Franz Hackl, the trumpeter whose brainchild Outreach Festival is, splits his time between New York and Schwaz, his hometown, a few miles down-river from Innsbruck. The festival, now in its 32nd edition, is the highlight of the Outreach Academy, a jazz summer school, with occasional gigs through the months of July and August.
The set-up of the nights is a hangover from Covid which has stuck: three bands each evening on the stage, playing 20 minute sets, in a sort of relay. It actually can work well. Evenings don’t ‘drag’, since there are no long gaps.
Each year has an underlying theme. This year it was “Imagine All the Optimists: Critical Mass of Positivity”. How important it is for us to have a space to hear the positive attitude of the musicians, untainted by nationalistic and similar elements that are tainting the world. And also encouraging us to go out and ‘spread’ the word. Programming is done by Hackl and bassist Clemens Rofner,
Two of the first night bands had Viennese women instrumentalists to look out for. Nina Feldgrill has just won the Ö1 Jazz Stipendium 2024 a two-year scholarship awarded by Austrian Radio. Playing a six-string electric bass, she jointly leads the band River with Robert Unterköfler on saxes. Quite a funky band, given a lot of the drive from Feldgrill, though she had a lot of lyricism as she could take advantage of the bass’s range.
Saxophonist Yvonne Moriel guested with the duo FEMALE of singer Stefanie Boltz. A thought-provoking tribute to women singers and composers, ranging from Hildegard of Bingen and Fanny Mendelssohn, to Kate Bush and Nina Simone. The jaunty saxophone of Moriel, recently selected as a “creative visioneer” by Austrian Music Export, intertwined with the directness of Boltz and added additional colour. I had heard her recording her new album with the band “Sweetlife” the week before in Vienna. More of a fusion outfit than when heard soloing in Schwaz, but certain to make waves when it appears.
Sandwiched between them – physically as well as musically – was the group Soundlib, led by Gene Pritske. New Yorker Pritsker is invariably a live wire, always giving us unexpected ways of hearing classics, including as musical director of the Outreach Orchestra, which we were to hear on Friday, and an energetic guitarist. This project was classic in some ways that it included as opener a tune based on Vivaldi, with Lara St John on violin taking a virtuoso role and fine soloing from Hackl. There followed a moving tribute to a recently deceased friend, guitarist and educator Sean Satin, sung by Chanda Rule.
The following day, we were treated to the band //kry. Mona Matbou Riahi is a live wire of a clarinettist, using effects to the full. She’s one of a group of Iranian jazz musicians, such as guitarist Mahan Mirarab, resident in Vienna who are helping shape the scene. The band celebrates complexity and control, leading us in really unexpected directions.
Kai Schumacher creates a trance-like solo around the piano, using preparation and electronics to enhance the piano’s timbre. Extended minimalism, but with elements of almost brutality in the way his touch affects his sound.
The Outreach Orchestra is the big band of the teachers, many from New York, on the summer school with a few added guests. This year it focussed on compositions by some band members. Noteworthy were the tunes by John Clark and Leo Genovese, the Grammy-winning pianist, a long-standing duo partner of Hackl. His soloing in these pieces was breathtaking, rather like a piano concerto soloist. (He has just recorded with our own Cloudmakers Trio, about which he himself was very excited.)
The final night was equally enthralling. AVA Trio (above), from Groningen in the Netherlands – Giuseppe Doronzo on baritone saxophone, Esat Ekincioglu, double bass and Pino Basile on drums – builds on Balkan and Middle Eastern sounds. They perform with energy and panache.
Synesthetic 4 is virtually a ‘supergroup’ of the new Viennese scene, including Peter Rom on guitar, Manu Mayr on bass and Andreas Lettner on drums – all names to watch out for. Clarinettist Vincent Pongracz isrewriting the instrument’s range and vocabulary, through effective use of pedals, effects and extended technique.
For the third group, we had a total contrast. Saxophonist Daniel Schnyder, a regular at the festival, used a string quartet in a totally unique way, providing links to classical forms of the likes of Bizet and de Falla. It proved very thoughtful and drew one into the sets.
The combination of Clemens Rofner’s good feel for the current Viennese scene, with all its wildness and imagination, and Franz Hackl’s wider perspective and New York connections combine to produce a fascination cross-section of music, including the chance to witness exciting newer bands at an early stage.
