The Paradise Jazz Festival - Polomis Cyprus

Cyprus News – 13th July

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the increasingly popular Paradise Jazz Festival at Paradise Place in Pomos, near Polis.

The Cyprus Mail reported recently that it’s also the year that the festival’s organisers decided that one weekend was not long enough to do justice to all the fantastic jazz musicians around. So they’ve extended this annual jazz extravaganza from one weekend to three consecutive weekends, offering a wonderful summer treat for jazz lovers.

So what’s on offer and when? Some of the names performing are familiar ones from previous years, but the festival has also been giving a facelift for its 10th anniversary and there will be some new and exciting names to spice things up.

The fun starts on Saturday 18th July which is dedicated to all things funky with a Latin and Samba Jazz night to warm things up, with the Trio Smiles group and the Jazz Times 09 performing throughout the weekend.

The main event of the festival starts the following Friday 24th July with the new work of Savvas Houvartas and band, who are currently recording new material in the studio. Fans will also be able to hear some original compositions which are mainly instrumental with a few Greek lyrics along with strong elements of improvisation.

On Saturday night (25th July) there will be performances by two bands, the GoJam group, who are jetting in from Greece to perform for the first time in Cyprus. They are a young group with plenty of energy, so prepare for some exciting stuff which will be both innovative and upbeat.

The other band playing on Saturday night is the Takoushis/Karapatakis Quartet, which includes some of the island’s best artists.

By the time Sunday comes along, fans will be ready for a lazy classical jazz afternoon and that’s exactly what’s in store for them as some of Cyprus’ best known jazz musicians step onto the stage.

There will be a powerful performance from Irinaeos Koullouras on acoustics bass as he brings three musicians of his choice to play with him. Festival organiser and owner of Paradise Place, Socratis Efstathiou, said, “In my opinion this is the absolute highlight of the whole event. It’s a brilliant line up and a performance of pure classic jazz. This tends to be very popular with British music lovers who come along to the festival.” Ofer Ganor is just one of the famous names that will join Koullouras. Two other great musicians of their generation, Asaf Yuria on tenor saxophone and Doron Tivish on drums are the chosen ones, with a special guest on vocals, Ioanna Troullidou.

The Festival draws to a close the following week, on Sunday 1st August with performances from the European Trio and Slovenian Saxophonist, Jan Kus. The last night also promises a few surprises as dancers prepare a memorable performance for fans.

What a great way to round off a memorable festival. All you have to do is enjoy.

Dates: 18th July to 1st August.

Place: Paradise Place, Pomos. Entrance Fee: €10 (18th July), €12 (24th July), €20 (July 25th). €15 (26th July and 1st August)

More information:

Website: www.paradiseplaceproductions.com
Tel. (00357) 26-342537/ 99-516932.
Email: paradiseplace@cytanet.com.cy.