Born: October 7, 1977 Primary Instrument: Sax, tenor
Jure Pukl One of the most profilic and creative saxophonists of the younger Slovene jazz generation, Pukl obtained university education abroad. Having completed music high school in Slovenia, he studied classical saxophone at the Vienna Music Academy, and jazz saxophone in Vienna as well as at the Haag Conservatory of Music. Jure then won a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music, where he pursued his studies with masters such as Joe Lovano, George Garzone, Dave Santoro, Greg Hopkins and Ed Tomassi. He completed his masters degree in music at the Graz Academy of Music. Throughout his studies Pukl performed and recorded extensively, being engaged in his own projects, as well as working with a number of Slovene and foreign jazzmen, such as Maceo Parker, Esperanza Spalding, Aaron Goldberg, Jeremy Pelt, Jamire Williams, Howard Curtis, Renato Chicco, Bosko Petrovic, Johnatan Blake, Francisco Mela, Miles Griffith, Aruan Ortiz, Mike Janisch and orchestras like Big Band RTV Slovenija, European Jazz Orchestra, European Movement Jazz Orchestra, Vienna Saxophone Quartet, NouveleCousine, Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra, Studio Dan and many others. His music has won him many awards; among others the 2005 first Jury Prize and Best Composition Audience Award at the Jazzon International Music Workshop and Festival in Novo mesto, Slovenia. In his auctorial projects, such as the Virus quintet (receive rave reviews, among others on the influential Allaboutjazz Web portal) Pukl dedicates himself to modern interpretations of jazz. What he creates is a unique type of modern jazz, avantgarde, free jazz and impressionistic contemporary music performed with a great deal of knowledge and love, giving prominence to the interplay between band members. He already published 5 CD’s under his own name, the second last one came out on Vienna’s national radio-TV music label ORF and was recorded live at the famous Graz jazz club Stockwerk and the last one EARchitecture on Session Wrok Rec in Vienna. He is also featured on more than 25 CD projects as a sideman.
“The group of Jure Pukl gathers some of these talents into a cohesive unit, which primarily performs the compositions of its leader, Slovenian saxophone phenomenon Jure Pukl, with a characteristic energy. Pukl's composing skills were recently acknowledged by the JazzOn 2005 competition award. The jury lead by Jerry Bergonzi declared his piece Hubschrauber as the winner of the contest.” by Official Brno Jazz Festival booklet (CZ)
“With new album Serendipity - Jure Pukl strengthen his reputation of being one of the most breaktrough young instrumentalists in this land!” byZoranPistotnik, January 2005, Muska Magazine (Slovenia)
“Fans of European-influenced post-bop would be well advised to check out Jure Pukl and his Virus Quintet. They are at the forefront of a new wave of young European musicians who, with a clear reverence for their roots that manages to avoid being strictly imitative, demonstrate that improvised music still has places to go; this is a fine recording that should help to illuminate Slovenia as a country that, for its small size, is remarkably rich in culture and the arts.” by John Kelman (January, 2004)
“ Jure Pukl’s Virus Quintet with its début release, The Wizard, is putting Slovenia on the map with artists who show remarkable maturity and vision for such young ages. Equally impressive is the fact that these musicians show as strong an affinity for the American jazz tradition as they do for the more impressionistic European approach, as these styles are melded into a new whole.” ALLABOUTJAZZ (December, 2005)
“His sound is warm and rich, bringing to mind one of his Boston mentors, Joe Lovano!” ENEWSJAZZ (January, 2004)
“My Slovenian son!” by Barry Harris, pianist, jazz legend and educator (February, 2003)
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