The Mare Nostrum trio of Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu, French accordionist Richard Galliano and Swedish pianist Jan Lundgren formed a troika of European jazz 20 years ago. Each of the three is rooted in the musical tradition of his home country, has developed a personal musical language from it and contributes this to many projects of modern, cross-border and genre-bending jazz. In the twenty years of its existence, the trio has achieved a somnambulistic interplay. Paolo Fresu's trumpet sounds airy yet clear, Richard Galliano's playing is both breathtakingly virtuosic and expressive and Jan Lundgren's piano switches from rhythmic chordal accompaniment to intelligent solo lines. All three are poets of sound, united in their love of melody.

Since I started as Artistic Director of JazzBaltica in 2012, the OGT Big Band has become an integral part of the festival. The connection to young people is very important to me, because they are our future and many of those who started with the OGT Big Band are now active professionals themselves. Every year we open JazzBaltica together with a concert at Timmendorfer Platz - a tradition we are all proud of.

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