Well, yes, finally it is over, the Barga Jazz Festival 2016 finished in style at 5 am this morning with the arrival of the Carabinieri. Two weeks of constantly high quality jazz heard through out the city came to an abrupt but well timed ending.
Normally one of the most vital parts of Barga Jazz Festival was not to be found in the piazzas or as part of the concerts in the Teatro dei Differenti but during the late night jam sessions that took place each evening at the Enojazz after hours session, this year held at the Irish Pub -- The Shamrock
The musicians who spent each day rehearsing as part of the Barga Jazz Orchestra and then performing in the evening at the concerts would at the end of the shows towards midnight, move across to the the Shamrock and carry on playing until early in the morning only to rise bleary eyed later on that day and repeat the whole process all over again.
A feat of endurance that only the strongest could survive as the Barga Jazz festival moved into the second week.
The final night of the after hours session, by tradition runs on right through the night until dawn to close the festival in style.
Since 2007, to commemorate the passing of Silvano Togneri the outsider musician (articles about Silvano Togneri can be found here who was a key member of many of the after hour sessions in the past ), the Silvano Togneri prize has been awarded to the musician has has given his or her most to the jazz sessions .
What is Outsider Music ?
Outsider music is music performed either by social outsiders, who have no or few associates in the mainstream music business, or by musicians who choose to live and work in seclusion, often due to compromising behavioral or psychological conditions. Outsider music reflects these conditions in various ways. Lyrics are often bizarre or emotionally stark and songs may show a great ignorance or disregard for structural conventions or popular trends in mainstream music. Also, outsider musicians frequently have no formal training and/or significant music skills in the traditional sense. The end result is music that is much stranger and more abrasive than more popular musical styles. Outsider music is a form of outsider art. – source – Wikipedia
The winner receives a bottle of spumante and a 45 rpm disc from Silvano’s own collection ( an article about Silvano’s record collection here)
And so as the final votes were counted up and the music was halted and the audience waited expectantly for the verdict, the adjudicator, J.J Carde announced that this year the prestigious Silvano Togneri prize 2016 was awarded to the trumpet player, Nazzareno Brischetto
As tradition insists, he took the applause and the prize and then performed the last piece of music for the Barga Jazz Festival 2016 -- Sounds for Silvano Togneri.
Past Winners: 2014 -- Renato Marciano | 2013 -- Andrea Garibaldi and Greta Ciurlante | 2011 -- Renzo Telloli | 2010 -- Alessio Bianchi | 2009 – Leonardo Gnesi | 2008 – Stefano Onorati| 2007 – Dimitri Grechi Espinoza