JORDINA MILLÀ – BARRU GUY Duo

For the first time, Bergamo Jazz hosts one of the most imaginative minds in advanced European jazz and beyond, a central figure in improvised music since the late 1960s: the Englishman Barry Guy. Summarizing his frenetic activity in a few lines is at least limiting. However, it’s worth mentioning his collaborations with fellow countrymen Evan Parker, Derek Bailey, Paul Rutherford, Tony Oxley and Paul Lytton, and with Americans Cecil Taylor, Roscoe Mitchell and Marilyn Crispell. The London Jazz Composer’s Orchestra deserves a chapter of its own, being one of the most brilliant experiences in integrating composition and improvisation, which along its path has crossed paths with Anthony Braxton’s reeds and Irene Schweizer’s piano. With a technical-expressive background that allows him unparalleled mastery of his instrument, Barry Guy has also played with classical orchestras (The Orchestra of St. John’s Smith Square, City of London Sinfonia, Monteverdi Orchestra, The Academy of Ancient Music, Kent Opera, The London Classical Players) and with violinist Maya Homburger, his life partner, he also explores the world of early music. The partnership with Jordina Millà is quite recent: it began in 2017, when the English double bassist involved the Catalan pianist, a student of her compatriot Agustì Fernandez, in an ensemble of improvisers gathered for the Barcelona’s Mixtur Festival. Subsequently, the two musicians recorded String Fables, released in 2021 by the Polish label Fundacja Słuchaj. In February 2022, they recorded the album Live In Munich, released last year by ECM. Listening to this latest album reveals a perfect harmony of intentions that underlies an absolutely equal dialogue with palpable expressive tension, combining free improvisation with elements of classical-contemporary language

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