Bucharest Jazz Club, the Goethe Institute's jazz season, returns on Friday, November 10th, at 7:00 p.m., with a concert by trumpeter Sebastian Burneci and the Bucharest Jazz Orchestra. The orchestra will feature pianist Johnny Bica, bassist Mike Alex, and drummer Laurențiu Zmău. Two guests will also take the stage: trombonist Robert Cozma and vocalist Maya Sophie Burneci. More details in an interview we did with Sebastian Burneci and some of the members of the band that will be playing on Friday at the Goethe Institute.

You will begin the season at Goethe Institute with one of your older projects, a project with a history and multiple interpretations. What can you briefly tell us about the past of the Bucharest Jazz Orchestra and the form it will take on the concert on Friday?

I can tell you that it was founded in February 2012 and was based on the idea that we are implementing now, namely to present new creations, if not in their first performance, then at least in a form that is as new as possible. In all the years since then, the Bucharest Jazz Orchestra has mainly operated in a form close to that of a big band, but what we have prepared now and are proposing for this event and for the near future is a more restricted form of the project, which allows us to organize ourselves a little more easily and to preserve the basic idea, that of bringing new creations to the attention of the public.

Since some of the members of the Bucharest Jazz Orchestra are here with us, let's talk to them too, Johnny Bica, who has been very involved in the Goethe jazz season so far. Can you tell us what you will be playing on Friday evening?

On Friday, we will mainly play compositions by Sebastian Burneci, which we will accompany with electric piano, acoustic piano, bass, double bass, and synthesizers, so it will be a modern and dynamic sound. It will be an interesting evening.

Mike Alex is also with us on bass. In 2012, when the Bucharest Jazz Orchestra was founded, he was extremely young. How did you discover the music of this group that you are currently part of?

Following an invitation from Sebastian, I came to collaborate with the Bucharest Jazz Orchestra, I think five years ago. For me, it was an extremely good opportunity, something special that I still enjoy today through every collaboration we have together. Regarding the project we will be playing, we performed this program at Jazz Cave this summer and had a great time. We would like to thank Sebastian Gheorghiu for the invitation. This time, we will see what happens at Goethe.

Let's say that Laurențiu Zmău will also be on stage on the drums and there will be two guests. Can you tell me a few words about them?

Yes, there will be two special guests, my daughter Maya Sophie, with whom I have been performing, and I am delighted that she is interested in this aesthetic, so I will certainly try to keep her close and motivated. We will also have Robert Cozma, who is an extraordinary musician, with whom we have been collaborating for a short time, but we hope for continuity and a rich collaboration, and he is also with us. He plays the trombone, he plays the piano, he composes, he orchestrates, he is, to use modern terms, a fantastic asset for our projects.

Robert Cozma is also with us, so we ask him to tell us about his contribution to the Bucharest Jazz Orchestra, and perhaps also about his contribution to the Radio Big Band in the near future.

I am delighted to be collaborating with the Bucharest Jazz Orchestra. I have been familiar with this project since its beginning in 2012 and have followed their collaborations with various national and international artists. I am grateful for the invitation to collaborate with them for the first time, and I hope it will not be the last. Tonight, I will be collaborating again with the Radio Big Band at the opening of the season, "The Magic of Wayne Shorter," and in November, there will be another collaboration that is very dear to me, in which we will present a complete program by my father, Romeo Cozma. I gave him a musical gift and arranged the music for the Big Band. I am very happy that these collaborations of mine with the Bucharest Jazz Orchestra and the Radio Big Band are continuing, and we look forward to seeing you at the concerts.

The season will continue, with a very attractive program in November and December. Sebastian, can you give us a preview of who will be performing at the upcoming concerts?

November will be a month that will feature two concerts for the first time, namely Cătălin Milea's Tetrismatic project and Mircea Tiberian, in a very special trio format, alongside two international artists. In December, we will also have a very important project that will be recorded live and released as an album, featuring my quartet alongside Stefano Di Battista.