The 6th edition of the Jazz in the Park Competition has recently ended and it was a success! It was probably the best edition so far: the highest prizes, the most bands that applied, the largest audience, and on top of all that, we returned to the Central Park, the location that made us famous. Even though the first prize goes to Poland (again), Romanian bands were the surprise of the edition (hip, hip, hooray!), winning 3 out of the 8 prizes at stake.
But it’s not about who’s better. That’s not how music and competitions work. It’s about inspiration and adapting to the place, to the space, to the crowd. It’s about how you handle the moment. One thing is certain: the 3 days of music were special. The competition lineup was top-notch.
Here are the winners:
1st Place: KLAWO – Poland
The band that enjoyed the experience of coming to Cluj the most! They performed superbly on the first day, radiating a lot of positive energy, and then they went and enjoyed all the concerts and jam sessions. A true festival band. We can’t wait to have them here again in autumn!
2nd Place: JazzQuarters Trio – Romania
We present to you the biggest surprise of the festival! A new, young band, which might have had the smallest chances of winning, delivered an impressive live concert! We saw the future of the Romanian jazz industry in the music of these artists. Congratulations!
3rd Place: NAUSYQA – Netherlands – prize offered by Iabilet.ro
NAUSYQA from the Netherlands were part of the line-up of the contest that should have been held in 2020, being the only band from back then that made it to this year’s final. And how great they sounded! One of the most technically skilled applying bands!
Other honorable mentions:
Best composition of the festival: Andrei Petrache Trio – Romania – prize offered by Meze Audio
- André Breidlid | drums | KAU Trio
- Patricia Marchiș | saxophone | Marquis Noir
- Tamás Jurisits | guitar | Tamás Jurisits Group
- Kristo | multi-instrumentalist | Kristo – prize offered by Audio Technica
Thank you for being with us, and we hope you enjoyed our return to the Central Park. We’ll be back soon with information about next year’s edition, but until then, stay tuned for September 1st-3rd!
