Edmar Castenada & Gregoire Maret
A rare summit between exceptional musical instruments, redefined by two revolutionary musicians, will take place this year on the festival stage. Jazz at its finest, enabling an original and surprising connection between the Colombian harp of Edmar Castaneda and the harmonica of the Grammy Award-winning Gregoire Maret, who come from completely different worlds to create a rhythmic and refined, nostalgic and dreamy blend, shuttling between Latin America and the Blue Note Club In New York, between past and present, between fire and water.
Harmonica players do not abound in the field of Jazz, and the use of the harp outside of classical concert halls is even more rare. But what makes the connection between the two into an intriguing precedent, is their undeniably groundbreaking and cross-border musicianship. In the space between traditional performance and breathtaking improvisation, the instruments undergo a transformation: under Castaneda’s nimble fingers the harp becomes a sort of funky, uninhibited bass guitar and Maret’s harmonica, a jazz piano.
Castaneda and Maret arrived in New York at a young age, from Colombia and Switzerland (respectively), and made their way to the top, undermining every possible prejudice and prevailing notion regarding their musical instruments along the way. Both have gained iconic status in contemporary jazz circles, with a rich history of collaborations over the years with the greatest in the field. Castaneda, a protégé of Paquito D’Rivera, has played with John Scofield, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Marcus Miller, John Patitucci, Hamilton de Holanda, Ivan Lins, Sting and Hiromi, among others. “What Edmar is doing with the harp is profound, unbelievable and inspiring,” Miller said of Castaneda’s music. The list of Maret’s collaborations, a former member of Pat Metheny’s ensemble, is likewise long and glorious and includes Herbie Hancock, Tito Puente, Richard Beaune, Toots Thielemans, Cassandra Wilson, Prince and Elton John. Hancock crowned him: “The most creative musician around,” and Metheny declared: “Gregoire is an extraordinary musician who has taken the harmonica in new and exciting directions in jazz.”
The show “Harp vs. Harp”, eponymous with their joint album from 2019, is a musical melting pot, a rich fusion of middle of the road ballads, South American folk, tropical blues and contemporary New York jazz in virtuoso performance. A creative, poetic, witty and inspiring meeting!