NICA exchange x CJW: Sketchbook Quartet

Saxophonist, clarinettist and composer Leonhard Skorupa from Vienna is a friend of surprises. The names of his bands already suggest that the serious symphonic approach does not reign at all times and that a wide variety of styles are as blunt as they are skilful. His Sketchbook Quartet delivers a fresh and vibrant sound on a long, squiggly line between straight-ahead jazz and surf rock, celebrating cheerful but uncomfortable eclecticism in tune with the times.

This concert takes place in co-operation with NICA artist development and Jazzfestival Saalfelden and is curated in collaboration with its artistic director. For over 40 years, Jazzfestival Saalfelden has been a meeting place for the international jazz scene, where there is always something new and innovative to discover. The combination of a breathtaking landscape and experimental sounds attracts fans from all over the world to the small town on the Steinernes Meer every year in August.

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Following the successful launch of the concert series "NICA exchange" in cooperation between NICA artist development and Cologne Jazzweek as part of the 2022 festival edition and its establishment as a regular feature of the Stadtgarten Köln, the collaboration will be continued and two concerts will be presented as part of this year's festival under the title "NICA exchange x CJW".

NICA exchange enables up-and-coming national and international musicians, particularly from the fields of jazz and improvised music, to play on the stages of the Cologne festival. The main focus of the concert series is to create spaces of exchange for a young, experimental generation of musicians, to encourage sustainable networking and creative exchange and, in the context of the festival, to initiate a connection with an audience eager to discover new things.

The musicians and bands for "NICA exchange" are selected in collaboration with NICA partner organizations. Past collaborations have included BIMHUIS Amsterdam, RAUW Festival Rotterdam, JazzLab Belgium, INTL Jazzplatform Poland, AJC Jazz France and We Jazz from Helsinki.