James Brandon Lewis
You will find the big names of the Italian and international jazz scene, but also talented voices who have stories to tell and which are difficult to categorize into musical genres. You meet passionate and enamored wine producers, who would tell you for hours about the genesis, the research, the evolution, the effort of that precious white or red nectar you have in your glass. All immersed in a sweet, orderly landscape, in which man’s work has been able to unfold in harmony with nature. Places steeped in history, tragedies and pain, too, which today have given way to the desire to build a common destiny in peace.
Jazz & Wine of Peace is not a hit-and-run festival for hasty tourists, but for those who have the desire and desire to immerse themselves in a world, a culture, a microcosm that has a lot to tell. We are in the Collio, that landscape made up of hills that extends from Italy to Slovenia, without interruptions: nature erases the borders invented by man. Boundaries continually crossed and canceled by Italian, Austrian, German and Slovenian spectators who gather in a cellar, a theatre, a historic home, a castle, an abbey to listen to music: a music which, in the wake of jazz, crosses its borders to explore feelings and thoughts that all men have in common. The 2025 edition, the first directed by Enrico Bettinello, which took place from 23 to 26 October, was no exception, offering intense moments of culture, conviviality and meditation.
Here, Jazz & Wine of peace is an experience suitable for those who want to abandon themselves to otium in the Latin exception of the term: a privileged time in which ordinariness is suspended to dedicate oneself to oneself, to the soul, to a slow relationship with others, to the rediscovery of the sense of community, to the good and beautiful things in life.
To facilitate this journey, quality concerts, hosted in new and surprising places, to reach which one is pleasantly forced to admire long rows of life that adorn the slopes of the hills, among small churches that stand out, historic homes of ancient beauty, sumptuous castles.
Each event deserves a story, but for example, relating to the first day, the amazing performance of James Brandon Lewis Quartet at the Cormons theaterfour world-class musicians, masters of jazz, who counterbalanced the spirituality of the French-Algerian Naissam Jalal and the experimental vocation, always supported by notable artistic quality, of the duo Beatrice Arrigoni & Michele Bonifatti (a refined meditation on the theme of migration) and the Slovenian Lilamors. In the cellar Borgo San Daniele of Cormons the visitor is enchanted by the care of the place, by the sense of beauty that transpires from every corner (architecture, garden, objects) and by the authentic passion of the wine producers, the brothers Alessandra & Mauro Mauri, who with authentic passion describe their wines (an excellent Malvasia, with fresh minerality; a surprising “Ritual”, the result of a courageous exploration, capable of giving intense emotions thanks to a hint of ancient wisdom; a powerful Pignolo, Arbis ros). Al Spessa Castlein Capriva del Friuli, totally immersed in the hills and vineyards, you have the feeling of venturing into a noble place from other eras…
In short, all this is Jazz & Wine of Peace.
