A merry band of BRA jazz aficionados, many on a repeat visit, made their way to the village of Lenk for the annual Jazz Tage in July. Once again impeccably organised by Joy Sandoz, the weekend group activities started with the reception apéro in our hotel, the Sporthotel Wildstrubel, where first-timers were welcomed, old friendships renewed and memories from last time re-lived (car keys?). After dinner, it was off to the Kronenplatz for the first concert featuring the Swiss trad jazz combo Full Steam Jazzband.
On Saturday, die hard jazz fans had a full day immersed in, well, jazz (Valerie scored her ticket on the jazz train well in advance!) while others made use of the free mountain cable car pass to enjoy the wonderful summer weather, watch hang gliders take off, indulge in a spot of lunch and enjoy a walk through mountain meadows.
Saturday evening’s concert by the Dutch Swing College Band promised to be a don’t miss event, and this world-famous dixieland band did not disappoint. Retiring for a drink at our hotel afterwards, we discovered a bonus event in the form of a late-night impro session by the jazz workshop teachers in the Wildstrubel nightclub.
Sunday morning, however, was arguably the highlight of the weekend. The Boogie Woogie Piano Inferno truly lived up to its billing: the irrepressible Nico Brina blew the audience away with his turbo-charged Elvis impression („imagine what Elvis would have sounded like if he’d been born in Switzerland….in Russia….in China“). A hard act to follow for brothers Chris and Mike who, however, proved equally entertaining in their own way…….ultimately all three ended up on stage together to blow us away with the promised inferno of music (leavened with a good helping of comedy!).
All this AND Wimbledon AND the World Cup…………what a weekend! Joy, you did a great job! Sign me up for next year!
Barbara Leishman
