Adrien Brandeis Publicity photo by Florence Ducommun (supplied for use by competition organisers)

Sebastian writes.

The second winner of the LetterOne ‘Rising Stars’ Jazz Award has been announced. The inaugural winner of the competition last year was French guitarist Tom Ibarra, and the second, from a field of over 230 entries, is another young Frenchman, pianist Adrien Brandeis. The prize for the winner is to appear at seven festivals and to receive a year of PR and marketing support. 

The full text of the press release is as follows :

PRESS RELEASE

ADRIEN BRANDEIS is a French jazz pianist and composer born in Annecy in 1992. After having studied at the Conservatory of Nice and the Conservatoire de Paris with Robert Persi and Manuel Rocheman, he produced and released his first album Euforia in 2018. Influenced by Michel Camilo, Bill Evans and Chick Corea, the young, award winning and highly versatile pianist is steeped in Jazz, Latin and Afro-Caribbean music and strives to combine traditional jazz with modern influences. On Euforia, Adrien displays great lyricism in his playing, combined with an urban pianistic approach. The jury – consisting of radio host Alex Dutilh (France Musique: Open Jazz), Norwegian journalist Karen Frivik (NRK), Wulf Müller from ‘OKeh Records’ , England’s Jazz superstar Jamie Cullum and chaired by Mikhail Fridman – awarded Adrien with the “LetterOne ‘RISING STARS’ Jazz Award” Europe Edition 2018.

The jury said: “Yet again the “LetterOne ‘RISING STARS’ Jazz Award” produced a list of 25 highly skilled and talented musicians who made it to the final round. Finding the winner was not an easy task but Adrien Brandeis convinced us with his outstanding musicianship and innovative approach. We are certain that we will hear a lot about him in the future.” As winner of the “LetterOne ‘RISING STARS’ Jazz Award” Adrien will embark on a tour along seven major jazz festivals in Europe: Love Supreme (GB), Leopolis Jazz Fest (UA), Kongsberg Jazzfestival (NO), Nice Jazzfestival (FR), Umbria Jazz (I), Jazzopen Stuttgart (D) and Heineken Jazzaldia San Sebastian (E) In addition, he will receive a full year of PR and marketing support through Air Artist Agency.

From 1st of August until 27th of October 2018, Jazz artists could enter their submissions via a dedicated website (www.l1risingstarsjazzaward.com) to be considered for the “LetterOne ‘RISING STARS’ Jazz Award” Europe Edition 2018. Over 230 artists submitted their entries! A first round of voting was done by the participating seven festivals, which found the 25 best contenders. The final vote was done by a professional jury.

Producing the Award is the award-winning Air Artist Agency, whose director Burkhard Hopper has a long-standing experience in introducing new artists. For 9 years Burkhard Hopper ran the Rising Stars concert series in Europe which – among others – introduced artists such as Diana Krall, Brad Mehldau, Benny Green, Jane Monheit, David Sanchez and Esbjörn Svensson to the European audiences.

The “LetterOne ‘RISING STARS’ Jazz Award” is a significant event in the international jazz calendar that benefits from the sponsorship and backing of Mikhail Fridman, an international businessman, philanthropist and most importantly a huge jazz fan. Besides being a frequent visitor of Jazz festivals around the world, Fridman is also the founder of the Leopolis Jazz Festival (formerly known as Alfa Jazz) in Lviv (Ukraine).

LINKS: Letter 1 Rising Stars website
Andreas Brandeis website