2019

FOTO: Aljoša Videtič

JURE PUKL TRIO feat. 
HOWARD CURTIS & ROBERT JUKIČ

Jure Pukl, saxophone
Howard Curtis, drums 
Robert Jukič, double bass

Jure Pukl Trio, composed by Jure Pukl, Robert Jukič and Howard Curtis, has been playing since 2004. Together, they recorded the album Jure Pukl – The Long Run for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) and their publishing house, which was released in 2009. Their music is copyrighted and finds inspiration in many different musical genres; however, its common denominators are improvisation, interaction, lyricism, the exploration of the unknown and unplanned paths. All members are internationally renowned musicians; Pukl is active on many of the world’s stages and is the recipient of the Prešeren Fund Award, the highest recognition for achievements in the field of art in the Republic of Slovenia. Jukič is a multiple recipient of the Jazzon Award and operates within a wide range of musical genres, and Curtis is an internationally renowned percussionist and mentor to many young musicians. Their music reflects a long-standing friendship, love and compassion.

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Jure Pukl is one of the most creative saxophonists of the younger generation of Slovene jazz musicians. Through the years, he studied in Vienna, The Hague and at the Berklee College of Music (with masters such as Joe Lovano and George Garzone), and completed his Master's Degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. In 2015, he received the Prešeren Fund Award, given by the University of Ljubljana. In his career, he starred with stars such as Dave Liebman, Branford Marsalis, Esperanza Spalding, George Lewis, Maceo Parker, Vijay Iyer, Jeff Tain Watts and many others. Jure Pukl focuses on contemporary interpretations of jazz. To date, has released 8 original CD albums that received great reviews in various specialist magazines such as Downbeat, Jazzwise, Jazz Podium, as well as on the All of Jazz portal, and in the daily newspapers The New York Times and The Guardian. In the latter, he was labelled ‘the rising star of the generation that is creating the music of the new century’. He regularly performs all over the world. 

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Howard Curtis has been enjoying a multifaceted career as a jazz drummer, multiple percussionist and educator for over 25 years. He has toured Europe five times, performed in Germany, England, Poland, Austria, Russia and Switzerland. He played in all of the great American venues, collaborated or performed on numerous jazz festivals all around the world and performed and/or recorded albums with great world-renowned musicians like John Abercrombie, Billy Harper, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, George Coleman, Marc Johnson, Oliver Lake, and others. As an educator, Curtis has had a broad working relationship on each level of scholastic instrumental music. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of music at the College of William and Mary, The University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University, as well as at the Peabody Institute of Music at the John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., where he teaches applied drum set, directs a jazz percussion ensemble and lectures on jazz history and rhythmic analysis. Curtis also tours with VCU’s Mary Morton Parsons Jazz Masters, a faculty ensemble that presents solo and group sessions at schools to acquaint children with jazz. Curtis has published three books, plus several arrangements for jazz percussion ensemble including John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” in four movements.

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The bass player, music arranger, composer, text writer and producer Robert Jukič is one of the most versatile and productive Slovenian artists. As a teenager, he played the electric bass guitar in various groups and musical genres. Later on, he switched to the bass, enrolled to the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz where he studied jazz and began performing with different artists. Music took him on various world stages (Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Croatia, Italy, Israel, Japan, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Hungary, Morocco, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, Slovakia, Serbia, United Kingdom, USA ...) where he performed and collaborated with a wide range of artists. The long list of performers and groups with which he collaborated as instrumentalist and composer is not bound by any national or musical boundaries. More than 60 records have been released on which he participated as a bass player, composer or arranger, and so far he has recorded nine albums on which is possible to hear various musical genres – from jazz to classical, folk, blues, country, alternative pop, chanson and other music of the world. He composes for small and large ensembles, short films, and multimedia and dance performances. He also works with theaters and teaches. In 2008, he received the Composition Jazzon Award.