is an original, stylistically homogeneous form of expression that oscillates between a wide range of folk sounds and contemporary acoustic rock meditations. The end result is a grounded yet mystical minimalism. Širom's music is contemplative but can get heavier when needed; it's more band than chamber music, more street than city. Their latest album "In the Wind of Night, Hard - Fallen Incantations Whisper" (Glitterbeat Records, 2025) was named Folk Album of the Month and received 5 stars in The Guardian.

7 pm | JAKI
Mrk
The Mrk (Eclipse) project is a coming together of diverse musical elements, with each genre contributing its own nuance to the overall sonic palette. The resulting dynamic fusion defies conventional categorization. Each song reflects a desire to explore boundaries and uncharted territories. Eclipse refers to the moment when light and darkness perform a cosmic dance. Light and darkness exist simultaneously: light represents brightness and energy, while darkness symbolizes depth and mystery. Gaj Bostič's project aims to play with these opposites, like planets passing through each other's shadows and overlapping for a moment. The presence of light is reflected in the sound of trumpet and saxophone, whose melodies illuminate the powerful rhythm section moving in a dark backdrop, while keyboards and effects add depth and create a contrasting atmosphere.

8 pm | Concert hall
Jure Pukl Analog AI
Analog AI is a visionary contemporary jazz project led by Slovenian saxophonist Jure Pukl. The internationally renowned quartet responds musically to the rise of artificial intelligence while celebrating the power of live human performance. The group consists of Pukl on tenor and soprano saxophone, Kaja Draksler on piano and keyboards, Joe Sanders on bass and Christian Lillinger on drums - longtime companions whose deep musical affinity inspires the project's bold creative voice. The musical ethos reflects a conscious artistic attitude: the concept of Analog AI can be understood as a musical "imitation" of analog artificial intelligence - not in the sense of computer-generated sounds, but as a creative principle in which spontaneity, human intuition and collective interplay determine every performance. Above all, the Analog AI Ensemble emphasizes the unique chemistry and freedom that only comes from on-the-spot collaboration - as opposed to algorithmic processes - underscoring the enduring relevance of jazz as a human art form.