JOÃO BARRADAS: A MASTER ACCORDIONIST AT AIX-EN-PROVENCE
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One of the greatest accordionists of his generation, João Barradas will be performing on 12 July at the Festival d’Aix. At barely 30 years old, this artist at the crossroads of cultures and inspirations has already received myriad accolades for his talent as a composer-performer and as an improviser.
Trained in jazz, classical music, and popular music, João Barradas draws from each tradition its most distinctive qualities, using an instrument specially designed for him. In Aix, he will be performing this music, made up of all the traditions to which he has been exposed since early childhood. He will also be premiering his new creation, “Solo II” (part of a triptych), during the concert — the piece is a tribute to the Festival itself, which he holds so dear and where he has learned so much, by attending the Medinea and MYO sessions, launching the Cairo Jazz Station, and building a relationship with Fabrizio Cassol, one of his mentors.
João Barradas, about his concert in Aix-en-Provence:
“The principle I’ve set out for myself is similar to that of Keith Jarrett for his famous Köln concert (1975): an hour of totally free improvisation, with nothing preconceived. But just like Jarret with Hymn/Spheres (1979), I’m not excluding the possibility of slipping in some piece that might pass through my fingers — something by Bach, for example.”
