This is an outcome of four Indian virtuosos coming together to create something unique, and Jazz up the listener

Dhruv Ghanekar, who has been composing and producing music in virtually every genre; Gino Banks, who is a very versatile drummer and has been performing and recording with artists of all types of genre; Sheldon D’Silva, who has been performing all over the world and performing with legends is a bassist to watch out; Harmeet Manseta, who has been playing piano for around 10 years His primary area of musical expression is the idiom of Jazz improvisation along with the allied genres of R&B, funk and alternative rock.

BE WHY was created in September 2006. On April 17th and 18th 2009 the band recorded its first album, live at Bois-Guillaume (Normandie, France), named Be Live. BE WHY offers a vibrant repertoire of 20 original compositions drawing on mainly on funk but finding inspiration in wild improvisations: Earth Wind and Fire, James Brown, Tower of Power.

After over 60 performances as BE WHY, the 10 musicians have blended their strong individual artistic personalities into a powerful, dynamic and technically masterful into the band. All come from the best musical schools in the country, notably Rémi Biet's Jazz Class at Roue.

According to their public, BE WHY is following the path of U.S. funk ensembles such as Tower of Power, but they tend to break away from standard funk as they offer somewhat darker.

Montreal-based saxophonist and composer Christine Jensen has been described as, “an original voice on the international jazz scene… [and] one of Canada’s most compelling composers,” by the Globe and Mail.

“Jensen writes in three dimensions, with a quiet kind of authority that makes the many elements cohere. Wayne Shorter, Maria Schneider and Kenny Wheeler come to mind.”-Down Beat Magazine.

Jensen has toured the world with her quintet, and has made numerous appearances at the Montreal International Jazz Festival with both her small and large ensembles over the years
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Featuring:
Amyt Datta Acoustic, Electric & Slide Guitar / Synthesizer / Keybass / Harmonium / Vocoder
Jivraj Singh Drumset / Percussion / Turntable / Electronics / Vocoder

After a decade of experimentation and experience, India’s pre-eminent guitarist Amyt Datta (PINKNOISE, Skinny Alley, D-For-Brother) has come together with the irreverent Jivraj Singh .Using an open-source, modular architecture, the duo can play everything themselves or open the door so other modern minds can step into the lab with them.

This is demanding, challenging, frenetic, splintered music, like the country it comes from.
If you try to pin it down and put it in a box, it will fight you. And win.

Just imagine a band which has excellent musicians and play good solid music, have received standing ovations all over the world: in Paris, Germany, New Orleans, Moscow, London, Havana, Marseille, Seoul.....This is Jump4joy from Sweden.

As an award winning artist, Ulf Sandström is skilled in piano and organ. He also has a magnetic voice which can bring you into the dreamlike world and Appreciating the charm of music.

Jump4Joy is a constant experiment, where Ulf & Bo bring their very special humor and energy as a duo or quartet to club gigs, concerts, festivals, theatres, burlesque shows, dance events, corporate events, symphony arrangements and gospel choirs.

The Berlin - based piano trio around the pianist, composer and arranger Ekkehard Wölk ( with Johannes Fink on bass and drummer Andrea Marcelli) has been active for many years now, having done celebrated festival performances, at the Bachfest Leipzig, the MDR Music Summer and the Kurt - Weill festival in Dessau, among many others.

After three previous albums released in Germany and Italy and several radio performances for Deutschlandradio Kultur, RBB and BR Munich , this year the EKKEHARD WÖLK TRIO released their new CD 'THE BERLIN ALBUM' ( Jazzwerkstatt Records, 2011), with many original compositions as well as brilliantly colourful jazz - arrangements of themes by well - known German composers'.

The trio's own pieces are often inspired by motifs and images from literature, films and also experiences of nature which are transposed into the dynamically interactive and exciting musical world of powerful contemporary jazz improvisations!

One of the country’s biggest names in Jazz Fusion music, Amit Heri has been playing guitar from the age of 13. Amit is a versatile guitarist with a wide repertoire encompassing styles as diverse as the Blues, Jazz, Indian & Western Classical as well as Rock & Pop.

The Amit Heri Group has been regarded as India’s top Indo-Jazz outfit and performs original tracks composed by Amit. Listed among the top 50 creative Indians in Open Magazine’s August 2010 edition, Amit's objective is to share a personal journey through music that highlights the commonality between cultures and people.

Line Up for the Festival:
AMIT HERI - acoustic & electric guitars;
MAARTEN VISSER - soprano & tenor saxophones;
HARMEET MANSETA - keyboards;
KARL PETERS - Bass;
ADRIAN D'SOUZA - drums

Trio AAB were formed sometime back in the late 1980’s when a bass player didn’t show up for a gig and twin brothers Tom and Phil Bancroft and guitarist Kevin Mackenzie decided to go ahead with no bass and enjoyed it.

The band has since gone on to make 3 critically acclaimed Cds and to develop a reputation as being a seriously fun band exploring a whole range of influences – post Ornette bop, ECM jazz, Celtic folk, drum n bass, house, the Sound of Music, and indie rock – as well as becoming a powerhouse live act.