Last summer, the Slovenian-born, Amsterdam-based pianist and composer Kaja Draksler was bestowed the Paul Acket Award at The North Sea Jazz Festival — one of the highest honors given to a contemporary jazz artist deserving of wider recognition.
On this edition of The Checkout, Draksler shares new music from her octet of forward-thinking musicians trained in Baroque, new classical, and European free-jazz traditions.
From a special concert recorded at Amsterdam’s famous Bimhuis, Draksler tells the story behind an extended suite of music written to the poetry of Robert Frost. Her band features Laura Polence and Björk Níelsdóttir on vocals, Ada Rave and Ab Baars on reeds, George Dumitriu on violin and viola, Lennart Heyndels on bass, and Onno Govaert on drums.
The North Sea Jazz Festival has announced that the 2019 Paul Acket Award will go to American jazz guitarist Julian Lage.
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Assistant Producer: Anthony Nieves
