by Dietholf Zerweck | August 14, 2024 | LKZ.de

Lucas Dorado and Branko Arnsek: Latin
Jazz with Cuban Flair

High-voltage sound: Swiss vibraphonist Lucas Dorado (right) and bassist Branko Arnšek

Stuttgart Mi Amor" is the motto of the Latin Jazz Festival, which took place for the seventh time this year during the summer holidays at the Stuttgart Theaterhaus. One of the most impressive bands was the septet led by Slovenian jazz bassist Branko Arnsek.

Stuttgart. Antonio Cuadros De Béjar confesses his love for Stuttgart right from the start when he greets the audience. The guitarist, originally from Bolivia, has excellent connections in the local jazz scene and, as the organizer of the summer Latin Jazz Festival, has been bringing together musicians of diverse backgrounds and styles at the Theaterhaus for years. On the second evening of this year's festival, the quintet "El Sueño" by Swiss vibraphonist Lucas Dorado and the Branko Arnsek Sextet performed in front of almost 100 people in the T2.

Lucas Dorado, he says, has been playing since childhood...
.... More improvisation would benefit the quintet's profile.

Afro-Cuban Vibrant Color
And Marcos González Jimánez's wild handshakes on his congas and batas are not only the perfect accompaniment to the spirited songs of singer Mayelis Guyat, who flew in from Berlin, but also add a vibrant Afro-Cuban touch to the high-energy sound of the Branko Arnsek Sextet. With "No Sabes," "Charlie," and "Balanza," they shine in their performance at the Latin Jazz Festival, which deserved a better turnout that evening.

Things are quite different with the evening's main act, the Branko Arnsek Sextet. Unfortunately, it's already a quarter to ten when it's their turn, and at 10:30 at the insistence of the promoter, Arnsek is supposed to announce the encore – something must have gone wrong with the timing. The sextet's sound is rhythmically peppered from the very beginning, but not only son, rumba, mambo, and cha-cha-cha sparkle in this fiery mix with a Cuban flair; Balkan rock also plays a part: Jazz bassist Branko Arnsek proudly points to his Slovenian roots and his adopted home of Cuba. It's fantastic how Stuttgart pianist Frank Eberle is able to position himself in different ways: first he shines with a furious solo between cool and rock jazz, then he switches from the grand piano to the electric piano during the performance of the Cuban singer Mayelis Guyat and mixes the sound with a folkloristic touch together with Janos Löber (trumpet) and Anton Mangold (alto saxophone), or he varies the four-bar thematic cores to the hard-hitting beat of drummer Michael Mischl and the imaginatively pulsating riffs of Branko Arnsek's double bass and electric bass.