Peter Palaj Trio (Peter Palaj, Kristián Kuruc, Peter Korman) (source: Courtesy of Nové tváre slovenského jazzu)
The jury, led by jazzman Matúš Jakabčic, aided in selection by Slovak musicians Peter Lipa, Miki Škuta, Juraj Griglák, Martin Valihora and Radovan Tariška, chose eight performers out of 16 registered and then announced the awards in individual categories, the Slovak Jazz Society / Slovenská jazzová spoločnosť informed.
The prizes of the Music Fund went to Peter Palaj Trio from Zvolen for a convincing jazz performance; GrooveHub from Bratislava for a collective performance; SwinGang from Bratislava for high-quality collective reviving of jazz traditions. In the category of individuals, pianist Andrej Farkaš from Levice got a prize for solo performance; guitarist Peter Palaj of the Peter Palaj Trio from Zvolen for solo performance; and accordionist Filip Urda from the band Especias from Banská Bystrica, for convincing instrumental feat.
Winner Peter Palaj (L) receives award form Peter Lipa (L) and Matúš Jakabčic (source: Courtesy of NTSJ)
The awards of the Slovak Association for Copyright Protection (SOZA) went to Peter Palaj, for his original authorial works; and Filip Urda for authoring the piece Mustang.
The Slovak Jazz Association also awarded prizes: to saxophonist Nikola Bankov (Nikola Bankov Quintet, Bratislava) for being the Discovery of the Festival, and singer Eva Halčinová from Kežmarok for individual performance. Both have also been offered participation in the Summer Jazz Workshop / Letná jazzová dielňa 2016, a week-long workshop for musicians.
