As every year, the pianist Sorin Zlat will have alongside his friends "A Jazzy Christmas" concert at the "Ion Dacian" Operetta and Musical Theatre in Bucharest. This year the event is scheduled for the evening of December 23^rd.

We will find out more details directly from Sorin Zlat. Welcome back to Radio România Muzical!

The pleasure is mine, thank you for the invitation!

This concert at the Operetta has become a tradition and is, in a way, a celebration of the local jazz scene and not only, because there are not strictly jazz artists performing.

That's right. It became a tradition. It is the fourth edition at the Operetta, but I've been organizing this concert for fifteen years now. I've had it in other concert halls, but for the past four years I've been organizing it at the Operetta with a fairly large line-up. And, as you've said, there are not only jazz musicians, but others from the pop, soul, gospel, and funk worlds as well.

It would be kind of unfair to only mention some of the musicians that appear on the concert poster, but let's do an exercise for a bit… the names best known by the general public amongst those who will perform.

I have invited to join me the soloists Luiza Zan, Irina Sârbu, Mihaela Alexa, Mădălina Coca, Andreea Petricean, Sergiu Ferat, Robert Patai, Sebastian Mihai, and Zoltan Andraș, who will be accompanied by the vocal band Jazzappella. The band of this concert is composed of me on piano and keyboard, Marius Filip on keyboard as well, Răzvan Trifan - saxophone, Liviu Negru - guitar, Seby Joo - bass, Harvis Cuni Padron - trumpet, Lorin Lepădatu - saxophone, Antonio Paizon - trombone, Iulian Nicolau - drums, and Nicu Dumitrescu - percussion.

What will we hear? Iconic songs, perhaps some surprises… what should we expect from the Christmas concert at the Operetta?

There's going to be a repertoire of international, well-known carols: 'Santa Claus', 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas', 'Rudolf'… and they will be rearranged in our own style (jazz, funk, soul). But as you've also said, there are going to be surprises and Romanian carols as well.

As a premiere there will be a carol composed by Marius Filip, whom I've mentioned, and it will be sung by Andreea Petricean. Plus, more surprises, of course, that encourage the audience to come then, on the 23^rd, to savor this musical present that we wish to give to them on Christmas Eve.

And for the last bit of this interview - a little off-topic - I'd like you to tell us a bit about your recent experience at the Jazz Festival in London, which, I believe, means a lot for your career as a musician.

Yes, I have marked yet another important moment on my CV. After concerts like Blue Note or Birdland or Jacksonville Festival or Montreux, I was finally part of the London Jazz Festival, which was a great joy for me. It was a beautiful experience. I performed there with my rhythm section from London, with Michele Montolli on bass and with Andy Trim on drums.

And now, in January, I'll meet them again in London because we're going to record our next album together, which will be called Changing Times. And following its release, we'll have some concerts abroad in 2026, in Mumbai. It's my first time travelling to India. Then, we'll have other concerts across Europe and in Romania.