A new jazz season begins this week at the Goethe Institute, titled Bucharest Jazz Club. The project, initiated by trumpet player Sebastian Burneci, will take place once a month until June next year. The first concert, titled The Art of Duo, is scheduled for Friday, October 25th, at 19:00 at the Goethe Pavilion. More details are provided by Sebastian Burneci in the following interview.

How did the idea for Bucharest Jazz Club come about?

The idea for Bucharest Jazz Club arose from my desire to create a context in which I could present new developments in the field, both those I am involved in and others, because, thank God, there are many, and I believe that the Bucharest audience deserves such a context.

And did you find a venue at the Goethe Institute?

Yes, the Goethe Institute embraced this idea by offering us the space on Calea Dorobanți where they have their headquarters. There is a concert hall that is not very large but very well equipped, including a high-quality acoustic piano, and of course, they provide promotional channels and everything needed to ensure that people know these events will take place.

The first event is happening this week, on Friday. The Art of Duo is an original duo. Can you tell us who you will be performing with and what you will be playing?

I will be performing alongside Johnny Bica, one of my favorite pianists, who is a very interesting musician, and I believe that in such a context, I can express a lot. I consider this space to be very intimate; the audience is very close to the artists. I thought it would be a good idea to start the concert series with a duo where each of us can express ourselves in more detail, allowing the audience to be closer to us. Regarding the repertoire, we will play a few jazz standards, which we will arrange in a way that makes the most sense, as well as some of my own compositions.

Will these concerts occur monthly? Can you share what is coming up, at least in the near future?

Basically, that's how we plan to operate, once a month, every Friday of the third week of the month. A quartet project called The Ballad Book is scheduled for November 22nd, and a quintet project titled Jazz on the Big Screen will be on December 13th. We can'tmaintain this schedule in December because it will be very close to Christmas, but that's the idea-on the third Friday of each month.

Jazz on the Big Screen, I assume, will feature arrangements from film music?

Themes of jazz found in film music.

Can you tell us about any other significant projects you have during this period? I know you are also set to perform at Sala Radio with a new group.

Of course, that is another new project I am starting. It is the band I worked with when I lived in the Netherlands. They are all Italians, and we had a very happy collaboration that I chose to revive. It will take place on November 28th at Sala Radio and is called See You at the Radio, featuring original music, including some of my compositions, some of which will be performed for the first time.