The 21st Odessa Jazz Fest will take place on September 24-26, 2021. Three festival days will be held in the format of open-air concerts in the City Garden. The festival programme is in the stage of active formation.

Despite the fact that the Festival Programme has not yet been finalised, the names of the headliners whose concerts in Odessa have been confirmed can already be named:

On September 24, an international duo will perform: German pianist Sebastian Schunke and Uruguayan drummer Diego Pinera.

Sebastian Schunke was born in 1973 and began learning classical piano when he was six. His main influences in the early stages were Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin and Debussy. At the age of 12 he began studying Latin jazz as well, being influenced initially by Eddie Palmieri and later by Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chick Corea and Danilo Perez. In 1996 aged 22 Sebastian Schunke made the move to New York, where he experienced for the first time the tremendous energy and spirit of the city. He studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, Berlin. In 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2017 Sebastian won the Berlin Jazz Award. Sebastian is the first European Musician who has developed his own international acclaimed EuroLatin Stile. His compositions are changing he keeps his music fresh, so coming from his own Latin Stile, he nowadays leads the music to a hip experimental world jazz, totally new and unpredictable.

The drummer Diego Pinera grew up in Montevideo (Uruguay) and has now been living in Germany for several years. He studied at the Berklee College of Music (U.S.), the University of Music in Havana (Cuba), and the University of Music and Theater in Leipzig (Germany). Pinera’s encounters with Latin American music, and with jazz in all its breadth, have led him to develop an unmistakable style. Through the combination of his advanced conception of rhythm, a jazz sound with a Latin touch, and the freedom of improvisation his strong character comes across vividly. In Pineras music there is musical complexity and virtuosity in abundance, but it is imbued with great subtlety.

On September 25, the audience will hear the Lahza duet - a joint project of Turkish virtuoso, fretless guitar performer Cenk Erdoğan and Swedish drummer and percussionist Ikiz.

Cenk Erdogan was born in Istanbul. In 2001 he graduated from the İstanbul Bilgi University Music with First Class Honours from the music Department. A virtuoso of the fretless guitar and tanbur, composer and arranger, this musician hails from Istanbul, where he has developed his own unique style, woven from the entwinement of different traditions and cultures.

He is the only guitarist who has been invited twice to the prestigious International Guitar Nights world festival. The musician’s performance leaves an unforgettable impression.

Born in 1979 in Istanbul, Turkey. Robert Mehmet Ikiz's interest in music and drums started at the age of 2, accompanying Tchaikovsky symphonies on pots and pans in his grandmother's apartment in Istanbul. Ikiz moved to Stockholm, Sweden in 1982 as a 3 year-old. The music of Jimi Hendrix was Ikiz biggest influence In elementary school, same period as his first band "Straight Ahead" toured and played concerts around Sweden.

Ikiz studied at the Stockholm Music Conservatory between 1995-1998 in the Afro-American music program. In 1998 he won the annual competition there and received a scholarship to study at the Los Angeles Music Academy. Ikiz's talents have been recognized by the Swedish Royal Music Academy as he received awards in percussion in 1999 & 2003 and in Jazz in 2004.

While back in Europe with Stockholm as a base, Ikiz started to tour with different groups and projects all over the world as well doing recording sessions on a regular basis. Ikiz has performed, held workshops or made studio sessions in over 40 countries such as Australia, China, France, Mexico, USA, South Africa, Russia, South Korea, Greece, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Romania, Norway, Finland, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Serbia/Montenegro and many more.. Ikiz is known for being an extremely versatile drummer/percussionist having played and recorded all sorts of music from straight-ahead jazz to funk and pop.

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