Exciting bands of the Austrian jazz scene often perform at Opus Jazz Club, but this is the first time that 3x j(A)zz! will be organized here as a three-day minifestival between 14-16 November.

Shake Stew

Thursday, 14 November 2019 from 20:00 at Opus Jazz Club

Austrian band Shake Stew has become something of a phenomenon. With their premiere at Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2016 and their following debut The Golden Fang they seemingly exploded into the scene out of nowhere. Since then their high energy mixture of hypnotic afrobeat and jazz grooves has made them enormously successful not only on home turf but across Europe. Led by rising star bassist Lukas Kranzelbinder they quickly became one of the hottest live acts on the circuit, while the impact of their second album Rise and Rise again (featuring Shabaka Hutchings) enabled them to spread their unique sound further afield, including an extensive tour of Canada, Mexico, Morocco and stand out shows at prestigious festivals like Montreal, Rochester and North Sea Jazz Festival.

Shake Stew is now preparing to release their third studio album Gris Gris on 1 November. Not content to do anything by halves (their first single was 19 minutes long), Gris Gris is a double album of what they do best: A high-octane mix of fiery jazz and trance-like groove injections combined with mysterious soundscapes and spiritual free jazz eruptions.

Lia Pale & mathias rüegg

Friday, 15 November 2019 from 20:00 at Opus Jazz Club

After Schubert’s Winterreise (performed at the Opus in April 2014) and an album with songs by Schumann, singer Lia Pale and pianist/arranger mathias rüegg present their reading (in English) of 15 Brahms songs as the keystone of a trilogy where the classical model and the interpretation of a long-experienced jazz tradition shine through one another with the same iridescent and irritating light.

Already in 1993 mathias rüegg reacted to some Schubert hits in an album of his Vienna Art Orchestra. In Schumann’s songs he was fascinated by the endings and the sometimes far-reaching harmony. Now Brahms, he says, goes furthest rhythmically, and a special challenge are his simply ingenious children’s and folk songs. The screening of songs like Heideröschen, Sandmännchen or Mondnacht is a great pleasure. And, last but not least, whets your appetite for a comparison with the originals.

Rom Schaerer Eberle: Après nous le déluge

Saturday, 16 November 2019 from 20:00 at Opus Jazz Club

Emerging from JazzWerkstatt Wien and Jazzwerkstatt Bern the Ensemble Rom-Schaerer-Eberle was founded in 2009. “Full of wit and imagination” this “furious cooperation” with the unusual line-up of voice, trumpet and guitar has made its mark on the European Jazz Scene – “at times lyrical and performing with virtuosity at times percussive and explosive”. Their CDs Please Don’t Feed The Model and At The Age Of Six I Wanted To Be A Cook have received high critical acclaim, leading to concerts at Cullyjazz, London, Paris, Buenos Aires, Rome, Berlin, Zurich, Prague and many more, including their unforgettable gigs at the Opus Jazz Club in January 2014 and September 2016.