The 13th staging of the Zagreb Jazz Festival will arguably host its brightest star yet, as the Mingus Big Band roll into town on November 22. The 14-piece ensemble is one of the most sought-after jazz bands on the planet, a fixture at the biggest and best festivals worldwide and a veritable New York City institution. Performing new arrangements of classic Charles Mingus compositions, the Mingus Big Band has become a byword for individual artistic expression, musicianship and excellence. The Grammy Award-winning band (2011’s Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album) has introduced the wildly-influential work of Charles Mingus to new generations, and what better way for Zagreb to celebrate the centennial of the great man’s birth than by packing the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall on November 22? This promises to not only be one of the highlights of the
festival but one of Zagreb’s great concerts of all time.