Jarasum Jazz Festival puts French jazz and an AI pianist in spotlight

The Jarasum Jazz Festival opens its 23rd edition Friday in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province. This year it has built its program around France, and its most unusual stage features artificial intelligence.

The three-day festival runs over the Hangeul Day long weekend, with 64 acts from Korea and abroad performing on the small island of Jaraseom and at venues across the nearby Gapyeong. The main stage, Jazz Island, is situated on Jaraseom. In town, three free stages run Friday and Saturday: Party Stage at Jatgoeul Square, Jazz Street along Orinamu-gil and Jazz Station at Music Station 1939, an indoor venue.

To mark the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France, the festival has named France its focus country. Four French acts make up the program: Wakan, a trio led by pianist Francesca Han, plays Jazz Station on Friday, while piano trio Verb takes Jazz Street on Saturday. Vocalist Camille Bertault and trombonist Robinson Khoury wrap up the France Focus on Jazz Island on Sunday.

Drummer Nate Smith, who won two Grammy Awards this year, opens the main Jazz Island stage on Friday, returning to the Jarasum Jazz Festival after 17 years. Japanese trumpeter Takuya Kuroda leads a five-piece band that blends jazz, hip-hop, neo-soul and funk, and pianist Song Youngjoo performs with her trio.

On Saturday, Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez fuses classical technique with Afro-Cuban rhythm. Portuguese musician Bruno Pernadas layers psychedelic rock, Ethio-jazz and Brazilian grooves over jazz, while saxophonist Kim Oki's band KimOki Luv improvises around the theme of love.

Armenian pianist Tigran Hamasyan closes the festival Sunday with music that moves between jazz, progressive rock and folk tradition.

The festival's Jazz AI Lounge puts musicians on the stage with artificial intelligence. It was developed with KAIST's MACLab and backed by the Korea Creative Content Agency. In performance sessions, artists play alongside AI trained in advance. In improvisation sessions, the AI responds to the live playing on the spot, so the audience can watch it answer the musicians and keep the ensemble going.

A three-day pass costs 198,000 won, a two-day pass is 154,000 won and a single-day ticket is 88,000 won. Elementary school students and younger children get in free, middle and high school students get 50 percent off and dogs are welcome, according to the organizer.