Vito Leszak gathers a band around him

Vito Lesczak is an incredibly versatile drummer. A few years ago in a duet with pianist Dieter Glauschnigg in a totally free concept, this time in a quartet in an almost classical environment.

Emails went back and forth with old acquaintances, trombonist Ed Neumeister and pianist Rob Barjad, with suggestions for the program, Leszczak describing the procedure for us after the concert. The drummer himself and Neumeister, who taught in Graz for a long time, live in New York. Although Barjad is a native of New York, he studies at GMPU (the private Gustav Mahler University) in Klagenfurt. Parjad then recommended bass player Philip Zarfel, the youngest of the group, who also teaches at GMPU and plays in a variety of bands in Carinthia: including Echoes from the South, one founded by saxophonist Michi Erian and trumpeter Daniel Nossig, always on. Very different in the “Who’s-Who” of Carinthian jazz.

individual excursions

While the bass line initially runs quite loose and some solos punctuate, the whole thing picks up speed quickly and experiments with more complex rhythms and harmonies.
Most of the compositions come from the champions themselves, the rest from jazz influencers such as pianist and singer Andy Pai, who has incidentally been a guest at the Kulturforum in Villach for decades. Anyway, a promising debut at the Musikforum Viktring on Friday night should continue, if Vito Leszczak is all right, who’s also been giving well-booked drum and band workshops and has played at Viktring Abbey for many years, where he once went to school himself. .