GONGFEST 2025

This year's edition of GONGFEST brings performances by Shabaka, Etceteral, RecycleMan, Pigs Parlament, Zlatko Kaučič, and others!

The cross-border music festival GONGFEST 2025 will bring a diverse and exciting range of genre-diverse concerts to various venues in Nova Gorica (SI) and Gorizia (IT). The festival's main guest is one of the key figures of contemporary jazz, British multi-instrumentalist and composer Shabaka Hutchings (Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, Shabaka And The Ancestors), who will make his debut performance in Nova Gorica on 28 August 2025. Hutchings is not only known for his exceptional discipline, work ethic, studiousness, and Zen-like calmness, but has also been recognised as a true icon, charismatic thinker, and modern jazz guru. In the new SNG Nova Gorica amphitheatre, he will present his latest musical project, based on the meditative sounds of various flutes, electronic sound colors, and the rhythms of various percussion instruments.

Mladina reviewer Borja Močnik on his current album Possession (2024, Impulse!): "This year, one of the most recognizable figures on the London young jazz scene has crowned his transformation from a thunderous saxophone bandleader to a wind-playing New Age etherealist with a solo debut, and at the end of the year, he surprised us with a small album, Possession. It is not very different from its predecessor, an exceptionally airy, gentle, and ambient work of subtle melodic repetitions, composed according to the principle of one guest per track. These guests – from rapper Billy Woods to bassist Esperanza Spalding – have been chosen with a lucky hand, and we also hear a duel, or rather a balanced coexistence, between two enthusiastic flutists, Shabaka and André 3000. A floating mantra in five acts."

The festival also features performances by numerous Slovenian and Italian musicians working in various genres. The local electronic jazz band Etceteral will present their third album, Kimatika, which will be released on 5 September by the internationally renowned label Glitterbeat Records, home to names such as Altin Gun, Aziza Brahim, Baba Zula, Bombino, and Brìghde Chaimbeul. The pioneer of Slovenian rap, RecycleMan (formerly Ali En), is coming back to Nova Gorica. Last year, he celebrated the 30th anniversary of his groundbreaking album Leva scena (Prodok/Mačji disk, 1994), one of the best Slovenian releases of all time, which earned him a place in the annals of Slovenian popular music. He will be joined by the Brda ska punk/hardcore legends Pigs Parlament, who celebrated their 20th anniversary last year. The loud septet, which has been performing regularly at home and abroad in recent years, commemorated their milestone anniversary with the release of a double album in Slovenian and English.

The local vocal ensemble VoxDiversa will perform on stage for the first time, while Nova Gorica saxophonist and composer David Mozetič will premiere his second album, Being & Becoming, with his quintet. Italian jazz ensemble Sagonauti will pay tribute to the late American free jazz cellist Tristan Honsinger, and Zlatko Kaučič will present his acclaimed project Pogum pogumnih (Courage of the Courageous) with an expanded ensemble that also includes members of his combo groups. The project is a musical suite dedicated to people who, despite obstacles, show extraordinary will and strength to stand up to them—people such as Julian Assange, Black Lives Matter activists, medical staff during the Covid-19 epidemic, and Greta Thunberg.

Participants:

• Shabaka (UK) / Etceteral (SI) / RecycleMan Band (SI)
• Pigs Parlament (SI) / David Mozetič 5tet (SI) / VoxDiversa (SI)
• Sagonauti play Tristan: Tribute to Tristan Honsinger (IT)
• Zlatko Kaučič: Pogum pogumnih/Audaci Coraggiosi (SI, IT)
• Music group VDC Ajdovščina-Vipava (SI)...
   and many others!

For more information, visit the website or Facebook page of the GONG Institute.

Tickets for the concert by multi-instrumentalist and composer Hutchings are already on sale at https://sng-ng.kupikarto.si/