Gainesville's premier jazz event is going international.
Continue to 2nd paragraph Sixth Annual Gainesville Jazz Festival
SATURDAY:
Who: Andreas Oberg and The Cook Trio
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Mr. Han's Nightclub, 6944 NW 10th Place
SUNDAY:
Who: Andreas Oberg and the Mark Raudabaugh Trio
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Savannah Grande Reception Hall, 301 N. Main St.
Tickets: $20, $15 Gainesville Friends of Jazz members, $10 students (prices are for each performance).
Information: 379-0300
The Gainesville Jazz Festival, which started six years ago as a showcase for local talent, will be headlined Saturday by an up-and-coming Swedish guitarist who's getting a lot of attention in the jazz world.
Andreas Oberg, the fast-fingered guitar virtuoso from Stockholm, will bring some Gypsy jazz stylings to the 6th Annual Gainesville Jazz Festival on Saturday night. His performance begins at 8 p.m. at Mr. Han's Nightclub.
Oberg, 29, had a non-traditional journey to the spotlight. A teenage tennis sensation, he eventually traded in his racket for an axe. Oberg's appearance on the world stage was bolstered by the Internet, where YouTube videos of his unique playing style gained popularity.
"He's just come on like gangbusters, and it's almost because of YouTube," said Marty Liquori, director of the festival. "... It's one of those things that you see the guy playing and you say â€òwait a minute, nobody can play this fast.' But he's just a top-notch player, and through YouTube he's come to be known all around the world."
Oberg was recently featured in a cover story in Jazz Guitar magazine, and his upcoming album, "My Favorite Guitars," is his first U.S. release.
While he'll play Gypsy jazz in the style of Django Reinhardt on Saturday, Oberg will play a more straight-ahead jazz set Sunday at the Savannah Grande Reception Hall. On Sunday, Oberg will play with the Mark Raudabaugh Trio.
Oberg was fortuitously scheduled to play the Savannah Music Festival on April 3, Thursday, which made it possible to book him for this appearance while he was in the U.S., Liquori said.
"We won't get a lot of guitar players like him to go through Gainesville," Liquori said.
The festival is sponsored by Gainesville Friends of Jazz and Morgan Stanley.